PATH TO PANACEA
Holistic Nutrition & Culinary Education
We inspire curiosity, foster meaningful connections, and cultivate lifelong skills
through creative culinary experiences.
Food has a remarkable way of bringing us together. It connects us to our cultures, our communities, our planet, and ourselves. We believe there's so much more to discover beyond what's on our plates.
At Path to Panacea, we meet young people where they are, inviting them to experiment, ask questions, and discover what they're capable of in the kitchen and beyond. Through cooking, we explore nutrition, sustainability, and practical life skills while developing a deeper appreciation for where our food comes from and the cultural traditions that shape how we cook and eat.
We believe these experiences offer so much more than culinary skills. They inspire independence, strengthen communities, and bring joy to the kitchen and around the table. Together, we're finding our own path to panacea.
EXPEDITION KITCHEN
Culinary Camps
If you've got a Jr. Chef seeking nourishing, engaging, and delicious culinary adventures we're here for you! For us, the kitchen is a safe and fun place to explore, ask questions, and learn. Food connects the family and the community and cooking for others shows that we care. We are excited to create a space where kids can connect, reflect, gain confidence, and explore with all of their senses. Our live and virtual experiences will transport young learners to a safe space where they can get creative while exploring new foods and flavors. Kids will be able to ask questions, connect with other enthusiastic young chefs, and share their progress as we cook and practice techniques resulting in delicious family memories.
FIRST, LISTEN.
THEN, LEARN.
NOW, ACT.
21-Day Racial Equity
Habit Building Challenge
Join me (along with thousands of other people across the US) and commit to deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront racism for twenty-one consecutive days. At the very least, the challenge will raise your awareness. But for many participants, it goes beyond that and changes the way they see and interact with the world.
We cannot talk or about the food system without addressing social justice. The movement toward a just and sustainable food system is interconnected to every other movement for liberation and equality. While our minds are rightfully focused on dismantling deadly power structures in policing, these systems are also at play in the way we grow, harvest, and eat food.
Alicia is a culinary educator, holistic nutritionist, and local and sustainable food advocate. She holds a Bachelor of Sciences from Florida State University and is a graduate of Bauman College with a certificate in holistic nutrition.
In 2014, Alicia began working directly with Bay Area youth; exploring farmer's markets and creative cooking via CUESA’s Foodwise Kids program. As Nutrition Education Coordinator for Bay Leaf Kitchen, Alicia created a progressive culinary curriculum that enriched the lives of hundreds of Bay Area families. She has served as a teen mentor and associate chef at Ceres CommunityProject, guiding teens in the preparation of nourishing organic meals for low-income communities struggling with serious health challenges. She is the Director of Education and Head Chef at Culinary Artistas, introducing youth all over San Francisco to new flavors and culinary concepts. She co-founded Joyful Family Cooking with Elianna Friedman, an online course and initiate to bring joy back to the family meal.
In addition, Alicia was a valued team member at critically acclaimed restaurants Cotogna and State Bird Provisions for nearly a decade. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to education, Alicia favors a patient and observant path, inviting the learning process to be made fun, creative, and unique.
She’s on a mission to help families make healthy habits come to life in tangible and sustainable ways, teaching young eaters to cook nutritious meals and build lifelong healthy relationships with food. On a sunny day, you will find Alicia merrily frolicking around any number of local farmer's markets, growing and cooking nourishing food,
exploring the natural world, or wildcrafting botanicals.
MICHAEL POLLAN
“Cooking (from scratch) is the single most important thing we could do as a family to improve our health and general well being”
“But we must not forget that one of the most important links between people and food is the principle of pleasure; the pleasure that derives from using the senses but also the pleasure of discovery, the pleasure of manipulating raw materials to create foods, the pleasure of play and the pleasure of company, which at the table becomes conviviality.”
EXCERPT FROM REGGIO CHILDREN PUBLICATION ‘THE LANGUAGES OF FOOD RECIPES, EXPERIENCES, THOUGHTS’ BY REGGIO CHILDREN
Eating Outside of the Box
A REGGIO EMILIO APPROACH TO CHILDHOOD NUTRITION
With an image of the child as confident, capable, competent, curious, a co-constructor, and a natural observer, food invites children’s learning to be made visible in ways most creative and unique. Every child brings with them deep curiosity and potential and this innate curiosity drives their learning experiences in the world. Children learn to nourish themselves using all of their senses. We encourage discovering new foods by seeing, touching, smelling, tasting and listening to them. As teachers, we take a very patient and observant path. Allowing children to explore new foods in a variety of forms over time allows them to develop adventurous eating habits and a deeper understanding of the diversity of food.
Authentically inspired, children’s exploration of food in the learning environment encourages much interaction, sharing, and co-construction of knowledge. Inviting children to explore food connects the learning to a sensory experience that heightens children’s senses. Taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound are all intensely connected to the relationship between people and food. Food opens the mind and connects it to the body making for an authentic starting point where children can begin to communicate their perspectives, experiences, and understandings on so many levels.
In the home, the kitchen is where the family gathers, and where children should always feel welcome to enter and ask questions, explore, taste and be creative. We look at mealtimes as the experience of food, rather than simply the feeding of children. Every moment spent in the kitchen and around the table can be a valuable learning experience creating lifelong patterns. When food is intentionally and thoughtfully presented and shared by the whole family, time spent around the table turns to community ritual that everyone can look forward to.
"I loved the individualized attentiveness of Alicia. Her enthusiasm, passion, and knowledge are encouraging no matter where you stand on your path."
-ALEXANDRE P.
"Alicia's passion for and creativity in getting students to understand content and apply it to their lives is immeasurable."
MICHAEL M.
