Patron Feature - Ish Holmes

Being born in the Philippines and raised as a military brat, I was exposed to multiple cultures and delicious, bold flavors from around the world as a kid. The running joke when my parents would host parties at the house was that the United Nations was coming together.

We had every type of food imaginable at these gatherings. And on the regular, my Filipina mom and Black American dad from the South made sure there was no shortage of filling, amazing meals at home.

So, it’s strange to me that it’s taken me so long to arrive at a deep interest in food on my own journey through life.

Side note: it may have taken this long because I’m what people might call a Renaissance Soul. I have virtually unlimited interests, and my professional life reflects that. I went to school for accounting. Then for fine arts. Then for advertising. Then real estate. 

I’ve worked in marketing, fashion, and technology. I’ve owned a cleaning business, a printing business, a photography studio, a design agency, etc.

But, back to food. Something happened that made my relationship with it unignorable for me.

Prior to the pandemic, I cooked for myself maybe once per month. I was working long hours, and was always on the go, and my “fast food” choices became poorer and poorer as I got busier and busier. 

Over time, I gained a lot of weight and felt myself becoming addicted to the processed foods I’d grown so accustomed to eating. For nearly two decades, I poisoned my body with bad choices, undoing all of the wonderful, nutritional food I grew up eating with my family.

At the height of the pandemic, it finally caught up to me.

At the beginning of 2021 I was feeling worse than I ever had in my life. I had extremely low energy, lack of mental clarity and focus, bouts of dizziness, lots of aches and pains, and just a general unwellness. When I finally went to the doctor for a solution, I was diagnosed with prediabetes, high cholesterol, and vitamin deficiency.

I finally began to really, seriously cook nutritious foods for myself (and research everything imaginable). Since that diagnosis I’ve become determined to reverse these conditions through cooking and eating better food that’s still as flavorful and enjoyable as possible.

I enrolled in culinary school to sharpen my skills, started growing my own food, started experimenting daily at home with plant-forward dishes, and joined this community to learn more about food, nutrition education for underserved communities, and the art of cookery.

My goal is to eventually develop the skills and platform to help others take control of their health and well being through learning to grow and cook food that excites and nourishes them. I’m calling this project Flavors right now, and am excited to see if it becomes a cookbook, after school program for kids, community garden project, or all of the above.

Instagram: @ishholmes

Full Contact

The planet has finally grown its own nervous system: us.
Daniel Dennett, We Earth Neurons (1999)

After a few months living in the woods, I reflect on what elements of this regenerative lifestyle brought the most joy and balance to my life. In my previous newsletter edition, I shared a few thoughts on how our way of life is possibly our most powerful statement in the face of today’s complexities and injustices.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to spend most of the past three months living in full contact with nature. Literally, immersed in her.

One of the insights that keeps crystallising in my heart is how the closer the connection to the elements and the bounty of the earth, the more simple joy and tranquility shines in our daily lives. For instance, most of the cooking I enjoyed throughout the past months was powered by woodfire. And the wood that went into the cooking stove was either picked and broken by hand in the woods, or cut with an electric chainsaw and axe. The energy stored in the wood, gathered through years of tree growth fueled by sunshine, water and soil nutrients, released by fire in the stove, cooked my food. In a way, I was fed cooked food by the woods.

Granted, this required a significant “investment” of time and energy from my end, but both the picking and cutting of the wood, and feeding it to the fire became an integral part in the act of cooking, one that connected me daily to the reality of food as a process fueled by fire. Cooked food is thanks to fire. As a result, I feel gratitude for being able to touch and enact deeper layers of the everyday act of feeding - joy that was then conferred and shared with anyone gathering around that hearth. And that led me to ponder about the role of food, and cooking, in modern society. A relationship we have largely been untethered from in modern cities. And so, I feel inspired to think about the role of this connection in how we define human life itself - a definition very much at stake in the technological post-truth world we are living, seeing the consequences of radically opposed worldviews feeding on separation, fear and scarcity mindsets. So, is there a right or wrong way to live? How are humans’ biology meant to thrive within modern paradigms? How can we make the invisible and sine qua non processes (like the fire warmly burning in my stove), visible?

The biosphere may be regarded as a region of transformers that convert cosmic radiations into active energy in electrical, chemical, mechanical, thermal, and other forms. Radiations from all stars enter the biosphere, but we catch and perceive only an insignificant part of the total; this comes almost exclusively from the sun . - Vladimir I. Vernadsky -

According to Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third phase of development of the Earth, after the  biosphere, i.e. all life on earth, and the geosphere - inanimate matter, minerals, water, gases. While the emergence of life has largely transformed the geosphere already, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transforms the biosphere. So much so, we are now living a new geological era - the Anthropocene. And while the biosphere was shaped by natural forces powered mainly by the solar energy captured through photosynthesis by plants and algae through eons, this idea of noosphere suggests that from now on, evolution is up to humans and what we do with that energy.

If we are to take Daniel Dennett’s metaphor a bit further, as individual neurons - disposable yet indispensable - we form networks and patterns that are prone to shape-shifting. Just like a human brain, our human society is malleable, it has plasticity. The way the mind—your mind—works and interacts with the world, be it through your voice, presence, or actions, has an immediate effect on those around you. Touched, they too can shape others around them. With practice, patterns change and evolve to create new, more appropriate ones, as long as they are tuned to the success of the whole and not just the individual neurons, or clusters of neurons. Yet, if our mindset is, say, pessimistic, wasting significant energy and resources for no collective benefit, we may indeed be acting against the collective evolution of all humans, and all life on Earth.

