The pandemic indeed took a toll on small businesses around the country. However, it is also true that the pan- demic provided opportunities for entrepreneurs to expand into new areas. This week we take a look at two such SCOOP advertisers.
Classie and Essential Nutrition
Home of “Dishing with Patricia”
Classie & Essential Nutrition began as a company that provides high-quality food preparation, lifestyle management, and nutritional consulting services for corporations and nationally recognized institutions.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the company is majority-owned by Patricia Marshall Harris, an African American female with more than 20 years of experience in the food service and hospitality industries. She has served as a healthy lifestyle consultant and as a chef in high-end, organic, and fresh food venues. Harris is known for her creative menu presentations, which feature strong ethnic and Southern foods, spices, and influences.
The eighth of 10 children, Harris was raised in a loving home where meal preparation focused on both taste and nutrition. Meals were meticulously planned, using only the freshest ingredients.
It was here that Harris began her lifelong commitment to nutrition and proper meal preparation.
As a child, Harris found her niche in the family kitchen. She learned by example at her mother’s side. An enthusiastic student, Harris shadowed her mother, Classie, gaining the knowledge and foundation she would use in her life’s work.
Harris recalls, “Each time we sat down to eat in our home, we could tell how much my mother loved us. It was evident in the time and effort she devoted to whatever she prepared, from the main course–straight through to the desserts, regardless of her fairly limited budgets.”
Ultimately Harris parlayed that knowledge, experience, and passion into a vehicle to ensure that “that her family’s culturally unique respect for food, and proper nutrition, and its hundreds of delicious, Southern-inspired menus, would be preserved.”
While attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Harris began to explore alternatives to the taste and presentation of the institutional meals available, and she eventually began to only eat fruits and vegetables. This led to her research on the health and nutrition benefits of a vegetarian diet. She read numerous books on the subject and experimented with the recipes and ideas until she devel- oped a unique collection of food preparation information and recipes.
Harris was ultimately certified in wellness, nutrition, and holistic nutrition by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates (AFPA).
While an organic plant-based lifestyle has gained popularity recently, Classie & Essential Nutrition has 30 years of studying the health benefits of fruits and vegetables found around the world and perfecting the practical application of that knowledge.
Not surprisingly, Harris is also a highly-sought-after speaker and seminar presenter on issues ranging from calorie management, the appropriate selection and sources for raw and fresh foods, the relatively new arena of organic and fresh-food fine dining, and the critically important connections among nutritious dietary habits, exercise, and good health.
Classie & Essential Nutrition specializes in the preparation of tasty and nutritional food creatively presented. Before the pandemic, the company provided on-site training on healthy food preparation emphasizing the use of fresh, natural spices, herbs, and organic fruits and vegetables. This training included strategies to facilitate their transition to preparing healthy meals and developing healthy dietary habits and lifestyles for themselves and their families.
While many small businesses found it difficult to stay afloat during the Pandemic, Classie & Essential Nutrition found an opportunity to expand their audience through the podcast “Dishing with Patricia.”
At its core, Dishing with Patricia is a show dedicated to providing information on “all things nutrition.” There are discussions on nutritional food selection and preparation, as well as step-by-step instructions to turn a recipe into a culinary delight. For Classie & Essential Nutrition, there is a fundamental belief that healthy foods should also taste good.
In addition, Harris invites local community leaders to not only share their expertise on food but also to discuss a variety of topics that impact the community. The web- site also tips on maintaining a plant-based diet with the rising cost of food.
When asked what plans she has for the future, Harris is enthusiastic about plans for a cookbook and says we should look forward to other exciting future developments.
Visit the Classie & Essential Nutrition website at classie-essential-nutrition.com. There you can watch the Dishing with Patricia podcasts as well as access nutritional information and delicious and healthy recipes.
