Franklin ShopRite hires dietician

FRANKLIN — Customers can now receive free health and wellness advice, counseling and meal planning at the ShopRite of Franklin, courtesy of ShopRite’s new in-store Registered Dietitian, Tara Gerke, RD.
“We are very excited to add Tara to our team,” said Dominick J. Romano, vice president of Operations at RoNetco Supermarkets, Inc., operators of the ShopRite of Franklin. “We’re confident Tara’s experience and passion for health and wellness will be a wonderful asset to our customers, our associates and our community.”
As the new Registered Dietitian for the ShopRite of Franklin, Tara provides free health and wellness services to assist customers on a range of issues, from learning how to shop and prepare healthy meals, to proper nutrition for specific health conditions and dietary needs, especially newly diagnosed customers with diabetes and heart conditions. She offers recipes with healthy alternatives, provides information on pantry makeovers, and navigates the aisles with shoppers to help them better understand food labels. In addition, she partners with local hospitals, schools and non-profits to conduct free health and wellness-focused workshops and seminars.
All nutritional services are available to customers free of charge. To make an appointment with Tara, customers can contact her directly at Tara.GerkeRD@wakefern.com, by phone at (973) 827-6135, ext. 173, or simply stop by her office inside the ShopRite of Franklin while they are shopping. Customers can also visit ShopRite.com to see her full calendar of events.
Gerke, who is a long time resident of Basking Ridge, N.J., earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. She completed her dietetic internship at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. Before joining the ShopRite of Franklin in September 2016, Ms. Gerke worked as a dietitian’s assistant at a HyVee grocery store in Missouri, and later as a nutrition coach/personal trainer at LifeTime Athletic. An avid sports fan, Ms. Gerke enjoys watching hockey, football and baseball games; she’s a New Jersey Devils and New York Giants fan. She is currently training for her second full marathon, which she will be running next April in Paris, France with her mother.
As part of ShopRite’s in-store dietitian team, Ms. Gerke is one of more than 130 Registered Dietitians who service ShopRite customers in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland.
The ShopRite of Franklin is located at 270 Route 23, Franklin, NJ 07416. The store is open Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.