Chef Valarie Carter

An Oklahoma native, Chef Carter earned her MPH at the OU Hudson College of Public Health in Tulsa as well as an A.A. in Culinary Arts from the Art Institute of Atlanta. She also completed the Plant Based Nutrition certificate program from Cornell University and is currently pursuing certification as a Lifestyle Medicine Professional. Chef Carter is the head chef for the Culinary Medicine program at the OU School of Community Medicine, where she co-facilitates culinary medicine classes for medical, physician assistant, and interprofessional student learners.

Formerly, Chef Carter worked as a culinary instructor and consultant for Cooking for Kids, an organization tasked with improving the child nutrition programs in public schools across the state.  She is former editor of Edible Tulsa magazine and former columnist and contributor for the Tulsa World and several local magazines. Chef Carter has broad experience working as a personal chef as well as in fine dining in hotels and country clubs. Her skills extend to streamlining food and beverage operations, consulting, food media, and catering. She worked as a special events coordinator in Oklahoma City, planning and organizing events for Bricktown Entertainment and was a culinary arts faculty instructor at OSUIT for 5 years. 

Chef Carter served as a member and then Vice President of the Tulsa Farmers’ Market, an organization that supports the local economy by connecting vendors with Oklahoma consumers and supports healthy food access for low-income Tulsa communities. She is a member of Women Chefs and Restauranteurs, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and is a Certified Hospitality Educator through the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.