It seems not a day goes by without someone expressing to me how important it is to spread the information about plant-based nutrition. Decades of laboratory research, human studies on diet and disease, and hundreds of academic publications from researchers and clinicians have laid a solid foundation for this information, but have by no means gotten it into the mainstream. 

Although a long climb uphill remains, I feel we made great progress in 2009 in getting this critical information to the public.    

For decades eager students have asked me where and what they should study to help promote plant-based nutrition, and unfortunately I have not being able to whole heartedly recommend any nutrition education program in the country. This has been a source of frustration.  We are doing our best to begin to fill that gap, and in January 2009 we launched the Certificate Program in Plant-Based Nutrition online through eCornell. 

The program covers the fundamentals of plant-based nutrition, the diseases of affluence, and the ways in which plant-based nutrition is being applied in the world today.

We have since had over 300 graduates, but as stories arise about what graduates have gone on to do, we see that the outward ripples of this program have reached well over 300 people.

Our graduates know an effective way to reduce America's healthcare costs by 70-80% and the promise of reversing disease with dietary intervention. They are savvy, educated consumers of health information, and are ushering in mainstream knowledge of plant-based nutrition. I am personally grateful for their decision to study plant-based nutrition and look forward to their numbers and positive impact continuing to grow.

Looking forward to 2010-

For more information about the eCornell Plant-Based Nutrition Certification Program, please see  http://www.tcolincampbell.org/courses-resources/courses/.