You may be surprised at reading these words, and wondering where I get these ideas - writing about some of the forces that drive life on Earth, isn’t this guy supposed to be a chef? I saw him on Netflix 😳 - well, that is a glimpse of the book I am writing. (YES! Yes, my intention met action over the summer).

As you can read above, there is something so universal to the feeling that inspires the title and form of the book, that I have to write outside of my comfort zone (not that I feel comfortable in any kitchen apart from the one in that treehouse, tbh) in order to grasp the bigger picture I am convinced we are able to paint if we bring food back at the centre of our lives…

The links, invitations and content you see below are the current applied wisdom I am able to share and orient you—curious mind, reading this far—to. An intention to share more mindful ways of eating, consuming, relating to the pleasures of life, and celebrating the gift of being alive. That is the invitation, once again, with the content you can access through this newsletter.

Never underestimate the power of the individual, and coordinated neurons who, in time, can draw better patterns for the whole. Our future depends on what the collective mind makes of the abundance bestowed on our species.

Wishing you a beautiful, consciously delicious, end of year 2021…

CxM.

Chris Massamba | Patron Feature

Every month, I will feature the work and story of one of my Patrons. This month, I’m introducing you to Chris Massamba!

My name is Chris Massamba, I was born in Congo, raised in Paris and worked in the UK. I am currently travelling across Central and South America to build my cultural knowledge of the different countries culinary traditions especially within the indigenous and Afro-descendants communities.

I am a registered nutritional therapist, the work within my consultation platform epinutri.com is to help people gain a greater understanding of their bio-individual nutritional needs and digestive capacities in order to remedy some of their underlying chronic symptoms and optimise their overall physical and mental performance. So I create unique individualised protocols which includes personalised diet, selected nutritional supplementation and lifestyle optimisations plans. 

I’m also a professional chef with over 25 years of chef experiences. I have worked professionally in restaurants and hotels in Paris and London. I have crafted my skills by also self-learning and studying the work of well-known chefs such as Alain Passard, Michel Roux and Matthew Kenney.

Over 20 years ago I transitioned my diet to a plant-based (raw and vegan) due to several health challenges which lead me to study nutrition in order to gain a core understanding of the science of food and biology. 

My core philosophical culinary standing is to creatively extract and optimise the health benefits of each ingredients, so to have a greater nutritional impact. 

I have experimented with these principles by establishing various projects (Food market trucks, Raw and Vegan Food Supper Clubs and workshops), which lead me to gain major media features in newspaper and TV (Evening Standard, Channel 4 river cottage, Guardian).

More recently he was invited to Colombia, as a Guest Chef at the International Book Festival of Cali, to design and deliver a menu that represents a cross junction between some of the African and South American culinary traditions.

I have admired the work of Charles Michel ever since I saw him on the Netflix Program “The Final Table.” I’m delighted to have met him and to be present in his platform to learn about the crucial need to educate the mass on the absolute need to be engaged in establishing a greater sustainable food system which has at his core the welfare of the planet and the individual.

Instagram @chris_sundiata_massamba 

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris Massamba for dinner in Bogotá a few weeks ago! I first met Chris virtually at the Sustainability & Privilege UnConference hosted by @charlesxmichelpatrons in January, when he wowed the audience with an eye-opening comparison of seeing culture as water. It meant so much to me to share a plant-based meal at @casa_lelyte with Chris, and to glean his wisdom at the intersection of culinary, science, spirituality, and nutrition. So grateful for the relationships made and fostered through Patreon!

Chris Massamba

Me and Chris

Jenny Mavromatidou | Patron Feature

Every month, I will feature the work and story of one of my Patrons. This month, I’ll introduce you to one of my mentees, Jenny Mavromatidou!

I live in Thessaloniki, Greece with my 10-year-old daughter. I am a molecular geneticist and have a PhD in medicine, with a specialization in renal genetics. Renal disease is highly associated with the amount of nutrition we receive from our diets, and I noticed through my research how much more improved patients’ lives were when food culture and education were introduced. Because of this, I got my chef’s degree and co-founded a renal clinic, which I have been administrator of for the last 11 years.

I have recently created the “Niftyroots” food culture concept to provide a loving, safe environment for children to learn fundamental food education and to understand how their eating influences our precious planet. After all, it’s our children from whom change shall come! This knowledge helps kids—as well as their family and friends—how to better respect nature, food, soil, ingredients, flavors and recipes. It is my hope to create an in-person school one day soon to give home to my nifty dream.

I consider myself blessed and lucky to be mentored in this journey by the amazing human being, Charles Michel, whose giant heart and deep knowledge in food education made it possible for me to believe in my dream and speak from the heart!

Instagram @niftyroots  | Facebook Nifty Roots  

Jenny surprised us with incredible food creations and presentations during Live Cooking Classes in past months! When we started the Mentorship programme, I was so inspired by her expertise and vision to lift up food education for health.

I feel blessed to know you Jenny! And honoured to be able to support your journey. The work you are doing is what the world needs more of!

I sometimes have to pinch myself… what an inspiring Community we are weaving 🙏

Jenny Mavromatidou

Roli Schreffel | Patron Feature

Every month, I will feature the work and story of one of my Patrons. We’ll start with Roli - OG Patron since January 2019!

My name is Roli Schreffel (@roli.schreffel), and I am 34 years old, born and living in Arad, Romania. I have been a dental technician since 2005. I cook only as a hobby and have never been in a professional kitchen, but I dream one day I will. A few months ago I started a small business with my own homemade hot sauce @128hotsauce, which is made with only fresh and natural ingredients. I joined Charles on Patreon on the first day he posted this project on Instagram and have learned many things from him.

I hope to taste Roli’s food one day! He has such a knack for plating with whimsy, sophistication, and simplicity.

Roli Schreffel