By: Susan Borra, RD, Chief Health and Wellness Officer for FMI and Executive Director of the FMI Foundation

When I was a newly-minted dietitian, I jumped at the opportunity to work with the Food Marketing Institute. It was the 80’s and a very exciting time for dietitians because consumers were just starting to make the connection between nutrition and food. As you can imagine, I answered a great deal of questions about sugar, sodium, fat and cholesterol because we did not yet have nutrition labels on food packages!

We’ve moved from an era where there was a dearth of nutrition facts to the present-day challenge of  health-information overload. Today, retail dietitians play a critical role in promoting evidenced-based nutrition and they navigate sources to help shoppers identify what is most important to know about the foods they choose to build a healthy diet.

A critical community for me since I first chose this profession was the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the professional society for registered dietitians. The Academy has been committed to solving the greatest food and nutrition challenges, and this month, the Academy is celebrating its centennial anniversary by promoting the dietetics profession and the organization’s achievements since 1917.

I remain committed to the Academy’s mantra of the transformational power through food and nutrition, and I wholeheartedly believe the future looks bright for dietitians working in the food retail industry. You can learn more about the trends we’re witnessing in the grocery aisles in FMI’s Retailer Contributions to Health & Wellness 2017 report. Reflecting on my career, the health and wellness partnership between the shopper and his or her local grocery store will only grow stronger.

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