National Nutrition Month is a great opportunity for dietitians to celebrate the diversity of food and the cultural connections that meals bring. In Week 3, the focus is on exploring the connection between food and culture.
This is an excellent chance to introduce new flavors, highlight traditional dishes, and encourage meaningful conversations about how food shapes identity and community. Here are some ideas for engaging activities within your facility.
Feature a Different Cultural Cuisine Each Day
Encourage your kitchen staff to showcase a variety of global cuisines throughout the week. Consider featuring:
Monday: Mediterranean (Greek salad, hummus, baked fish with lemon and herbs)
Tuesday: Latin American (chicken and rice, black bean soup, mild tamales)
Wednesday: Asian (teriyaki chicken, egg drop soup, vegetable stir-fry)
Thursday: Traditional American (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans)
Friday: European (chicken paprikash, beef stew, baked fish with dill sauce)
Provide educational handouts or posters about the cultural significance of these dishes. You can also post them around your facility highlighting traditional dishes of various cultures.
It’s always great if you can highlight dishes from individuals that live within your facility!
Organize a Resident & Staff Cultural Recipe Share
Invite staff and residents to share their favorite traditional recipes. Consider making a small cookbook or a display board featuring these recipes along with personal stories or historical tidbits. If possible, prepare and serve one of the recipes in the dining area.
This can also be a great fundraising opportunity to develop a facility recipe book. The funds could go towards therapeutic recreation activities, a special dining function, tea afternoon where you develop special biscuits for everyone.
Looking for ways to fundraise can be a great opportunity for your facility!
Host a “Taste the World” Event
Set up small tasting stations with different cultural foods for residents to sample. Pair each dish with a short description of its cultural importance. Involve residents in sharing their own experiences with these foods or memories tied to them.
Discuss the Role of Food in Different Cultures
Host a discussion group or trivia session on how different cultures approach meals, celebrations, and food traditions. Topics could include:
- The role of spices in cooking
- Religious and holiday food traditions
- Common foods from various cultures
This can be an informal group discussion or a more structured presentation with slides. You can have residents, staff and loved ones participate too.
Encourage Family-Involved Meals
If feasible, encourage residents to invite family members to share a meal together, meals are meant to be shared so letting loved ones know they’re invited is helpful. Family recipes or traditional comfort foods can be highlighted to bring a sense of home and belonging.
Introduce a Cooking Demonstration
Partner with the facility’s food service team to demonstrate how to prepare a traditional dish from a featured culture. This could be as simple as making homemade salsa, dumplings, or a traditional soup. Residents can watch, ask questions, and enjoy a tasting afterward.
Try to remember that including individuals with different textures is very important. Plan ahead for how the textures can be adapted for them too!
Spotlight a “Resident Recipe of the Week”
Identify a resident who has a strong cultural connection to a particular dish and highlight their recipe and story in the dining area or newsletter. This adds a personal touch and fosters community connections.
Final Thoughts
Food is more than just nutrition—it is history, tradition, and a way to bring people together. By incorporating these ideas into National Nutrition Month, dietitians can create an engaging and meaningful celebration that honors cultural diversity and encourages residents to embrace new flavors and experiences.
This can also be a great way to get new ideas for your upcoming menu. Sometimes we can get into a rut of planning the same menu options over and over again. Incorporating various cultures into the menu shows effort, personalization, and community engagement.
If you want more nutrition month ideas, check out our posts under ‘Nutrition News’ here!
Michelle Saari is a Registered Dietitian based in Canada. She has a Master's Degree in Human Nutritional Sciences and is a passionate advocate for spreading easy to understand, reliable, and trustworthy nutrition information. She is currently a full time online entrepreneur with two nutrition focused websites.
