Roseanne Rust, MS, RDN
Getting to Know Roseanne Rust, MS, RDN
These days media dietitians are not in short supply, but some stand out more than others. Roseanne Rust is at the top of her game! She received the 2024 Academy Media Excellence Award which was established in 1987 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is presented for consistent, high-quality, and scientifically accurate nutrition reporting. Despite her busy schedule, Roseanne was willing to give of her time to be interviewed by recent CSULB dietetic intern Natali Khouri, who was interested in learning more about media communications. Read on to learn more about Roseanne’s fascinating career.
Nadine Khouri: What inspired you to start Rust Nutrition?
Roseanne Rust: In 1994 I moved from Pittsburgh, where I was chief of nutrition services for a health maintenance organization, to a small town in Pennsylvania. I was pregnant with my first child and really wasn’t sure what I was going to do career-wise. I had always wanted to write, so I contacted a former professor from the University of Pittsburgh for advice on pitching the newspaper. I pitched the local paper, The Meadville Tribune, and began writing a monthly nutrition column “Ask the RD,” which later became a weekly column (Fad Free RD), which I wrote for about 20 years.
During this period, I had begun doing several different consulting gigs – teaching college courses, consulting with Head Start, guest speaking at the local college for a personal health class and for sports teams. So, I decided to create a business – Rust Nutrition Services.
Fun fact: My father was a commercial artist and designed the logo (by hand, since he was pre-digital era. Before computers artists “drew” all the fonts)
NK: Congratulations on your 2024 Academy Media Excellence Award. In today’s saturated nutrition and media space, please share two recommendations for success that may assist interested early career registered dietitians.
RR: Stay focused on using your authentic voice. Even if you change your specialty over the years, figure out what you stand for early. I was the “fad free RD” in 1990-2000s and always have felt that a person’s relationship with food and their eating behavior was as important as what they ate. I never subscribed to short-term “quick fixes.” I continue to present information with that core philosophy always in the background. In addition, all of my writing is supported by the evidence we have. I found early on that helping people understand where their food comes from, and what the science says about food and health, helped ease their minds about eating. This is more important than ever as we are fighting massive amounts of misinformation that is continuously presented to the public.
Lastly, no matter how the media changes (print, online, video), your voice should be consistent throughout. It’s not that you can’t change your mind about things, but you simply stay authentic to who you are and what you are passionate about, as opposed to trying to be like someone else or do what they are doing.
NK: Your book, “Zero Waste Cooking For Dummies” is a timely topic. How did you decide to write a book about food waste and what was the process?
RR: I was brought up in a household that was very resourceful and wasted little. I have always been respectful of the environment and wanted to dig deeper into the issue and impact of food waste. There is so much we can’t control, but throwing less food away is something that anyone can work on. I hope to inspire others, and other RDNs, to encourage less food waste at home.
I also think that there is a big information gap in most homes – they don’t know how to handle food! Shopping, storage, and cooking strategies are a big part of wasting less food.
NK: How do you communicate complex nutrition information in a way that is both understandable and relatable to a wide audience? Please share an example.
RR: This is an ongoing skill. The more you communicate – whether in writing or orally – the better you get. Practice, practice, practice!! It’s helpful if you can use AI or a built-in system that reviews for reading level. An 8th grade reading level universally works. It’s also helpful to include more advanced resources within your writing for those who are interested in references.
Using humor or writing in a way that is relatable by using some personal experience also helps you connect to your audience. An occasional personal story can help people feel seen and then are more interested in learning. You can’t reach all audiences, but you can frame your work accordingly.
For instance, I’ve had a long 39-year career so far. Writing a piece about nutrition in college life is not going to be relatable from me. However, if I wrote is as “motherly advice” (authentic to who I am – a mother, not a 25-year-old) – I may get some listeners. Again, it is that “being authentic” piece.
NK: You create Instagram videos about nutrition, what would you say is the most challenging part of producing this type of content?
RR: Hair and makeup. LOL. I actually do not do my hair and makeup for most of my videos, because I don’t wear makeup everyday – but videos work out much better with good lighting and some preparation – whether that’s hair, makeup, an eye-catching outfit (for instance, I had a series where I wore my “For Dummies®” brand t-shirt that was well-received).
But the biggest challenge for me is time. A 30 second to one minute video can take hours of prep, and then another 2 hours or more in editing. The other challenge personally, is that for anyone over 45 years old, we have a much, much smaller peer group online (and they don’t’ know how to engage with posts) compared to anyone under 40.
NK: Please share two credible resources for evidence-based nutrition information.
RR: Eatrigh.org (journal of nutrition), USDA, CDC, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, IFIC, American Society of Nutrition (ASN), Center for Food Integrity, Journal of Nutr Education and Behavior, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, More
NK: What is one place everyone needs to visit?
RR: Rome. I am of Italian heritage. While I enjoyed Florence and Gaeta (west coast of Italy near where my grandparents were born), Rome has so much history and great food culture. I love the lifestyle in Italy where food and leisure are steeped into everyday life – lots of walking, morning espresso, delicious pastries, good cheese and cured meats, aperitivo at 5 or 6pm where you relax and take a break after the day, then have a leisurely dinner later in the evening…
NK: What three food items do you always have on hand?
RR: Blueberries, Greek yogurt, some type of good bread.
To learn more about Roseanne, check out her website!