Nutrition and Dietetic Technician alumnus Troy Luengen teaches Milwaukee residents to eat healthier
Nutritionist Troy Luengen counsels clients that small changes can make a big difference.
Troy's healthy vision
For Troy Luengen, transforming an empty plate into a nutritious, delicious meal is part science, part persuasion and part art. “We like to say ‘eat the rainbow,’” said Luengen, a registered dietitian nutritionist who graduated from MATC in May 2024. “We all need to have color on our plates. Think of the dish as the canvas and what we eat as the art.” For the past year, Luengen has tried to create that art every day as one of five community nutritionists at Milwaukee Health Services Inc., a nonprofit health center with two locations in Milwaukee. He helps low-income residents make healthy choices about how they eat and what they eat. He counsels pregnant women and parents with children under the age of 5. He answers questions about eating habits, physical activity and overall health. He crafts individualized plans for clients so they can make nutritious, healthy meals using their state benefits. He also celebrates successes when they happen. “I take joy in seeing small milestones. In nutrition, changing small habits can make a big difference,” he said. “I love when parents feel empowered to make a difference for their families.” Nutrition certainly made a difference for Luengen’s family. In 2017, his mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. “She had always been a very healthy person, so this was shocking to us,” he recalled. “She was way too young to be living out of a pill box.” Luengen watched as his mother worked with nutritionists to create healthy meal plans to help fight the cancer, resist side effects of medication and build her strength. “I saw the overall positive impact all that had on her, and it sparked my interest at a real gut level,” he said.
A better way
Growing up in Slinger, Luengen struggled to find a career he felt passionate about. He considered sound engineering and audio production. “But when you live in rural Wisconsin, your choices for that are local radio or you move to Los Angeles, New York or Chicago,” he said. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and studied communications. His family had a history of military service, so he joined the U.S. Army while at UW-Whitewater. He was assigned to logistics management. He traveled the globe, spending time in Ukraine, Germany and other European countries.
When his mother fell ill and his interest in nutrition began to grow, Luengen noticed how Europeans cooked, using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and a variety of cooking techniques, and how they savored their meals. In America, many people convince themselves they are too busy to cook and enjoy proper meals, he said. “We are always rushing. It’s all about being fast. Fast food. Frozen food. Processed food. Microwaved food,” he said. “We treat 30 minutes like three hours.” Luengen started to research nutrition and dietitian careers, discovering there was a real need for those positions. A February 2025 analysis of employment data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that workers in nutrition were in high demand and had an unemployment rate of only 0.4% — the lowest in the healthcare field. Nursing was 1.4% and pharmacy was 3.2%. That was enough for Luengen. He could use his Army benefits to pay for school and looked into several colleges in Wisconsin. He read all about MATC’s Nutrition and Dietetic Technician program and met Heidi Katte, chair of the program. “She was very open about what I was looking for, and she was very realistic about the job market,” Luengen said. “After attending, I felt I could enter the job market fairly quickly. Also, MATC was local. It all made sense. It offered me the exact credential I needed to do what I wanted to do.”
He enrolled at MATC in 2022 and made the honor roll while working as a dietitian clerk at Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital. He graduated in the spring of 2024 with scholastic honors. Shortly after, he passed the national exam and became certified as a registered nutrition and dietetic technician. “Troy was an incredibly hard-working student, going to school and finding work in dietetics while with us,” Katte said. “He put forth good work and completed the program and his credential quite quickly upon graduation.” Luengen said that MATC prepared him well. “I was set up for success by instructors who challenged me; they harnessed the strengths of each student to make us do better,” he said. “They engaged us, recommended books and helped us home in on a specialty in the field. “They provided us with access to networking. They brought in employers to meet us and talk about what was going on in the real world.”
I was set up for success by instructors who challenged me; they harnessed my strengths of each student to make us do better.
Looking for a challenge
After graduating from MATC, Luengen took a job as a sports nutritionist at Balance Personalized Nutrition in Milwaukee. He worked with athletes, creating personalized nutrition plans to help them meet their goals. “That position helped me hone my one-on-one skills with people. Working with athletes was cool, but it wasn’t pushing me to where I wanted to be. I have always liked being challenged.” He found that challenge at Milwaukee Health Care Services. In September 2024, he took a job as a nutritionist for women, infant and child (WIC). The work can be stressful, but it’s fulfilling, he said. “In this position you need patience and understanding. I understand that I can’t solve every problem. People can be frustrated, but I realize they’re not frustrated with me; it’s their situation,” he said. “I always want the people I work with to be optimistic, to be looking forward.” Luengen himself is looking to the future. He wants to serve five more years in the Army, which would give him a 20-year career. He also plans to get his master’s degree in public health, or an associated field, and would like to work in community health at the county or state level. “I will always like addressing nutrition at an individual level,” he said. “But I would love to take that to an even greater level. I think that’s where I could make a real impact.”