Articles

Do you wonder if elements of your role as a retail dietitian cross a line with the dietitians’ professional code of ethics?

Retail Dietitians spend a great deal of time encouraging consumers to shop their stores and consume wholesome meals at home. And while many consumers do have a desire to eat healthier home-cooked meals they often struggle with the broad range of proficiencies required to prepare food at home. Clinicians Culinary Health Education Fundamentals (CHEF) Coaching is an innovative program designed to train Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to teach basic home cooking competencies to patients and consumers.

The way in which consumers digest news and make purchasing decisions is largely impacted by the political landscape, media headlines, and world events. As a retail dietitian, it is important to understand the consumer state of mind to communicate effectively and create successful promotional programs. 

Research conducted earlier this year by HubSpot found that individuals watch an average of 1.5 hours of video content every day. Given the choice, 72% of consumers would rather learn about a new product via video than text, and 83% consider sharing a video with friends.

As retail dietitians encourage shoppers to make healthier choices at retail, it’s essential to help the shopper break the autopilot habit and begin purchasing more nutritious options as a new routine.

I provide free nutrition services for shoppers, associates, and members of the community. My day-to-day tasks include diet counseling, cooking demonstrations, supermarket tours, hosting or attending health and wellness events, and conducting nutrition workshops. For me, every day is a new opportunity to educate our shoppers about making healthier food choices. 

Shoppers today want to know where the seafood they are purchasing has come from, if sustainable practices were used and if farmed seafood is safe. Unfortunately, perceptions about seafood farming are not keeping pace with the positive state of aquaculture science. The Seafood Nutrition Partnership provides the following insights to assist with understanding sustainable seafood practices and options:

The Retail Dietitians Business Alliance announces the establishment of the Jane Andrews Lifetime Achievement Award in Retail Dietetics, bestowing the first award on Jane at her retirement party of August 6th.  As detailed in last week’s article, Jane has had incredible vision and made many significant contributions to the profession across her career.  This award recognizes her many achievements in the retail dietetics industry.

Establishing positive eating habits early is key to raising healthy eaters. One of these habits is consuming a wide variety of plant foods. Retail dietitians can help parents make healthy eating the easy choice by providing them with information and ideas to incorporate these foods into their everyday eating habits. This webinar provides education and resources to assist retail dietitians in the effort to get kids eating well right from the start!

When I started working in the grocery industry in 1990 there were only a few dietitians employed in supermarkets. I was pretty much at a loss but am very thankful for a handful of individuals who shared their knowledge, helped me navigate the retail waters, and motivated me in my new role. Jane Andrews from Wegmans was one of those dietitians.