Meet Andrea. Your Instructor.
Andrea Kirkland is a Registered Dietitian, food writer, and culinary educator who was born and still lives in the deep south. Due to her southern roots, she knows a thing or two about good home cooking and also knows all too well about how food choices can either positively or negatively impact health.
Throughout her life she’s grown very accustomed to the popular belief that foods which can treat health conditions can’t possibly ever taste delicious. But her experience has taught her that the simple truth lies within the fact that most people don’t have the right skills or the know-how to prepare those foods in ways that look and taste amazing. Andrea believes the key to helping people adopt new eating habits is by teaching them how to cook for optimal health without sacrificing flavor and satisfaction.
Early in her career, she worked as a community educator and clinical dietitian which she later left for the publishing industry. It was there where she was able to combine her love for nutrition, cooking and writing as a cookbook editor. She gained extensive experience developing recipes and nutrition-related content for consumer audiences and worked on publications for national brands including Weight Watchers, The Biggest Loser, Cooking Light, and Mayo Clinic.
As a former editor for eMeals, a digital menu planning service, and for Time Inc. Books, Andrea knows how to create content that provides readers with practical nutrition guidance and advice that makes acquiring new eating behaviors sustainable. She’s led teams to develop a wide range of cooking resources that offer everyday recipes, including those that offer both timesaving and health-related solutions.
Andrea is the Owner and Founder of Culinary Med. Ed. Not only does she provide leadership for the company’s strategic direction and management, but also its product development and content creation. Andrea is also a regular recipe developer for Diabetic Living, a cooking instructor for Samford University’s Wellness Kitchen, and member of Les Dames d'Escoffier International.
She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Auburn University and completed the University of Alabama’s Coordinated Dietetics Program.
About Culinary Med Ed
Drawing from 20 years of experience, Andrea saw the lack of resources available to empower other Registered Dietitians to become better equipped at educating their patients about food, cooking and meal planning. But as a busy professional herself, she understands the desire for convenient, engaging learning solutions that could still boost professional skills, enhance patient care, and improve dietary compliance. And that’s when Culinary Med Ed was born.
Knowing that cooking delicious diet-compliant foods requires a unique skill set that most dietitians don’t learn in college, she set out to create online courses to share all the cooking techniques and strategies she’s learned as a professional recipe developer and from working directly with chefs, test kitchen professionals, and other experts in the food industry.
Culinary Med Ed’s self-paced online courses deliver cooking training for therapeutic diets and can be accessed on any device, at any time. Every course provides CEUs and comes with printable patient handouts on topics such as food preparation, ingredient selection, grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking techniques and equipment information.
In June 2021, Culinary Med Ed was recognized by the International Forum of Advancements in Healthcare (IFAH) with The Top 50 Healthcare Companies award for 2020-2021. IFAH seeks to unite health and wellness entrepreneurs, business leaders, and key decisions to transform the global healthcare industry.
Andrea's Worked With
Browse Andrea's Work
Check out some of her recipes featured in magazines and online. Click to see the full version.
