Miller to Serve as Keynote Speaker at Dietitian Summit

The 2011 Dietitian Summit keynote speaker will be Daphne Miller, M.D., a San Francisco-based writer, educator and family practice physician, according to Ahold USA and Field Trip Factory (FTF), the hosts of the third annual event, which is scheduled to take place this May at the GIANT Community Center in Willow Grove, Pa.

Miller will speak on the topic “Food as the Common Thread Connecting Us All” and preside over a discussion of diets from around the world and the health benefits of each. The dialogue will continue with advice on how her findings can be applied to consumer-facing initiatives and encourage healthy behavior at retail.

"As a grocery retailer, we are excited to have Dr. Miller address the attendees about how food is the center of all that we do,” noted Shirley Axe, manager of health and wellness at Quincy, Mass.-based Ahold US, the American arm of global retail conglomerate Ahold, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam. “Knowing what to purchase to feed your family is key, and Dr. Miller's expertise can lead us in the right direction.”

"Her groundbreaking research and practical approach to food and overall health will serve as an inspiration to us all," said Susan Singer, CEO of Chicago-based FTF, which provides hands-on educational field trips for kids and seniors that relate to such topics as health and wellness and nutrition, in such venues as supermarkets.

For more than a decade, Miller's clinical work and writing have focused on the balance and interplay among nature, traditional healing and western medical interventions. In addition to having produced a nutrition cookbook and travelogue, “The Jungle Effect” (HarperCollins 2008), which describes her journeys to areas around the world that are still comparatively free of modern chronic diseases, she is a health columnist for the Washington Post, provides primary care for patients of all ages at an integrative family practice, teaches nutrition and integrative medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and lectures nationally and internationally on food and health issues.

The 2011 Dietitian Summit will focus on the local application of national and international health-and-wellness best practices. Twitter followers can interact with attendees via @dietitiansummit.