Virginia Messina, MPH, RD

Ginny is a registered dietitian with a Master’s Degree in public health from the University of Michigan. She writes about vegetarian and vegan diets for both the public and health professionals. She blogs at TheVeganRD.com and is a regular columnist for examiner.com, OurHenHouse.com, and OneGreenPlanet.com.

She is also the co-author of two books on vegan nutrition, Vegan for Life and Vegan for Her, and of the first vegetarian textbooks for health professionals, The Dietitians’ Guide to Vegetarian Diets. She has twice co-authored the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Position on Vegetarian Diets, and writes two columns on current vegetarian nutrition research for a newsletter published for vegetarian RDs. She speaks on vegan and vegetarian nutrition at scientific events for health professionals as well as events for the public.

Ginny taught nutrition to dietetics students at Central Michigan University, was a dietitian for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and was director of nutrition services for the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC.

She lives in Port Townsend, Washington with her husband and an ever-changing population of rescued cats. When she’s not researching and writing about vegan nutrition, she volunteers for her local animal shelter, practices piano, gardens, collects vintage kitchen linens, and is learning to knit with plant fibers.