By Contributing Editor Blair Drake

When Carol Johnson was working on her Bachelor of Science in food science and management at Pratt Institute in New York City, she realized she wanted to help people take a proactive approach to their health.

“I didn’t want to work with people who had a health condition and tell them what they had to do to fix it,” she said. “I wanted to be on the front end and work with people on how to develop and live healthy lifestyles to prevent disease.”

The New York native went on to receive a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and after graduating, she got a job as a public health nutritionist for the Arizona Department of Health Service.

In 1978, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service and was recruited to work for the Indian Health Service as a nutritionist, which took her to Santa Fe, N.M. Her 25-year career included developing nutrition programs, training tribal personnel nationwide, coordinating health promotion activities, and serving as a liaison between the Indian Health Service and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Since retiring from the Public Health Service as a captain in 2002, she has continued to ensure members of her community have knowledge about and access to nutritious meals.

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In 2006, she joined the board of directors of the Food Depot, a Santa Fe food bank that provides over 5 million meals each year. She has used her background and nutrition expertise to help the Food Depot identify the foods that are best to purchase and include in packages and on suggested donation lists.

Johnson became a member of the board of the United Way of Santa Fe County in 2013, where she has been able to combine her passions for nutrition and children through the creation of Kids Kitchen. This joint venture between the United Way of Santa Fe County and the Food Depot provides healthy meals and introduces a variety of nutritious food choices to children and families. “All of the meals are made from scratch using ... locally sourced foods,” Johnson said.

In addition to these volunteer efforts, Johnson also is past president of the Santa Fe NAACP and a member of the Roadrunner Chapter of MOAA. Because of her years of service to her community, she was named one of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference for 2019.

Johnson said that though her “plate is currently full,” she couldn’t imagine retirement being any other way. “I have a passion for health,” she said. “You’re not just going to give up.”

What’s Johnson’s No. 1 piece of nutrition advice? “There are no good or bad foods. Eat what you enjoy but in moderation (how often and how much). And eat wholesome foods — foods the way they came, not packaged.”