ByAcademy of Culinary NutritionLast updated onReading Time: 7 minutes
What can a Culinary Nutrition Expert do?
The short answer: A lot.
If you’re considering signing up for the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program, you may be wondering, what can a Culinary Nutrition Expert do? Can 14 weeks of cooking up a storm and learning about the power of food really lead to a career?
The truth is, the sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can do with a Culinary Nutrition Expert (CNE) designation. Here are just a few ways you can put your newfound culinary nutrition wisdom to use.
What Can a Culinary Nutrition Expert Do?
1. Teaching cooking classes, in person and online.
How we prepare you: Teaching cooking classes is an amazing way to share your knowledge with the wider community, and teaching the teachers is our first priority. From the very beginning of the program, we get you into the kitchen, whipping up amazing recipes that we provide, and also teach you how to develop your own. Later on in the program, you’ll actually plan and execute your very own demonstration-style workshop or hands-on cooking class. By the time you graduate, you’ll be a pro!
Our graduates also have the opportunity to become part of our team of Certified Instructors. Our instructors have access to our teaching portal, which has 8 done-for-you classes (both in-person and online options), promotional materials, speaking notes, recipes, training videos and more. With our teaching packages, you have everything prepped and ready so you can start teaching right away!
2. Develop and sell meal plans for specific health conditions.
How we prepare you: One of the first assignments in the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program is to develop a meal plan for your own family. As the program continues, you’ll start researching a condition of interest to you and design a customized meal plan to help.
3. Cater private dinners, be a personal chef, open a cafe or start a meal delivery service.
How we prepare you: We teach you how to cook incredible food! But beyond deliciousness, you’ll learn how to ensure that each and every ingredient you use is beneficial for your condition of choice – and that focus on health is what will make you stand apart from the competition.
How we prepare you: While following existing recipes is a big part of the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program, you’ll learn very quickly the best methods for developing and testing your own recipes that you can then publish online, in magazines, or even in your own cookbook. You may also be able to find work developing custom recipes for companies or testing recipes for publications.
How we prepare you: Once you become a pro at developing your own recipes, you’ll probably want to share them with others! Many of our graduates go on to create their own products to sell at farmers’ markets and grocery stores. From cold-pressed granola to gluten-free baked treats and so much more. View more Culinary Nutrition Expert-created products right here.
6. Write about food and nutrition: food blogs, cookbooks, magazines, newspapers, online sites and more.
How we prepare you: Not only will you be cooking delicious food, you’ll be writing about it too. Each week you’ll have written assignments and reflections to do, helping you develop your research skills and unique writing voice. You’ll also be asked to do a content creation assignment in which you write an article or blog post. Once you graduate, you’ll be prepared to submit stories to publications, start your own food blog, and even ghostwrite about nutrition for private clients.
7. Work one on one with clients or become a better health coach, nutritionist, dietitian, naturopath, doctor, nurse, etc.
How we prepare you: Many of our students come from other nutrition schools, finding themselves filled to the brim with nutrition information but not knowing how to effectively share that wisdom with clients. If you already have an educational background in health, the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program is an awesome way to round out your knowledge and develop hands-on skills.
If you don’t have any previous health experience, that’s OK too! Many of our grads have switched gears to make a career change into culinary nutrition.
How we prepare you: All of the skills you learn as a Culinary Nutrition Expert are easily transferable to online platforms. Plus, since the program itself is online, you will gather personal experience participating in an online program for inspiration.
How we prepare you: Why limit yourself to teaching a one- or two-hour class when you can keep the momentum going for a day or a weekend? The range of cooking skills you learn, from menu planning to recipe development to condition-specific eating, plus the additional knowledge you’ll gather about culinary herbs and beauty care, lend themselves to long-form styles of teaching. Our graduates host integrated holistic retreats that often include cooking classes, yoga, journaling, goal-setting and more.
How we prepare you: If food photography is of interest to you, not to worry – you’ll be doing plenty of that, too! Our students take pictures of their recipe assignments each week to send to their program coaches. Some graduates have quite the flair for photography and go on to pursue food photography and styling.
How we prepare you: We don’t train our graduates to be on TV as part of the curriculum, but many of them end up connecting with local television stations and doing cooking segments to share their knowledge. Others create their own Youtube channels or start podcasts. It’s not for everyone, but those who enjoy it do a fantastic job!
How we prepare you: The Culinary Nutrition Expert Program isn’t just about food – we’re all about business development, too! The certified level of the program includes a market assessment assignment that will help you take the first step towards running your own show, while the certified professional level guides you to focus your ideas, start your own business and make it happen.
13. Improve your health, your family’s health and your community’s health.
How we prepare you: Even if you already consider yourself to be fairly health-conscious, the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program will help you take it to the next level. By learning more than you ever thought there was to know about nutrition and how to apply it in the kitchen, you’ll find yourself making big changes to your lifestyle without even realizing it.
Who’s doing it: Each and every one of our amazing graduates!
Reading Time: 7 minutes 
