Nutrition at its Roots: Bridging the gap Between Farming and Healthy Eating
Author
Published
5/19/2024
Lauren Twigge, a registered dietitian and the face behind the Instagram page, “Nutrition at its Roots,” grew up on a 3rd and 4th generation family farm in central California. Her family produces a variety of fruits, nuts, and row crops while also running a dairy farm. Despite initially setting her sites on veterinary school, her college years at Texas A&M unveiled a different passion - one that bridged the gap between her agricultural background and her love for food and nutrition. Now as a registered dietitian living in Dallas, Texas, Lauren works to share practical nutrition tips all while helping her nearly 40,000 Instagram followers gain a better understanding of where their food comes from.
Learn more about Lauren, her background, and what lead her to become a powerful advocate for agriculture.
What led you to become a registered dietitian and advocate for agriculture?
When you grow up around a bunch of farmers, I think you really appreciate agriculture and all that goes into producing food. But the reality is that consumers don’t know that side of it and I didn’t realize that until I started college. I can so vividly remember sitting at my breakfast table with my roommate in college who grew up in Dallas. I was drinking a glass of milk, and she had a glass of almond milk. And she was like, “I can't believe you drink that stuff.” And you know, for me, it was so normal. And I just said, “What do you mean? I can’t believe you are drinking almond milk.” And she just said, “Well, you know, I don’t drink cow pee.” So, I just constantly found myself advocating for farming and the inclusion of a variety of ag products in the diet. Because no matter what diet you eat, it all goes back to a farmer somewhere.
Tell me about your business. What is the difference between your blog and social media pages?
I started my business in 2020 at the height of COVID. I started my Instagram page in 2019 but quickly realized that you don't make money from a page that has no followers. So I started my business, Lauren Twigge Nutrition, and I took weight loss clients until 2023. Lauren Twigge Nutrition is like the umbrella and underneath that is my social media - Nutrition at its Roots. Through my social media, I get more partnerships and public speaking opportunities, but my blog has provided another source of revenue that doesn’t require me to be on my phone all the time. On my website, I share recipes and nutrition tips and I do a lot of myth-busting. It’s slow growing and I will say it is a lot harder than people make it look. But the nice thing is that you have the opportunity to go a lot more in-depth with a blog post than you do on Instagram.
What gave you the courage to join social media and be active on the different platforms?
If I can do it anyone can do it. My little sister made my Instagram page for me in 2019 when I was working for the National Dairy Council and hadn’t yet graduated with my master’s degree. At first, I kind of just felt like there were a lot of reasons to not get on social media. I was scared of online attacks from vegan activists; I was scared of representing farmers wrong. I had imposter syndrome. I didn’t feel smart enough to claim to know all these things. There was just a long laundry list of reasons why I shouldn’t do it.
But when I was interning at the National Dairy Council, I got to meet with their marketing team, and they asked me what I wanted to do. I wanted to work for a dairy marketing company, like our local dairy checkoff, but wasn’t getting anywhere. So, the marketing team encouraged me to just start on social media. They just said everybody starts at zero and everybody feels like people are going to think they are dumb, but if you enjoy it and if you stand behind what you’re saying it will be worth it. So, I went home from that meeting, and my sister and I sat down on her bed and she made my page for me.
What do you like the most about social media? What do you like the least?
What I like the most about it is the accessibility. Social media is free for just about everybody and the opportunity to get your message in front of a large audience is huge. You can talk to different races, reach people in different regions, and talk to different education levels. It wasn’t something I thought about before I started my page, but I have different people message me all the time.
When I started my page, I was so nervous about vegan activists, but I can tell you that they have actually been the least of my problems. One of the biggest struggles is nutritional misinformation. My career feels like a constant uphill climb against fads or against people who claim to know about agriculture. Another issue is that social media requires you to be on your phone a lot. There are times I feel like it takes my attention away from who I should be focusing on. That can be tough, especially as a mom. I’m just trying to find that balance and set a good example for my toddler.
What is your inspiration for creating recipes for your blog?
