Brain Health Kitchen dedicated to helping prevent Alzheimer’s with food, tips
10 Oct 2021
Jackson Hole doctor combines passion of health and food into blog, cooking school
Summer/Fall 2021
Written By: Monica Fedrigo | Images: Lara Agnew
On a trip to the Italian island of Sardinia, Dr. Annie Fenn found herself fascinated by the island’s reputation for longevity and its high number of centenarians — people who have reached the age of 100. Annie, a physician and foodie, was particularly interested in the traditional Sardinian diet of powerhouse brain foods.
“They typically have a bowl of minestrone for lunch,” she says, describing the flavorful, yet simple soup made using vegetables, beans, pasta, tomato broth, and garlic. “It’s a pearl of wisdom we can all access — eating for brain health can be delicious!” Food and brain health have long been Annie’s passions, but finding her true calling was a journey. After completing an obstetrics and gynecology residency in Chicago, Annie and her husband — who met as undergraduates at the University of Denver — followed their dream of moving back to the Rocky Mountains. Her husband, who spent a winter living in his pickup truck in Teton Village, suggested Jackson Hole. The couple arrived in 1994 and Annie began caring for patients at her own practice. “I loved it here, I loved practicing medicine, and I loved my patients. But 20 years in, I was itching to use a different part of my brain.” Annie decided to attend culinary school in Tuscany and Texas; started a blog, Jackson Hole Foodie; wrote the Foodie Files column for the newspaper; and started teaching cooking classes. She also continued reading medical journals, paying particular attention to the evolution of nutrition as a scientific field.