Carolyn O'Neil

Coming Up

The broadcast side of food writing came into focus early, when Carolyn O'Neil served as senior correspondent and executive producer of "on the menu" at CNN. That role put food storytelling inside the pace of television, where reporting has to be clear, timely, and workable on air. From there, she moved into teaching at Florida State University’s London Study Centre in London as professor of nutrition science and nutrition communication, and at Emory University in Atlanta as professor of journalism. Across those posts, the skill stayed consistent: making complex ideas about food and health legible without flattening them. Today, Carolyn O'Neil works as Nutrition Advisor of Delta Air Lines, a role that keeps her inside the systems behind inflight meal service. She is also a member of Google Food Lab, host of Watch What You Eat with Carolyn O’Neil, and an Advisory Board Member of Forbes Health Advisory Board (since 2026). The range matters less than the pattern: media, education, and food strategy all returning to the same trade question of how to serve people well, with information that holds up under scrutiny.

Where They Are Now

Carolyn O'Neil is the Nutrition Advisor to Delta Air Lines and host of Watch What You Eat with Carolyn O'Neil. In her own words, "I am currently the Nutrition Advisor to Delta Air Lines responsible for streamlining the airline’s special meal offerings for inflight services worldwide." The work is operational as much as editorial: special meal offerings, inflight services worldwide, and the need to keep the system coherent while still accounting for individual needs. She also says, "I’m in my farm tour era." Read plainly, that places her attention closer to the source of food. It points toward farms, producers, and the conditions that shape what eventually reaches the traveler, rather than only the polished result on the tray or the screen.

Signature

Carolyn's signature dishes include The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!, On The Menu, and Watch What You Eat with Carolyn O’Neil. The titles track the span of her work: approachable nutrition framing in The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!, broadcast food coverage in On The Menu, and a more current conversational format in Watch What You Eat with Carolyn O’Neil. Taken together, they show a practice built on making nutrition readable and useful without stripping away its substance.

In Their Words “I am currently the Nutrition Advisor to Delta Air Lines responsible for streamlining the airline’s special meal offerings for inflight services worldwide.”

Recognition

Carolyn O'Neil has received American Heart Association honor.