About
Never before have we had so much information at our fingertips to guide how we eat for our health, and the health of the planet. In my many years of experience working to improve our food system, it has become clear that the biggest challenge people and organizations face is translating and applying this evidence in ways that create meaningful impact. Eat Better by Design is a consulting practice that aims to fill that gap, combining data-driven strategies with a human-centered approach to develop and scale transformative solutions that help people eat better. Whether you're looking to develop a comprehensive food strategy, design and implement innovative solutions, or measure and communicate your impact, Eat Better by Design can help your organization thrive—while promoting better food systems for all.
Jackie Bertoldo, DrPH, MPH, RDN
I’m Jackie, Founder of Eat Better by Design. I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and hold a Doctor of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Nutrition and Food Systems, and a Masters of Public Health degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Michigan. For over a decade, I’ve had the privilege of working across a diverse range of sectors—education, healthcare, foodservice, CPG, corporate, and nonprofits—to translate evidence into action by designing impactful tools, programs, and products that make it easier and more desirable for people to eat better. I am excited to share my unique skill set with organizations across the food system to drive meaningful, lasting change.
Learn more about my work
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With funding from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future and in collaboration with the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC), I led a multi-site study with 19 colleges and universities to evaluate their food procurement practices and model human and planetary health impacts of shifting food purchases to align with the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet. This study was published open-access in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and serves as a model for other institutions interested in aligning food procurement with EAT-Lancet targets. The project also utilized mixed-methods to survey and interview different stakeholders across the university foodscape to identify opportunities for improving procurement practices and generate a settings-based systems model for aligning university food procurement with EAT-Lancet targets. These results have garnered interest from some of the largest, most influential food industry leaders around the world.
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As Senior Associate Director of Nutrition and Food Choice Architecture for Stanford University Residential and Dining Enterprises from 2015-2023, I designed and implemented a number of strategic initiatives to improve the university food environment through innovative business practices and programs that promote health and sustainability. I developed Stanford’s first comprehensive food choice architecture strategy, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to create new menu standards, redesign the dining environment, and implement marketing strategies to encourage healthy and sustainable food choices. Bridging evidence from behavioral psychology with our own living laboratory research, I created the Food Choice Architecture Playbook as a resource for other institutional foodservice operations.
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As Senior Advisor for the R&DE Stanford Food Institute, I co-developed and led the MCURC Collective Impact Initiative from 2019-2024. This involved evaluating and leveraging the collective buying power of 30+ member institutions to improve the nutrition profile of food purchases and reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions. During my tenure overseeing this program I analyzed over 300 million pounds of food, identified the most likely paths to progress, provided scenario modeling, disseminated case studies and key learnings, and supported institutions in successfully reducing collective food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 24.3% – achieving 97% of our 2030 goal in only 5 years. Learn more on the MCURC Collective Impact website and MCURC Collective Impact Early Learnings Report.
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Much of my work over the past decade has focused on leveraging taste and deliciousness as strategies to encourage better food choices. I helped lead the implementation of Stanford’s famous DISH study (Delicious Impressions Support Healthy Eating) which found that taste-focused labeling significantly increased consumption of vegetables in university dining halls. Following the study, I oversaw a revamp of Stanford’s food labeling program to integrate these findings. From this research, I also helped co-create the Edgy Veggies toolkit which has guided foodservice operators in K-12 schools, universities, hospitals, and worksites around the world in implementing taste-focused labeling. My other research has focused on elevating the role of chefs in promoting healthy and sustainable food choices, partnering with the Culinary Institute of America to explore opportunities for promoting knowledge of nutrition and sustainability among current and future chefs.