Meet Sanna Delmonico, MS, RDN, who has a beautiful passion for food and cooking. She’s found her dream job working as an Associate Professor at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. She got this job by networking and meeting the right people. Who you know matters. Sanna also volunteers a lot and is associated with many organizations where she interacts with people from different industries. The more you know, the more you grow. Learn how she has grown her career and her garden. - Sarah

What attracted you to the field of nutrition and dietetics?
I floundered around at San Francisco State, thinking I wanted to do something in film. I took a nutrition class to meet a general ed requirement and was fascinated by lactose intolerance and the idea that food affects different people in different ways. At the time, I was renting a room from an Italian mamma from Milano, and she was teaching me to make risotto and sugo and my own vinegar. Harold McGee’s classic book On Food and Cooking had just come out and I read it cover to cover repeatedly. I say I became a dietitian because of lactose intolerance, but really, I was hooked by food and food science.

Your Job Title?
Associate Professor

Company you are with now?
The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone

Website:
https://www.ciachef.edu/cia-california

Social Media:

- Instagram: @sannadelmonico

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sannadelmonico/

Describe a typical (or not so typical) day-in-the-work-life for you?
I teach nutrition in our Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry associate degree programs. I also teach food safety and a culinary math course. Class starts at 7 am, and I am done teaching by noon. Then I go to the Teaching Kitchen for a student-made lunch, a great perk. My husband stopped asking me what I had for lunch after too many reports of duck confit and Paris-Brest. I have office hours in the afternoon. The good thing about going to work so early is having the late afternoon for long walks or cooking.

I am active in a number of organizations and committees, so I do some of that work every day as well. I am a founding member of our faculty union and am on the CIA’s General Education Task Force and the Academic Standards Committee. Beyond campus, I am on the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance and a member of Les Dames D’Escoffier. This year I am Social Media Coordinator for the Food and Culinary Professionals Dietetic Practice Group and am excited to be FCP DPG’s Chair-Elect next year.

How did you get your current job in dietetics?
I was teaching at Santa Rosa Junior College in 2010 and heard that the CIA had expanded to degree programs. I knew a fellow RDN who was working on the CIA’s health and wellness conferences. She helped me get my foot in the door and has supported me in my career ever since.

What skills were you born with and what skills have you learned along the way?
Cooking and science skills come naturally to me. My mom says that at seven I was in the kitchen and told her “I want to mix flour and water together and create life.” I have had to learn how to communicate and translate nutrition information effectively for clients and students.

What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you?
Nearly every job and career opportunity I have had has been because I knew someone or knew someone who knew someone. My advice is to network with interesting people, not just in dietetics. Participating in local, regional, and national organizations is a great way to meet people. Also, think about people who have jobs you want, and meet them.

If you could be paid for your job with something other than a paycheck, what
would it be?
A larger garden, please! I think anyone truly interested in food and cooking ends up a gardener. Every year I get some new (to me) varieties that I become obsessed with – last year it was A Grappoli D’Inverno tomatoes and Jarrahdale pumpkins. This year it’s Piel de Sapo melons and Chiltepin chiles.