For Paradise Valley Community College alumnus Anthony Kern, food has always been more than a meal – it’s a pathway to health, connection, and community.
In 2024, Kern helped launch PVCC’s community teaching kitchen, an initiative designed to teach participants how to create nutrient-dense meals while building practical, confidence-boosting culinary skills. The project reached a major milestone in 2025 when PVCC officially joined the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, an international professional organization of teaching kitchens aligned with the global Food Is Medicine movement. Through this partnership, PVCC gained access to training, resources, and a worldwide network of professionals dedicated to using food as a tool for health and prevention. Now in its second semester, PVCC’s program is currently offered to PVCC employees, with plans to open to the broader community later this year.
Overseeing the initiative has allowed Kern to bring together his education, professional experience, and personal passion in a single, mission-driven project.
Kern earned his Culinary Arts degree from Scottsdale Community College; in 2017 he enrolled at PVCC to obtain his Nutrition and Dietetic Technology degree, a vocational major, ensuring students can sit for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics exam and become a certified Nutrition and Dietetic Technician, Registered (NDTR). His time at PVCC helped shape both his career direction and his commitment to community-based nutrition education. The NDTR credential allowed Kern to move directly into professional practice, providing nutrition counseling, medical nutrition therapy, and evidence-based guidance rooted in public health.
“For me, it's all about the food,” Kern explained. “How we fuel and nourish our bodies makes a huge difference over time. Helping people understand that nutrition is not a box or a one size fits all, but should be tailored to meet your needs, is something I enjoy doing. The word "nourishing" means taking care of our bodies, but also our minds and souls.”
While still a student, Kern gained hands-on experience with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Today, he serves as Outreach Coordinator and Nutritionist for WIC, where his work focuses on modernizing nutrition outreach, strengthening public-facing communications, and reducing barriers to accessing essential health services. Becoming an NDTR, he said, helped shape his impact.
“It’s allowed me to help bring WIC into the modern world and break down barriers to health services,” he said.
In 2022, Kern returned to PVCC as adjunct faculty, teaching FON 142AB: The Science of Food, a required course in the Dietetic program. The course introduces students to food service operations, ingredient functionality, culinary techniques, and food safety and sanitation. His teaching approach reflects a balance he knows well. “Being a classically trained chef and a nutrition professional can sometimes be a challenge,” Kern said, “but finding that balance between flavor and nutrition is always rewarding, especially when I can pass that along to my students.”
That same philosophy carries into Kern’s work on the MaricopaWIC Cookbook, a community-focused project designed to make nutrition education approachable, flavorful, and culturally responsive. The cookbook continues to expand its reach and is currently being translated into seven languages, representing the most commonly spoken languages in Arizona. “I hope people see that health and wellness isn’t black-and-white,” Kern said. “It’s nuanced. Let it make sense and be for you.”
At the core of Kern’s work is the belief that nourishment supports not only physical health, but mental and emotional well-being as well. “Most people know nutrition means eating healthy,” he said, “but the foods that bring you comfort should also be part of your routine. Nutrition should be fun and exciting, not boring.”
To learn more about PVCC’s Nutrition and Dietetic Technology program, visit the website. To get the MaricopaWIC Cookbook, visit the website.