It’s Time to Change the Face of Nutrition!

Hi there! Welcome to our little space of the internet! We wanted to do a quick intro to let you know more about us and our vision for the Diversify Dietetics community.

Tamara (2nd from left) during one of those conversations on the expo floor at FNCE 2017 in Chicago. Jerlyn Jones, RDN is to her left, and Wendy Lopez, RDN and Jess Jones, RDN of Food Heaven Made Easy to her right

To say this community is a labor of love would be an understatement. It is the culmination of conversations had in the line at the bathroom at FNCE, in group chats via social media DMs and over coffee with friends. These are conversations between RDNs of color and white RDNs- all of us looking around and wondering why our profession, which only has 9%  RDNs of color, doesn’t reflect the diversity of the patients and clients that we serve. This culmination of conversations became a realization. There is a need for a community that provides the support, network and representation needed to attract students of color to the field of nutrition.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram- next week on an IG Live we will tell the story of how we met thanks to the ladies at Food Heaven Made Easy (thanks Jess and Wendy!). I (Tamara) will explain how I was inspired to really do something about this lack of diversity after a pivotal conversation with a white RDN who took the time to stop and really LISTEN (thank you Rebecca!), and of how I (Deanna) was inspired to do something after experiencing one too many microaggressions at FNCE 2016. You can also hear Tamara talk more about the need for diversity in our profession on Rebecca's Body Kindness Podcast.

In the meantime, please come right on in and join the Diversify Dietetics community!

Deanna (2nd from left) and her dynamic team in Houston. From left Katie Newsome MPH, RDN, Esther Gabay RDN, Yesenia Garcia CHW, & Mayra Aquino MS, RDN

There are three ways to get involved:

If you’re a practicing RDN: We are lining up guest RDNs (of all colors) for our IG/FB lives and information webinars. We are also looking for RDNs of color to highlight in our spotlight series. If you are interested in participating, let us know how via this survey.

If you’re a current nutrition student/dietetic intern or if you are thinking of choosing nutrition as a major- this community is all about you, and we want to provide the resources and community that YOU need. Let us know how we can best help by completing this survey.  Also be sure to join our Facebook group where you can tell us more about yourself and meet other students and interns of color. 

And if you’re an educator/dietetic internship director: We are developing resources, blog posts and a webinar series for educators and dietetics internship directors, and would love your input. We woud also love to collaborate with you to help recruit more students of color on your campus. You can find more info here.

If you’re a little busy or not quite sure how to get involved at this point, try the no-pressure way to join our community-follow us on social media! You’ll always be in the know of what’s going on around the Diversify Dietetics community.

We can’t wait to get to know all of you better and start changing the face of nutrition!  

~Deanna and Tamara, Co-Founders, Diversify Dietetics