Jade Reidy has been a highly awarded professional non-fiction writer for 40 years, and previous holder of an Oxford University Writers Fellowship. She has performed at the Edinburgh Writers Festival with many literary stars and been publishing director of a poetry imprint. Food-wise, Jade is descended from three generations of knowledge seekers about food as medicine. She has a qualification from the University of Canterbury in Food, Nutrition and Wellbeing. During a decade in London, Jade baked bread in an organic bakery, worked for a natural remedies and herb company, and cooked for large numbers in a French Zen temple until becoming ordained as a Buddhist nun. Alongside running Jade Reidy Communications from her home in the Waitakere Ranges for the past 25 years, she volunteers as a cook at west Auckland's Fair Food. This is her first cookbook, proceeds supporting fairfood.org.nz.See jadereidy.co.nz/how-to-cook-your-life