June 27, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET
When Vanessa Rissetto speaks to members of Congress, the registered dietitian tries to turn down the temperature around divisive food rhetoric and address health crises nobody can dispute.
As Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seeks to revolutionize dietary behavior, Rissetto has emerged as a prominent figure in the American health care circuit. Nearly half of all Black adults in America battle a form of cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rissetto, who is Black, is focused on improving those statistics by offering accessible nutritional options to a broader swath of the population.
Rissetto, 47, shares health tips as a wellness contributor on NBC’s “Today” show and treks to Capitol Hill as co-founder of Culina Health. Her company, named among Time magazine’s most influential companies of 2026, was founded to expand access to health care, partnering patients with providers for remote dietary support.
Rissetto’s relaxed style has been a key ingredient to her ascent in America’s food fights. During a “Today” segment in January hosted by Jenna Bush Hager and comedian Matt Rogers, she recommended animal protein over plants. “I’m not mad at you if you want to get it from plants, but when we get it from animals, we tend to stay full for longer,” she told the hosts.
Last July, she shaded people who say fruit has too much sugar. “Please, be quiet,” Rissetto said, jokingly, to “Today” hosts. Citing the nationwide lack of health literacy, Rissetto told USA TODAY the politicization of food makes her “nervous.”
“Can you not be divisive around this thing that is so important? Because many people don’t know,” Rissetto said. “The country is already divided. People are literally dying, chronic diseases on the rise.” She added, “What is the one thing that we all do as a collective thing? We all eat.”
‘I believe in the science’
Rissetto decided to pursue her work in medicine after she sought a dietitian in 2004. She trained as a dietitian and then worked as one for five years at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York City. Right before the pandemic, in February 2020, the mom of two launched the virtual health service, Culina Health, with co-founder Tamar Samuels. That July, the company saw its first patient.
“I believe in the science, I want to work the science, I want to understand the science,” Rissetto said. “And then I want to impart that on other people.” In May 2023, Rissetto was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her treatment included 14 rounds of chemotherapy and 20 rounds of radiation.
The detection deepened her mission to broaden entry to care. The same year, Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement rose in popularity as the Kennedy heir gained political capital on the presidential campaign trail.
After he dropped his bid, Kennedy was named President Donald Trump’s health czar.
Marion Nestle, a New York University nutrition professor emerita who is an expert on American food policy, said the current political environment has led the Trump administration to enforce stricter conditions on billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding.
Nestle said the government is doing everything that it possibly can to purge people from receiving SNAP aid: “Most people on SNAP are White, but White people look at SNAP as being something for poor Black people, and there’s very little sympathy for poverty.”
Food issues affect Americans from all backgrounds
Away from the headlines and opposing social media narratives, Rissetto stresses that health requires a targeted strategy.
Culina Health works with over 90 providers and more than 10,000 patients, but reaching people is an ongoing effort. Nine out of 10 adults struggle with health literacy, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Rissetto used her own dad, Michel Arteaga, to depict the nation’s health literacy gaps.
“My father is the smartest person I know. He is a mechanical and a chemical engineer. He speaks seven different languages,” but Rissetto said that her dad doesn’t fully understand nutrition.
Her father, she said, thinks he’ll lose weight if he eats a salad without dressing or drinks more pressed fruit juice, but he doesn’t understand the nutritional benefits behind his choices. That’s how most people approach their health, she explains, but every patient needs their own personalized plan of action to yield positive outcomes.
“That is the reason why I believe, like, you really have to focus on the food because it’s not just hitting people who are poor and brown and live in rural communities,” Rissetto said. “It’s all, it’s everybody in between.”
Simple shifts, like purchasing frozen fruits and vegetables from the dollar store, can help people get healthier. Rissetto encourages her patients to cut back on alcoholic beverages. Still, she stresses that Americans need better access to quality food and dietitians who can “help people cut through the muck.”
“I saw – because I can read studies, I understand things, I can have real dialogue with my physicians – that I am well,” Rissetto said. “I don’t think many people get that chance.”
