Roots to Work: the food educator

Please introduce yourself and give a brief overview of what you do.

I’m Sam, a nutritional therapist, chef, and food educator. I am founder of The Life Larder  a newsletter and community platform aimed at people passionate about creating tasty, effortless food that is good for our bodies and our planet. 

I was previously Course Director for the Natural Chef School at The College of Naturopathic Medicine, and currently educate chefs and individuals about food that nourishes our body and soil through my own business, and with the ‘Tomorrow’s Kitchen’ team.   

I have spoken at Groundswell, ORFC, Chef’s Manifesto and Food Tank, am an ambassador for the Soil Association, and write widely about the soil to health connection in places such as Resurgence & Ecologist, Women’s Health and Naturopathy Magazine.

What was your route into the sustainable food sector?

I used to work in media agencies in training and talent. I worked with incredible people – but one thing always used to bother me. Whenever we celebrated something it was done with beers, wine, pizza, cake…and the next day when people would come into the office they weren’t on top form. My job in training was to teach them how to create awesome PowerPoints, or how to network well – but never to be well. I’ve always known I wanted to work in food, but this sent me on a journey to look at food through a nutrition-focussed lens.  

I trained in nutrition at the College of Naturopathic Medicine around a full-time job, and working at restaurants or cooking on retreats – to see what food was like in theory as well as practice. Once I’d graduated there was still something missing for me – and that was the soil. I wasn’t convinced supplements or eating fruit and veg was solely the answer – so I did a City and Guilds organic gardening qualification and put my hands in the earth.

What’s the best thing about the work that you do?

I get to visibly see change with the people I work with – whether its showcasing sustainable produce or ideas that chefs can put straight on their menus, to cooking for clients with health conditions who see their symptoms lessen, what drives me is the impact I can have on a healthier food world (soil and bodies!)

What challenges or obstacles have you faced in your career and how have you overcome them?   

Changing career in my 30s felt very daunting. I’d made the decision in my 20s, but with training it took me a long time to bring everything together and to decide which direction to take my business in. I started talking about the soil and nutrition link before it was mainstream – and a lot of people I spoke to just didn’t think it would be something you could make a career out of.

I wasn’t focussed on business necessarily – more on empowering people with the information and skills I had learnt – I believe if you’re truly passionate about something that shines through everything you do, and keeps you going when its hard.

Who or what inspires your work in this movement?

Once you’re in this space, honestly, everyone working in sustainable food has an inspiring story. Sheila Das was a huge inspiration to me and helped me connect even further into the soil side of what I do, and Henry Dimbleby’s research and previous government food strategy has been incredibly inspiring in what a good food future can look like if supported more widely.

What are your hopes for the future?

That our climate, soil and health is taken seriously by governments and big businesses now. We are at a crunch point, and I believe in 50 year’s time if we don’t value the sustainable food sector on a global level more widely, we will have problems we can’t fix. There are so many people doing incredible work, and I want their voices to be heard by many more!

I also want landworkers to be given a fairer deal – wage-wise and price-wise for their produce. Without them we have no food.

What advice would you give to anyone that is passionate about sustainable food systems and wants to work in this sector?

Ask the questions you want to know the answers to to those already working in the space. Everyone who is part of the sustainable food world wants the same thing – and when we work together we’re more powerful. You’ll find people are very willing to share their knowledge and connect, so don’t be shy!

Follow Sam on Instagram or visit her website. Or listen to her on Gardener's World.