Stefanie Sacks, MS, CNS, CDN, is a nationally recognized culinary nutritionist, author, educator, speaker, and consultant with more than thirty years of experience at the intersection of food, nutrition, cooking, and health. Her work is grounded in personalized nutrition and the belief that meaningful care must consider not only what we eat, but the biology, needs, preferences, experiences, and circumstances of the person eating it.
Stefanie holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from Teachers College, Columbia University, is a Certified Nutrition Specialist®, a Board-Certified Dietitian Nutritionist, and a graduate of the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. Her academic and professional training is deeply informed by her personal journey of recovery from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), chronic illness, and disordered eating—experiences that continue to shape how she approaches nourishment, healing, and the human relationship with food.
Her book, What the Fork Are You Eating?, is a practical guide to navigating the modern food landscape with greater clarity and confidence. She is also the founder of WTFork.com, a community education platform that has evolved from helping people better understand their food to exploring the experiences, beliefs, relationships, and stories that shape how they nourish and care for themselves.
Today, Stefanie works with individuals, families, and communities through hands-on, trauma-informed culinary nutrition experiences that educate, empower, and transform. Her work bridges science and the kitchen, offering sustainable, real-world approaches that foster health, resilience, and connection. She integrates nutrition science, attachment and trauma research, behavior change, food education, and cooking to understand nourishment as both a biological and relational experience.
At the center of this work is Cook Therapy™, Stefanie’s trauma-informed culinary nutrition methodology exploring how the embodied and sensory experience of cooking may support agency, self-regulation, connection, culinary competence, and self-care. She is currently piloting this approach at The Retreat, a nonprofit serving individuals and families impacted by domestic abuse, and intends to pursue doctoral research to formally study and advance the methodology and its evidence base.
Over the course of her career, Stefanie has collaborated with leading integrative and functional medicine practitioners and advised cultural and culinary figures including Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Her work has included partnerships with Teachers College, Columbia University; the Environmental Working Group; and Luv Michael/US Autism Homes. In 2022, she authored The Health Benefits of a Plant-Forward Diet for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. A seasoned media contributor, she has appeared across broadcast, radio, print, and digital outlets, translating complex nutrition science into accessible, practical guidance.
Stefanie is an inductee of Les Dames d’Escoffier, serves on the advisory board of A Greener World and the NYC Impact Council for Pilot Light Chefs, and is a member of the American Nutrition Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is also an expert contributor to the Center for Nutritional Psychology and a member of the Founders Circle of Hidden Water, supporting the dignity and healing of those impacted by childhood sexual abuse.
She lives on the East End of Long Island with her husband, their two sons, and their rescue pup, Faith. Outside of her work, Stefanie loves cooking with her family, open water swimming, hiking, reading, and writing.