My biggest thing is I want to keep meals easy and balanced. To me, nutrition is all about your consistent habits, and the reality is that it doesn’t require perfection. I am one of seven kids, so a lot of my recipes were inspired from my childhood. My mom is a big motivator for me. She always put balanced meals on the table or did her best. Feeding a family of nine is no small feat and I always felt like she always made it look so easy. Nutritious and delicious meals do not have to take forever.
Do you have a favorite recipe on your blog?
I have a banana date smoothie that is delicious. When I was pregnant with my son, I went like 10 days past my due date and heard that eating dates were supposed to help you with your delivery. I don’t know if it was true, but I was willing to try anything! So I created this banana date smoothie. It’s made with kefir, so it has a ton of probiotics. It’s got a lot of protein. Honestly, it’s my favorite. I’m a big smoothie fan, and always have been! (You can try the smoothie HERE.)
Are you seeing any trends for certain types of recipes or content?
I feel like a lot of trends right now are about the benefits people want out of their food. For example, people are really interested in hormone balance, better sleep, in gut health. People are interested in food that's going to help them age better, all of that stuff. I feel like that drives a lot of the recipes that people create, especially in the nutrition world.
What are the most memorable things you have experienced in your career so far?
There have been a few times when I’ve had a client tell me that I’ve changed their life, and that always means a lot to me. I’ve had people message me saying I’ve helped them get rid of their food fears or that they feel like they can incorporate dairy back into their plate without apologies. That always makes me feel good. As far as experiences go, I’ve gotten to go on a lot of farm tours. I’ve gotten to see leafy greens, and berries, and I got to tour a Medjool date farm as well. Hearing from different farmers of different sizes with different commodities has been a cool opportunity that my career has opened up for me.
What is one of the main messages you are sharing with your audience, either through your blog or social media?
I am a firm believer that all foods can fit and that your health is determined by what you do consistently. I get tired of online bloggers apologizing for making something with milk or seeing things on Pinterest that say these are healthy cookies and the reason they are healthy is because they are gluten-free. I’m a big advocate that you don't need to “healthify” everything but just have consistent habits and focus on nutritious food. The other message I like to share is that farmers and ranchers work really hard to grow safe food. I'm always amazed, especially in the United States, where we have such access to a variety of food, that I have to do a lot of education on the safety of our food.
What advice would you offer people who are trying to learn more about where their food comes from?
I think there are a lot of resources, but you have to know where to find them. You have to be very wary when you get information online. What are the people's credentials? What is their background? Are they YouTube-trained or did they get a formal education? Do they actually have a background in it? You have to be very picky with where you get your information from. There are also tons of farmers who are willing to put together resources and answer questions that could shine a light on some of the questions you have.
What advice would you give to people who are trying to eat healthier or be more conscious about what they are eating?
It’s all about focusing on consistent habits. I think a lot of times people try to make this total diet overhaul that they stick to 100% of the time. Then if they made a mistake, it’s like the whole day was ruined. Just start by changing one thing. How can you include a little bit more color? Can you include a little more protein? Can you include a little more activity? Can you include a little better sleep? But also understand that not everything's going to go perfectly. There's going to be a time when it's your birthday, and you're going to have a piece of cake. That does not derail your progress, and it doesn't determine your health. Make your healthy habits what you do the majority of the time, but also allow yourself to enjoy food and experiences.
What encouragement would you give to people who are considering a career similar to yours?
You just have to focus on all of the reasons why you would be good at it. And when I tell people to do that, don't be afraid to brag about yourself. It’s okay! Everybody's got skills, and you are just recognizing yours. I'm a firm believer that there's room on the internet for everybody. So if you are interested in working in a career like this, don’t let your list of reasons why you shouldn’t hold you back. It’s really easy, especially in the online space, to have imposter syndrome and think of all the reasons you shouldn’t do something. But the reality is that if you have a perspective somebody else doesn’t have, which is true for every single person, you have something to add.
Follow Lauren Twigge on both Facebook and Instagram at Nutrition at its Roots, or visit her blog www.laurentwiggenutrition.com.
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