Interview: Christophe Duhamel

As we recently released our new course “Getting to know food better” in partnership with Marmiton.org, we had a few questions for Christophe Duhamel, the co-founder and director of the popular French cooking website.

Can you begin by telling us about the subject?

Nutrition is both a simple and complex issue. Simple because we all practice it, and complex because it combines a multitude of parameters, mechanisms and knowledge you need to acquire if you want to understand how you can eat better. And the first major step in acquiring that knowledge is precisely to know food better, as well as its impact on us. Which is the purpose of this MOOC.

Why make a MOOC of it?

I’m also writing a book on the subject (I’ll get back to that), but MOOCs are a more accessible way to acquire knowledge, because they are fun. And accessibility is one of our key values at Marmiton. This new course is part of the “Health and quality of life at work” collection.

What does eating have to do with seeking wellbeing in the workplace?

Nutrition is one of the keys (the most important one, I believe) to good health, and a key upon which each and every one of us can act, if we have the proper knowledge and points of reference, which sadly isn’t the case often enough today. A feeling of wellbeing at work is among other things a consequence of good nutrition habits: every meal is important to dispose of all the necessary means for action.

As you mentioned, you have a new book coming out soon, can you tell us about it?

We regularly put out new books, for example “Happy cuisine” recently, a book focusing on “recipes that make you happy”. Right now I’m working hard on a book that aims to give consumers points of reference by explaining things in a way that is simple and easy to read, with a common sense and hands-on approach, setting aside all the dogmas and various diets that are much more harmful than beneficial. It’s a big challenge, but it’s a fascinating subject and I’m learning new things every day by researching all these questions.

Try “Getting to know food better” on our platform.