Feed Me the Facts Diversify Dietetics, Inc

Are you interested in nutrition but unsure of whether or not you will enjoy working in a clinical setting or one on one with clients? Then you’ll want to tune into this episode as we sit down with Melanie Hall, MS, RD.

Melanie was inspired to study nutrition by her mother. Since her mother had a hard time getting an education and had to persevere in order to become a nurse, she fought for her children to receive a quality education in the sciences. This led Melanie to choose a major in nutrition.

While pursuing her nutrition degree, Melanie worked as a diabetes educator for Kaiser and it was in this role that she realized she was not meant to save the world just one person, at a time. She went on to obtain a Masters’s degree in Nutrition Communications and begin her career in marketing and is currently the Director of Brand Marketing at Kashi. Tune into this episode, to hear more about her RD journey including her various jobs and “accidents” until she figured out that nutrition communications was the area she was meant to be in.

About Melanie

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from UC Berkeley and a Masters degree in Nutrition Communications from Tufts University, Ms. Hall started her career as a marketing manager with the California 5 a Day African American Campaign, where she helped promote fruit and vegetable consumption through Sacramento and Los Angeles health ministries. Then, as the manager of the Network for a Healthy California–Retail Program she learned the ropes of the produce industry and worked with retailers throughout the state to create in-store marketing and events that increased fruit and vegetable purchases among low-income households.

In 2010. Ms. Hall joined the Kellogg Company Wellness team to create and drive the company strategy for partnering with the Women Infants and Children program. In that role, she worked to help brand teams expand their portfolio of WIC foods and helped WIC staff use commercial marketing techniques to find new ways to get participants excited about making healthy choices.

In 2020, Ms. Hall joined the Kashi team as the Director of Brand Marketing, where she works with her team to create food, content, partnerships, and programs that help make eating well easy for people and the planet.

On this first episode of Season 3, we talk with two members of our DD Community: Drs. Kate Burt and Shelly Debiasse. They, along with their colleague Dr. Zubaida Qamar have launched a new project called  #InclusiveDietetics, a group on Facebook aimed to increase the awareness about the lack of diversity in the dietetics profession. In this group, they will share important information about diversity and inclusion in general and on topics relevant to facilitating a more diverse and inclusive profession. Join #Inclusive Dietetics to continue the conversation!

Drs. Burt and Debiasse discuss why they are launching this project, why they took the extra steps to make the project a part of a research study and what conversations, movements and changes they hope this campaign will spark in the dietetics community. If you have ever wondered how our profession got to where it is today (i.e.- with so little diversity), and what are ways that you can help to change it, you will want to be a part of this project!

You can join #Inclusive Dietetics to continue the conversation!

Can you tell we’re excited about the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo aka FNCE? As the final hours tick away the Diversify Dietetics co-founders talk about where DD will be during the 4 day conference, what their most looking forward to and notable events that you don’t want to miss.

Are you a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics? As the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals we are rightfully invested in what Diversity and leadership looks like in this professional organization. In 2015 the Academy released its first Diversity Strategic Plan along with a handful of other Diversity Initiatives. One key objective of this strategic plan is “to establish strong diversity efforts at all levels of Academy leadership”. So how do we make sure this happens? How do we ensure that diverse leaders are in the room where decisions are being made and are represented at all levels of leadership? Today we talk with Camille Range about just that. She started working with the Academy as a Diversity Leader and is now a member of the Board of Directors and the House of Delegates, representing dietitians under the age of 30. Camille is passionate about leadership and talks to us about why its so important to have a seat at the table even when you may be the only one. She shares insights into the decision making structure within the Academy and what the Academy is working on as it relates to diversity.

Did you first fall in love with nutrition because you were an athlete in high school or college? Or maybe while you were training for a marathon? Lots of folks make their way to dietetics because of their own experience with learning more about nutrition to support their fitness goals. Some RDstoBE and even RDs in other areas of practice are curious about specializing in this area of practice.

At the same time, many college and professional sports teams now have an RDN on staff to provide sports nutrition counseling to help their athletes perform their best. But the skill set and demands on sports nutritionists have evolved greatly over the past decade or so. In this episode, Pratik Patel shares how he made his way to his current role as a professional sports team’s Director of Performance Nutrition. Pratik

Pratik’s journey to becoming a Sports RD was not without its obstacles. He’s a first-generation American, he hadn’t even heard of the nutrition major when he started college, and he didn’t match to a dietetic internship on his first try. But he overcame these challenges (and SO MANY MORE!) to get to where he is today.

During this episode Pratik talks about:

How he handled all the aforementioned challenges to achieve his RD

The schedule of an RD who works with a professional sports team

The resilience needed to manage the uncertainties of working for college and professional sports teams

Why he still uses MNT and Food Service skills in his current role

What are the critical qualities needed to work with pro athletes

If you’re considering working in Sports Nutrition, have your notebook ready for this episode!

Starla Garcia aka @starla_shines graciously shares her story about how being a eating disorder(ED) survivor has helped her become a better ED Dietitian to Latina patients and why more Latinx dietitians are needed in pediatrics, women’s health, and diabetes education. Today goes into detail on her pathway, her career, her story and how she continues to shine.