I have loved good food and enjoyed cooking for as long as I can remember. I bought my first cookbook in the second grade (I’ll never forget the title, “The Calling All Girls Party Cookbook!”), and found my way into the kitchen as much as I could. 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 with 28 first cousins (on one side of the family!) where sit-down holiday dinners for 85 people are the norm (how, you might ask – organization! But more on that later …).
Some of my fondest memories are of simple family gatherings, both large and small, with long tables of bowls and platters piled high, the laughter of my cousins echoing and the comfort of tradition warming my soul.
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.