Contributor, TCS

Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP is food editor and writer, formerly managing editor of multiple national special interest magazines for Better Homes and Gardens and produced the content for about twenty of their consumer food, nutrition and health titles. She's been food editor for regional magazines such as the Dining Book in Texas and LaCocinita in New Mexico where she was also a weekly food and restaurant columnist for over six years. A certified culinary professional and recipe developer for more than twenty years, she is author of Sandia Shadows Winery Cookbook (Sandia Shadows Winery, 1995); Real New Mexico Chile--An Insider's Guide to Cooking with Chile (Golden West Publishers, 1996); contributor to Saveur Cooks Authentic American (Chronicle Books, 1998) and Best American Recipes 1999 (Houghton Mifflin, 1999); writer of One-Pot Meals American Heart Association (Clarkson Potter Inc., 2003); and her upcoming cookbook The Land of Light--New Mexico's Culinary Heritage Preserved in Contemporary Recipes. She also serves on the Executive Committee as a judge for the annual International Association of Culinary Professionals Julia Child cookbook awards. She won an international 2004 Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism.

She's also a registered nurse, with a science degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and over 27 years in neonatal intensive care and pediatric emergency triage, medical outreach education and preventative health communications. Her focus has been on nutrition, weight and eating issues, and writing critical analysis of the research, science and fears surrounding food and health. She has also written and spoken on junk science; risk analysis and communicating risks to consumers; food and health fears; and the economic, political and public health implications of science-based policy decisions. Contributing to Competitive Enterprise Institute and Tech Central Station, she authored Fishy Advice: An Examination of the Evidence and Politics Surrounding the Dangers of Methylmercury in Fish and Mercury Emissions (Competitive Enterprise Institute, Issue Analysis, December, 2004). Her articles have also appeared in Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Saveur, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Austin Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Good Life, New Mexico Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Hemisphere Magazine, Mountain Living, Cooking Light, East Mountain Telegraph, and Albuquerque Journal.

She is a member of the National Council Against Health Fraud, Society for Risk Analysis, Association for Size Diversity and Health, Advisory Board for NAAFA, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Her upcoming book is The Truth About Obesity and Dieting--Dangers and good news we're never told.