Edible Notables: The Cultured Chefs
We are all familiar with the catastrophic weather and climate events happening around the world throughout the year. Close to home, the smoky skies remind us that B.C. is burning, and the dry temperatures in the prairies are heralding poor harvests. While we scroll through the latest updates and shake our heads in despair, how many of us are making a real effort to help our province’s—let alone our planet’s—health?
Ado and Shayna Grimwood-Adam are a Vancouver Island couple who are making that effort, striving to educate their community on the importance of organic, sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy sources and responsible resource management. “Watching the environmental crisis (wildfires, drought and floods) impact food supply…makes us wish to get people excited about how delicious healthy tasting food is, and in the process, educate them about why it is so vitally important—not just in their own lives and the lives of their children, but for the health of the planet.”
The couple offers in-home private chef and nutrition services in addition to private chef delivery and remote nutrition services. They love growing their own food, often incorporating ingredients from their organic, biodynamic garden into their service offerings, and supplementing the recipes with locally grown, organic products from other farmers in the region. “We see ourselves as filling a gap on the Island, where there is a lack of accessibility to private chef services that focus on organic, farm-to-table foods, custom-made for optimal nutrition benefit,” says Shayna.
They are well-suited to the job. Both self-proclaimed “foodies,” Shayna’s background in holistic nutrition combined with Ado’s natural talents as a cook creates the perfect recipe for running The Cultured Chefs. Ado grew up in Jinja, Uganda, watching and learning as his mother used traditional, herb and spice-infused ingredients to create their meals. He brought this skill set with him when he began professionally cooking in Tanzania. When he met Shayna, they discovered that the herbs and foods Shayna was passionate about as a nutritionist were the same ones Ado had grown up with and learned to incorporate into his cooking. The pair “naturally found magic together in the kitchen.”
Having moved to the Island in 2017, Ado and Shayna love living in their community of the Cowichan Valley. “[It’s] a local community who is welcoming of people of colour, from other cultures,” says Shayna. As an African-Canadian run business, it’s important to be supported by people who value and respect their diverse life experience and backgrounds, which is a big part of what makes The Cultured Chefs such a welcome success.
Although many people purport to value organic agriculture and holistic nutrition, “there is still a huge gap in understanding the importance of organic agriculture as a healthcare, environmental and social justice issue,” explains Shayna. With their business created on the values of environmentalism and sustainable farming, they hope to help educate consumers and create a world where organic products are the norm, prices decrease, and it becomes affordable to everyone.
Ado and Shayna have also been running their registered Canadian Charity Eco Mamas Global Community Gardens on a 100% not-for-profit basis since 2013 (working in the region since 2009) focused on organic agriculture, holistic nutrition and herbal medicine. They have founded a food bank in order to support basic food security needs in the region during COVID-19 with a high-protein porridge they grow themselves at their outdoor education centre and community garden in Jinja, Uganda, near Ado’s home town. If you wish to support this initiative, contact them at info@ecomamasglobal.com or read more at www.ecomamasglobal.com.
The Edible Notables Series is proudly sponsored by Beacon Law Centre.
