Food is news
to Human Sciences grad

By Kimberly Wheatley
Assistant Editor, Florida State Times

The airwaves are her classroom, the viewers are her students and the subject is food.
Carolyn O'Neil, a 1976 graduate of FSU's College of Human Sciences, is the only national television correspondent devoted full time to food and nutrition news.

A registered dietitian with a specialty in public health nutrition education, she is executive producer and senior correspondent of the news channel's Food and Health Unit and the host of "On the Menu" on CNN every Saturday at 1 p.m. EST.

A Clearwater native who now lives in Atlanta, O'Neil said she came to FSU because of the English department's excellent reputation. She majored in nutrition and minored in English.

"What could be more important than food, shelter, clothing and economics?" she asked.
O'Neil returned to FSU in October to speak at the Tucker Civic Center in an event sponsored by the FSU Student Dietetic Association.

"It was an important visit because I feel that graduates of FSU can help motivate students ... by giving them living, breathing examples of how education is put into practice and becomes a career," said O'Neil. "I think the alums need to provide that vision. It opens up their (students) minds to alternative careers that they never knew existed."

O'Neil said she values moderation in nutrition.

"My job takes me to a lot of delicious restaurants," she said. "Moderating the portions is what I have learned to do to allow for the extra calories and fat."

She said the first step to proper nutrition is to identify where fat is by studying the food labels in the grocery store. She also advised asking lots of questions in restaurants and cutting back on fat in cooking. For those with a sweet tooth, O'Neil suggested jelly beans, hard candies and licorice, all low in fat.

"There's never been a more important time to focus on health and nutrition because there have never been so many overweight Americans," O'Neil said. "... Poor diets are related to so many serious diseases."

"On the Menu" has its own web page at www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/OnTheMenu/index.html.