‘I’m just here to show them that vegetables can be delicious as well.’
When Brittany Boothroyd enrolled in the Culinary Institute of Canada in 2012, she had no idea she’d be giving up meat.
“I was enthusiastic about preparing meat and cooking it properly, and I used to feel a little defensive around vegetarians and vegans because I didn’t understand their point of view,” she explained.
“This is natural, I thought. This is how we’ve been taught to behave. This is my line of work.”
However, after having to exclude meat from her diet due to stomach issues, the Red Seal-certified chef gradually realised the benefits of a plant-based diet and became a full vegetarian in 2016.
“My father died of a heart attack… doctors discovered that his heart was nearly entirely obstructed,” she explained. “I feel that a plant-based diet can practically work as a preventative medicine to keep our bodies happy and healthy,” says the source. When you throw in the ethical and environmental considerations, I’ve very much run out of reasons to consume meat.”
After longer than a decade going in restaurants as the now vegan My Plum My Duck and Nimrod’s, Boothroyd recently chose to leave the sector to pursue a different means of sharing her passion for plant-based food.
“I’ve recently realised that the way the restaurant industry operates is no longer viable, both for the employees and for the owners. With rising food and labour expenses, food is going to have to be extremely expensive for anyone to earn any money.
So what I truly want to do is reconnect people to the art of cooking for themselves “she stated
“People my age lacks cooking skills. They know how to make basic meals; they don’t know how to cook healthy meals, they don’t know how to cook confidently, and they certainly don’t know how to feed their families and friends.”
Boothroyd has been offering seminars for Islanders who want to start eating more plant-based foods but aren’t sure where to begin.
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