UA’s Rural Health Conference Features Cooking Challenge

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama suffers from one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, yet many residents struggle to find healthy food. The University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences and its Institute for Rural Health Research hope to change that during the 16th annual Rural Health Conference April 17.

This year’s event will feature a “cooking challenge,” which is being undertaken by Chef Leah Sarris, program director of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and the first full-time chef ever employed by a medical school.

Sarris will produce a weekly, healthy menu for a family of four using the maximum food assistance allotment from the Food Assistance Program at the Alabama Department of Human Resources (an average of $149.77 a week), said Dr. John C. Higginbotham, director of the Institute for Rural Health Research.

Prior to the conference, she will purchase food items from a rural Alabama community, where grocery stores and food selection, particularly healthy foods, are often limited.

“She will then provide a demonstration at the conference of how to prepare a few of these healthy meals,” Higginbotham said.

Sarris, one of the conference’s keynote speakers, teaches medical students, doctors and patients the tenets of healthful cooking and the significant role that food plays in preventing and managing obesity and associated diseases.

Sarris runs the teaching kitchen in the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane. She uses her culinary background to translate the latest nutrition science into practical strategies patients can take home to reduce their salt intake, cut calories and eat more healthful meals.

This year’s conference, “Making the Healthcare System Work for You: Individuals, Clinicians & Communities,” will also feature Dr. Daniel Mareck, chief medical officer of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, and Jerri Jackson and Robin Rawls, of the Alabama Medicaid Agency.

Mareck will speak about the federal perspective on national rural health policy. He is a family medicine physician and, prior to joining the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, practiced full- and part-time for 19 years. His professional experience also includes 12 years at the University of Minnesota Medical School, working primarily with the Rural Physician Association Program.

Jackson, a registered nurse and director of Managed Care, and Rawls, director of communications, both with the Alabama Medicaid Agency, will provide an update on Regional Care Organizations in Alabama.

Breakout sessions on issues related to the conference topic will also be offered throughout the day. The Rural Health Conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 17, at the Student Ferguson Center on the UA campus.

The annual Rural Health Conference is attended by health-care providers, researchers, community leaders, government officials, policymakers and representatives of faith-based organizations who hear from prominent speakers in the field and share information and knowledge about rural health issues.

The registration fee for the conference is $100 per person and $25 for students and includes breakfast and lunch. Continuing Education Units will be offered. (After April 10, the registration fee is $125 per person and $35 for students.)

For more information and to register online, visit the conference website at http://rhc.ua.edu or contact the Institute for Rural Health Research at 205/348-0025.

The Institute for Rural Health Research was established in 2001 and conducts research to improve health in rural Alabama. The goal is to produce research that is useful to communities, health care providers and policymakers as they work to improve the availability, accessibility and quality of health care in rural areas. The Institute also serves as a resource for community organizations, researchers and individuals working to improve the health of rural communities in Alabama.