Seminole Tribe Nutrition Coordinator Karen Two Shoes: From Diabetes to Dietitian

How do you eat healthy when it feels like the system is set up for you to fail? For indigenous Floridians, it’s become especially challenging to eat the foods that sustained their ancestors for thousands of years.Having been pushed off of their land, given ultraprocessed government foods and finding their surroundings polluted, many members of Florida’s Seminole Tribe wrestle with lifestyle-related health issues.Karen Two Shoes knows this all too well. After being diagnosed with diabetes, she decided to make some changes. She lost 80 pounds and went back to school to become a registered dietitian. Today, Two Shoes works as nutrition coordinator for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, helping her fellow community members reclaim their health by incorporating traditional Seminole practices into the 21st century.Two Shoes chatted with Dalia about her own health journey and how she’s inspiring others.