I have loved good food and enjoyed cooking for as long as I can remember. As a child, while other kids were at the playground, I was helping my father in the garden, watering plants and vines and watching miracles happen. I come from a large Italian-American family where sit-down holiday dinners for 85 people are the norm (how, you might ask – organization! But more on that later …).
The food I grew up with was never fancy, even though my mother always had a subscription to Gourmet. But I knew where the food came from and it was always real. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned more about the nourishing and healing power of food. And it wasn’t until I volunteered as a nutrition docent in an elementary school for Growing Great that it truly crystallized for me — our society has a big problem. I knew I had to do something, but was unsure of where to start.
I was asked to teach a “healthful cooking class” for a group of young mothers. The business grew organically from that first group and I knew I had a message — and a new mission — in life.