My job: Art and nature meet in kitchen

Artist and chef Linda Oppenheimer says a green diet is good for the body and planet. Photo / Supplied

Name: Linda Oppenheimer (linda.oppenheimer@gmail. com).
Age: 58 (Feel like I'm 38).
Roles: Raw food chef, prop maker, illustrator, storyboard artist.
Working hours: Varies in contract work depending on the deadline.
Pay rates: Contract rates for artwork vary. After production and food costs the profit from the raw food course is approximately $1000 per workshop.

Describe what you do.

I run workshops on raw food preparation, a two-day course I created called "The Art of Living Food". I also work as an artist on a contract basis, drawing storyboards and making props for film and television.

Your history?

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Otis/Parsons in Los Angeles. My favourite job was four years as an exhibit designer for children's museums in New York and Los Angeles. I also taught art and art history to high school students, spent several years designing and building fine furniture and worked as a professional portrait painter, a prop maker and a storyboard artist. I have spent several years working for two retreat centres as a vegan chef.

Where did you learn the raw food preparation?

My grandmother was a head dietitian during World War I for an Army base. (At age 19!) She was a pioneer in the health movement and a friend of Adelle Davis (Let's Eat Right To Keep Fit). During World War II my grandmother produced a radio programme called Feeding a Family of Four on a Dollar a Day. So I was brought up with a much healthier standard than the average. It was by no means vegetarian but big salads and fresh vegetables were always on the table.

I have been a vegetarian for most of my adult life but at first the idea of "all raw" was off-putting. Over the years, I've come to understand how cooking destroys the enzymes and heat-sensitive vitamins that are naturally present in raw, organic foods.

I have also been a practitioner of Adidam for over 25 years, a way of life. A raw and mainly "green" diet is recommended as the optimum foundation of our practice - good for the body and for the planet.

Four years ago, I immigrated to New Zealand. I continued to produce raw meals for my friends and house-mates and extend my knowledge. I was convinced to share my knowledge and develop a raw food course.

What is raw food chefing?

It's about wholesome meals that ordinary folk can prepare at home using a blender, a cutting board and sharp knife, a food processor and a low-heat oven (below 45C for crackers).

I also believe in the work of Victoria Beutenko, who developed the "green smoothie". It's a blender drink you add to your conventional diet, without changing anything else, and it greatly increases the amount of raw, dark green, leafy vegetables to your daily intake.

This has a huge impact on your health and well-being without being disruptive. People can become too zealous about "all raw" and make dietary changes idealistically that are damaging to the body.

In my course, I teach people how to sprout, how to pickle and work with ferments, how to make basic seed cheeses, raw soup bases, crackers and essene breads. I provide generic recipes and people flavour them to their liking.

How do you juggle the different jobs?

Sometimes it's challenging but I am equally drawn to making art and to raw food chefing so I have to balance the two aspects of my work life.

When I do a workshop everything else gets put on hold because it takes a huge amount of time to organise all the food stuffs and get them to the venue. Likewise, storyboarding and prop making are also "full time" when they happen.

Why is your job important?

Worldwide there are huge amounts of land and grain recourses being given to cattle and dairy production - resources that could feed people directly and reduce global warming and other dangerous environmental imbalances. Every time I give a workshop and share my knowledge I get a good feeling that I'm being a part of the solution.

There's growing awareness about the effects of the traditional meat and dairy diet on people's basic health. Much illness is caused by people's eating habits - over-eating meat and dairy, over-eating rich and processed foods, over-eating junk foods, fried foods and so on.

What skills do you need?

As a chef: being able to combine flavours in an appealing way, without sacrificing the inherent character of the food, is important. Being able to present ideas, organise your thoughts and be sensitive to what people need.

Most rewarding part of the job?

It's great fun to be with a wonderful group of people making delicious healthy food. I enjoy how vulnerable and open people are to making changes, experimenting and trying new things.

Worst part of the job?

My nerves. I'm passionate about the education and sharing aspect part but I don't like feeling "responsible" ... so it's always challenging to get a good sleep the night before, to relax my high standards and just allow it to happen.

Advice to someone wanting to do same thing?

I think anyone interested in this movement could get involved in catering or in starting a vegan mostly raw café, in educating young people - in lots of different ways.