Anthea Amore, Author and Chef, Inspires in this Interview with CrowdInk

CrowdInk had the opportunity to sit down with Anthea Amore, author of PASSION: Organic Vegan Recipes to Live For, online cooking guru, and entrepreneur. She talks about being a conscious, ethical consumer, GMOs, fair trade products, and even the cookbook process. Color us inspired.

CrowdInk: What was the inspiration behind PASSION: Organic Vegan Recipes to Live For? 

Anthea Amore: I started dreaming about putting out a cookbook almost 20 years ago, so PASSION was a long time in the making. It was born from my desire to share my healthy vegan recipes which span almost 3 decades of cooking and recipe-creating! I am also passionate about sharing my philosophy and ethics about food and where it comes from and who and what is affected by our food choices so that was also a large part of it.

CI: What is your philosophy around organic healthy cooking?

AA: Organic is very important to me. It’s one of the small ways in my everyday life I can have a positive effect and impact on the world we live in. For maximum nutrients, respectful practices towards the earth, clean water and air, organically grown food is a natural choice for the conscious ethical consumer.

CI: Why should people consider ‘Fair Trade’ Products?

AA: Fair trade products help to ensure fair prices to third world countries and the farmers or artisans who produce the products. It encourages and promotes sustainability, healthy and safe work conditions and has helped to raise environmental standards.

CI: Why GMO-Free?

AA: Some research has shown that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO-foods) can have a negative impact on our body’s health. With not enough published and impartial testing and research being done, the potential risk to our health and our ecosystem is unknown and the risk is not worth it as the gains are clearly profit-driven by a small few who benefit.

CI: What has been the biggest challenge in becoming a published author? How did you overcome this?

AA: Finding the time to create a book and working full time to raise the money to publish! I’m not sure I’ve entirely overcome this, but I’ve struggled on with finding the work life balance and since a large part of my work is putting together healthy nutritious meals that has helped keep me on track quite a bit.

CI: What tip do you have for aspiring authors?

AA: Find a good editor and proofreader – they are worth every penny! Read and re-read your work, and re-write! It will probably save you a lot of time and money. Be honest and authentically who you are and let that come through in your book. Generic or copy cat ideas seem soulless and may not attract the audience you deserve or want. NEVER give up on your dreams and stay focussed on your goal. Oh and work on it often – discipline is the key!

CI: What makes this book unique from other books in a similar category?

AA: It’s not just a good, user friendly recipe book, with a colour photo per recipe,  it is full of information on the ethics of eating and consuming food plus it has a comprehensive pantry list and loads of tips about the health benefits of different ingredients I use so that if you’re looking to boost immunity or help your gut it’s easy to find what you should be eating.

CI: What is your favourite mouth-watering recipe? (that is found in the book)

AA: That is too hard! But two of my favourites are the Broccoli & Leek Arancini balls with parsley pesto and the Rich chocolate cheezecake.

CI:How can people connect with you? How can they get a copy of your book? (links to website, social media etc)

AA: You can purchase a copy of PASSION on our website or find a list of stockists in your area – organicpassioncatering.com. You can email me on: info@organicpassioncatering.com and you can like us and follow us on Instagram and Facebook – facebook/Organic-Passion-Catering, Instagram – @organicpassion