About

Nourishing Tender Roots is a food culture curriculum resource for educators, families, and communities working with children in grades K through 6. It was built on a simple, but powerful belief that teaching children how similar we are through food can open their minds and lighten the veil that divides us.

I am a former fine dining restaurateur with 28 years of experience and a classroom educator with a focus on K-3 and special education. I created Nourishing Tender Roots because I believe food is one of the most powerful teachers we have of culture, of geography, of family memory, and of our shared humanity.

I am a child of immigrants from Sicily and the Azores. In 1900, my great-grandmother arrived at Ellis Island carrying everything she knew in a large wooden trunk. This site and the trunks I am building are my way of carrying that forward.

Welcome to my Table