Jessie Shafer joins our team as a long-time health journalist and registered dietitian.
Jessie Shafer joins our team as a long-time health journalist and registered dietitian.
Jessie R. Shafer is Delicious Living’s new Editor in Chief!
She joins our team as a long-time health journalist and registered dietitian. Jessie has worked in many facets of publishing, and has spent the majority of that time focusing on developing recipes and writing about food, health, and nutrition. Prior to joining the team at Delicious Living, Jessie was the nutrition editor at Diabetic Living magazine, the health editor at Cuisine at Home magazine, and worked in cookbook development at G&R Publishing. Jessie has also spent many years as a nutrition freelance writer and nutrition consultant.
Here’s your chance to get to know Jessie better:
Where did you grow up?
Though I live in Colorado now, I’ll always be an Iowa girl at heart, which is where I grew up. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but my family has a strong farming heritage. I credit my days as a 4-H club member for learning life skills they just don’t teach in college anymore: sewing, cooking, woodworking, and gardening. If only I had inherited my mom’s green thumb!
Tell us about your education.
I graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After spending several years in publishing, and becoming frustrated with the lack of quality and responsible reporting in the health industry, I knew I personally needed to learn more about the body and nutrition so I could be the type of health journalist I wanted to be. That’s when I started my journey to become a registered dietitian. I attended the Didactic Program in Dietetics at Kansas State University while working full-time in publishing. After completing the program, attending a 7-month clinical internship, and passing the national board exam, I completed my six-year goal of becoming an RD.
I also have a life goal to never stop learning, so I consider my education an on-going, life-long process. The journalist in me has an insatiable quest to ask and learn the “how” and “why” of just about everything.
What do you do when you’re not working?
My husband and I like to keep our calendar full! We’re always seeking our next adventure, whether it’s a weekend bike ride, exploring a new hiking trail, honing our skills as amateur rock climbers, entertaining friends with new recipes, or traveling. It’s weird to admit, but I also love to organize things [I know, I know—nerd alert!], but it’s true. Most recently, I tackled the project of organizing my spice drawer, and now it makes me smile every time I see it.
What do you love most about Delicious Living?
I love the community of readers who are just as passionate about health and fixing our food systems as I am! The food issues of our lifetime are what bond us together and spur creativity: How to make healthy foods accessible for all people, and how to treat the Earth and feed the world in responsible ways. I love that DL keeps this community connected and has the unique opportunity to help educate those who want to help make a difference in their own lives and beyond.
Follow Jessie on Twitter: @DLJessie
