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Meet Callie Gavorek MS, RD, CC, FMP, SNS
It looks like you’ve been a champion of healthy eating for about a decade. What are some of the healthy eating strategies that you’ve worked on for K-12 menus?
One of the most common nutritional requests for K-12 menus is lower sugar breakfast menus. The United States Department of Agriculture School Breakfast Program Meal Pattern currently does not have nutrient specifications for sugar; therefore many school nutrition professionals take it upon themselves to voluntarily implement a higher standard when it comes to sugar. With this, I’ve worked with schools to focus on incorporating foods on their menus with less added sugars and more natural sugar sources, such as fruit and dairy. These paired with low-sugar breakfast grains and protein-rich foods create an energizing start to the school day.
How and why did you choose health and nutrition as your
career path?
Ever since my own K-12 school days, I have loved math and science.
I originally pursued a higher education in nursing, but after I took a Nutrition 101 prerequisite course, I fell in love with all things food. During this time,
I found myself often pushing my studies to the side to read unassigned nutrition textbooks and cookbooks. I soon realized that my career path had to include food. Shortly after, I switched my major to nutrition and dietetics and later obtained my Bachelor's Degree in Science and became a Registered Dietitian. My love for food only continued to grow over the years through my work and personal endeavors. Eventually, I pursued a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and attended culinary school. Later I went on to obtain certifications related to my work and became a Certified Culinarian (CC) with the American Culinary Federation, Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) with the National Restaurant Association, and School Nutrition Specialist (SNS) with the School Nutrition Association.
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