Cultivating Food & Health: Medicine Rooted in Regeneration 2026 CME

Friday, September 11, 2026, 9:00 AM - Saturday, September 12, 2026, 11:00 AM, Carthage, TN

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (8.50 hours), Non-Physician Attendance (8.50 hours)

Cultivating Food & Health: Medicine Rooted in Regeneration Date: September 11th-12th, 2026 Location: Caney Fork Farms, Carthage, TN This 1.5- day, on-farm CME immersive experience invites physicians and medical trainees to step outside traditional learning environments and into a working regenerative farm to explore the upstream drivers of health and chronic disease. Hosted at Caney Fork Farms this course bridges clinical medicine with agricultural practice, exploring how soil health, biodiversity, food systems, and human health are intricately connected. Through guided field sessions, interdisciplinary discussion, culinary workshops, and evidence-based lectures, participants will examine how agricultural practices influence nutrient density, environmental resilience, microbial diversity, and chronic disease patterns. Participants will: • Review current evidence linking soil microbiomes, plant phytonutrients, and the human gut microbiome. • Compare regenerative and conventional agricultural systems and discuss implications for nutrient density and environmental toxin exposure. • Explore connections between agricultural practices and rising rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, asthma, and behavioral health concerns. • Discuss food access and the structural inequities embedded within current food systems. • Review current evidence linking Food is Medicine interventions (e.g. Medically Tailored Meals, Produce Prescription programs) to reduction in chronic disease rates and healthcare cost savings. • Develop practical strategies for patient counseling around food sourcing, dietary quality, and community food systems engagement. • Consider the physician’s role in advancing food system transformation at the community and policy levels. • Identify advocacy pathways at the clinic, community, and policy levels. In addition to field-based learning, participants will gain practical experience in culinary medicine—working alongside chefs to translate whole, locally sourced ingredients into patient-centered nutrition strategies. These sessions emphasize culturally relevant counseling approaches and realistic tools physicians can bring back to the exam room. Throughout the immersion, facilitated dialogue will center on the physician’s role as advocate. How can clinicians support local regenerative farms? How can food literacy be integrated into preventive care? What partnerships between healthcare systems and agricultural communities can strengthen regional food systems and improve public health? Cultivating Food & Health reframes prevention as ecological health. By grounding medical education in the living systems that produce food, this course equips physicians with the knowledge, language, and leadership skills to champion regenerative food systems as a pathway toward healthier patients and healthier communities. Participants leave not only informed—but empowered to cultivate change.

1. Explain the relationship between soil health, agricultural practices, plant phytonutrient composition, and the human gut microbiome in the context of chronic disease prevention.
2. Differentiate regenerative and conventional agricultural systems and evaluate their implications for nutrient density, environmental toxin exposure, and long-term human health.
3. Apply principles of culinary medicine and food systems science to improve patient counseling on dietary quality, food sourcing, and food-as-medicine strategies.
4. Identify and incorporate evidence-based food-as-medicine interventions (such as medically tailored meals and produce prescription programs) into clinical practice when appropriate.
5. Develop strategies to collaborate with local and regional food system partners, including regenerative farms, to support community health and patient access to nutritious foods.
6. Recognize opportunities for physician leadership and advocacy in food systems and agricultural policies that influence population health and chronic disease risk.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum 8.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.