In June, the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation hosted the first Healing Through Food Summit, which welcomed healthcare providers, nutritionists, chefs, public health workers and medical students to learn more and talk about how food impacts health.

Dr. Natasha Bray, dean of OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation, said the idea for the summit was born from the need to better integrate nutrition into medical education and clinical care.

“There’s a clear gap in how we prepare clinicians to address nutrition in patient care. We brought together partners across education, healthcare and community settings to create a space where learning, collaboration and action could come together to advance the Food is Medicine movement in Oklahoma,” Bray said.

The summit brought together educators, clinicians, community leaders and policymakers in hopes of learning and collaborating with one another.

“Our goal was to move beyond awareness and equip participants with practical, evidence-based tools they can use in real-world settings while also strengthening culturally responsive care and building meaningful cross-sector partnerships across Oklahoma,” Bray said.

Dr. Mercedez Bernard, an osteopathic family medicine physician, was one of the presenters at the summit who spoke about how the Food is Medicine movement and the osteopathic medicine philosophy are actually interwoven.

“Dr. Andrew Taylor Still is who we in the osteopathic profession consider our founding father. Dr. Still emphasized that nutrition, environment and lifestyle were not secondary considerations, but instead felt that those were central to health,” she said. “Poor diet, inadequate movement and environmental stress were root contributors to disease, according to Dr. Still, and this was long before those ideas became mainstream.”

Bernard said the osteopathic philosophy teaches that the body possesses an inherent ability to self-regulate, to self-heal and to maintain health.

“Ultra-processed foods and Western dietary patterns disrupt these mechanisms, causing chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction and alterations to our gut microbiome,” she said. “As osteopathic physicians, our role extends beyond treating disease; we must address nutritional, social and environmental factors that either support or undermine the body’s capacity to heal.”

But bringing up diet and eating habits with patients can be tricky for physicians, Bernard said, because food is more than just what people eat. There are economical, emotional and cultural aspects to food that healthcare providers must also consider.

“If you tell most of your patients to eat healthy, they immediately think they have to completely revamp the way they eat, and that it's expensive and they don’t know what that looks like,” she said.

So, instead, Bernard suggested asking patients which foods and meals were common in their family before convenience was the norm.

“With a little probing, you’ll find that nutrient-dense traditional foods can provide a lot of the beneficial substrates necessary for repair and recovery,” she said.

More than 150 people attended the Healing Through Food Summit, including Dr. Beth Harp, the Cherokee Nation’s chief medical officer.

Harp said American Indian and Alaska Native populations experience disproportionately high rates of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and food insecurity. And while these health challenges are complex, they are connected to historical disruptions of traditional food systems.

“Food sovereignty and health have always gone hand in hand. Historically, Cherokee communities maintained diverse agricultural systems that included corn, beans, squash, wild foods and medicinal plants. These foodways sustained generations and reflected a profound understanding of the relationship between people, the land and health,” Harp told the attendees. “When communities have access to healthy foods that reflect their culture and tradition, we see meaningful benefits. Health outcomes improve, cultural knowledge is preserved and passed on to future generations, communities become more resilient, and children have healthier foundations on which they build their future.”

Harp said the Cherokee Nation operates several food access and nutrition programs that benefit Cherokee elders, families with children and those living with food insecurity.

“Building healthier communities requires collaboration, it requires partnerships among schools, healthcare systems, farmers, community organizations, tribal governments and families,” she said. “Food as Medicine is not a new idea, rather it's a return to knowledge that Indigenous peoples have carried for generations by embracing food sovereignty, prevention, cultural connection and healthy partnership.”

The Healing Through Food Summit was sponsored by OSU Center for Health Sciences; the Center for Indigenous Resilience, Culture, and Maternal Health Equity; Cherokee Nation Public Health and Wellness; OSU Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy; and the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine.