Tucson Village Farm cook-off builds camaraderie among physicians, residents

An Iron Chef-style cooking competition hosted Oct. 23 at the Tucson Village Farm at North Campbell and Roger Road had no lack of contestants — 24 in all participating from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

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There were “no winners, but we were all winners!” said chief organizer for the event Mari Ricker, MD, a Department of Family and Community Medicine professor and director of the Integrative Medicine in Residency Program at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, also known as AWCIM. “We called it ‘Clinically Delicious.’”

Participants, she said, came from six departments — Emergency Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, Medicine (the Internal Medicine team), Orthopedics, Otolaryngology/Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT), and Pediatrics — and three residency programs — ENT, Family and Community Medicine, and Pediatrics. It was sponsored by AWCIM and Banner Health’s CHIM (Cultivating Happiness in Medicine) program.

“It was an incredible event — each team was creative, using their unique skills and perspectives, and the experience created an opportunity for collaboration and community building for all of the faculty and residents who participated,” Dr. Ricker said. “I hope that this is just the first of many future collaborations with the Tucson Village Farm, CHIM and AWCIM.”

A video reel on Facebook and Instagram spotlights the event under the mantra, “When doctors trade their stethoscopes for spatulas …”

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The Department of Medicine’s Internal Medicine team included two faculty from the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine (palliative specialist Amy Klein, MD, and internist Indu Partha, MD), one from the Division of Cardiology (Elizabeth Juneman, MD), and one from the Division of Nephrology (Sangeetha Murugapandian, MBBS).

Billed as a team-building exercise emphasizing the U of A’s commitment to culinary medicine, Drs. Klein and Partha said the night’s festivities were more than successful in that goal.

“The exercise was planned as a fun evening to support Tucson Village Farm and our DOM team had a blast competing,” Dr. Partha said.

“It was such a fun and creative evening!” said Dr. Murugapandian. “The Tucson Village Farm looked absolutely stunning, and it was so inspiring to come together as a team while supporting a great cause. It was lovely to see the friendly, good-spirited competition among all the departments and getting to taste everyone’s creations. Our team was particularly proud of our Indian-inspired ratatouille and the creative origami parchment bowls we whipped up at the last minute.”

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Dr. Klein noted, “We picked fresh vegetables and herbs from the farm including peppers, mint, basil, eggplant and more. Then, we decided in a group for each department what we were going to cook. We were each given two hidden ingredients we needed to use: a bean and a grain. And we needed to utilize at least one or more fresh produce items from the farm. Our group went wild for the vegetables. Midway during the competition, we realized we needed to create individualized servings for 25 people instead of a big dish, and so we improvised and folded origami-style bowls made from parchment paper.”

Dr. Klein was very impressed with the Tucson Village Farm and its overall mission.

“The farm is so beautiful, and they regularly host events there to help engage students in cooking and really support a true farm-to-table experience,” she said.

Other participants in the event include (listed alphabetically by department):

• Philipp Hannan, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine
• Alice Min Simpkins, MD
• Amber Rice, MD
• Elaine Situ-LaCasse, MD
• Audrey Baker, MD
• Luis Martinez, MD (ENT, PGY1 resident);
• Kim Barra, DO (FCM, PGY2 resident);
• Stephen Dahmer, MD
• Patricia Lebensohn, MD
• Kyle Meehan, MD
• Carli Ogle, DO
• Mari Ricker, MD
• George Schatz, MD
• Natalie Vela, MD (FCM, PGY2 resident);
• Anna Waterbrook, MD
• Jordan Smith, MD
• Courtney Anderson, DO (Peds, chief resident);
• Rachel Cramton, MD
• Katie Kowalek, MD
• Marci Macaraeg, MD

A program of the Pima County Cooperative Extension and the University of Arizona, the Tucson Village Farm, 2201 E. Rogers Rd., is a working urban farm and healthy living center that fosters life and leadership skills in young people through agriculture, culinary education, outdoor adventure opportunities and community engagement. It’s a seed-to-table program designed to reconnect young people to a healthy food system, teach them how to grow and prepare fresh food, and empower them to make healthy life choices.

Those interested in participating in future Tucson Village Farm cook-offs and other events can contact Dr. Ricker (rickerm@arizona.edu) or the Tucson Village Farm directly via Carey Cunningham Scott (careycs@arizona.edu).