The Food Game

I was the kid at school with the weird lunch. Our kitchen was stocked with whole grain breads, Ak Mak crackers, nutritional yeast, tamari, homemade yogurt, tofu, tempe, granola, nuts, fresh organic fruits and vegetables. My mother would prepare meatless spaghetti, broccoli lasagna and countless bean and cheese quesadillas. There was always roasted vegetables and a pot of cooked brown rice with lentils. And we were vegetarians -- no meat, fish or chicken. However, my father wasn't a vegetarian.

He would sit me on a stool in the middle of his kitchen to watch and learn how to cook traditional African American cuisine including fried chicken, BBQ neck bones, collard greens, candied yams, gumbo, jambalaya and many more mouth-watering dishes that his family has prepared for generations.Passionate about great food and sharing similar values, I began a career with Whole Foods Market in Berkeley.