about the radical dietitian
Hi, I’m Virginia, The Radical Dietitian.
A Different Way Into Healing
I came into this work thinking I would heal the world through “the correct” nutrition choices.
Through my work and through my own healing, I’ve come to understand that the bedrock of healing lies in the relationship we have to ourselves and our bodies.
That healing asks us to move away from the reductionistic noise of food morality—noise that ignores classism, racism, and ableism—and toward deeper truths where our body stories are known, honored, and tended.
Healing that is focused on liberation and moves toward a place where food and eating can be safe, relational, and even celebrated.
I’m a Whole Human, Too
I’m a cat mom, blogger, dancer, gardener, cook, crafter, and avid closet curator.
I’m a daughter, a sister, a partner, a good friend. I’m a tattooed deep feeler.
I’m a middle-aged white (Scotch-Irish, German, Swiss, English lineage), queer, cis woman with a neurodivergent mind (ADHD, trauma impacts, maybe autism).
I have both lived experience and privilege. I benefit from size privilege, white privilege, and class privilege. I’ve also lived through chronic pain, temporary disability, and an eating disorder and recovery.
I don’t believe healing is a moral obligation. And I understand that healing has varying degrees of availability for people because of systemic inequities
Place, Land, and Lineage
I grew up on a river in very rural Virginia, appreciating the quiet and the water and the magnolia trees that surrounded me. Seattle has been home since 2005 with a couple of years living and farming on Whidbey island, which holds a special place in my heart. Currently I live with my partner and our two awesome cats. This land where I live and work is amongst the unceded land rightfully owned and tended by the duwamish tribe long before white settlers arrived.
professional career path
How I Came to This Work
My first career was in the environmental and sustainable agriculture field, from education and outreach to field work and farming. This work deeply informed my healing and is a part of my lineage. Farming was my first exposure to deep reverence for food and land. When I’m able I continue to sell meat and potatoes for and with my good friends Brent and Seth at Olsen’s Farms.
Training, Practice, and Ongoing Learning
01
Education & Background
I hold a Master’s degree in Nutrition & Dietetics and an undergraduate degree in Sociology.
02
Training, Certification & Mentorship
I’m a certified Body Trust specialist, and this work is foundational to my practice. I’m deeply grateful to my teachers, Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant, for shaping how I understand healing.
I continue to be supported in my work by mentors and colleagues including Vaughn Darst, Whitney Trotter, and Anna Chapman.
03
Writing & Contributions
I also contributed a chapter on orthorexia in Springer’s Adolescent Nutrition (2020), bringing clinical attention to an often misunderstood experience rooted in my own story.
my work is always becoming
I consider my clinical practice an ongoing creative endeavor, guided by my clients and my own healing process. I am motivated by the deep desire for change in how people relate to bodies, nourishment, and healing; and the restructuring of the systems which are perpetuating so much violence onto bodies.
What It’s Like to Work With Me —
✱ I believe we heal in relationship and in community.
✱ I bring my whole human self into this work—and I invite you to do the same.
✱ I will not pretend to have all the answers.
✱ I will not ask you to be perfect.
✱ I will sit with you in uncertainty without rushing you out of it.
✱ I acknowledge that I will cause harm — and I am committed to repair, accountability, and ongoing learning.
✱ I laugh. I may cuss.
✱ I care deeply about creating a space that feels trustworthy, relational, and real.
The Work I Offer —
My work is an integration of:
✱ sociology and nutrition
✱ lived experience and clinical training
✱ Body Trust and trauma-informed care
✱ connection to land and food systems
✱ my own healing and spiritual practice
✱ the lineage of my teachers and my community