The Farmer & The Cook | Erin Bianchi
While riding bart to work one morning Erin was chatting on the phone with her mom, telling her she wanted to quit her job. The luster of her position, like the ones prior, ended after the challenge wore off and she had learned the ins and outs. Though Erin didn’t know the direction she would be heading next, she quit. In the years prior, working as a dietitian, Erin often found that the people she counseled didn’t know how to cook. They would ask her what brand or box of food to buy. This realization that people didn’t know what real food was or how to prepare it, set her in a new direction.
There was an empty space on Main Street in Red Bluff, a small town in Northern California. Erin rented it and started her new business COOK. A place where she could teach cooking classes and offer products for purchase. Without a business plan, but rather a vision, passion, and belief in her own capabilities, Erin built a business that she loved. Her mindset was “I know i’ll make it work.”. There was no backup plan and Erin quickly learned “If you’re all in, it works.” Her store was her baby at the time!
The Farmer, The Cook, and The Babe.
When she met the man of her dreams, her farmer Robbie, married, and got pregnant she was still spending 10 to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week at the store. She also feared that once the baby arrived her absence from the store would cause the business to become less than what she wanted it to be. Erin’s whole life she dreamed of having babies and being able to stay home with them. A few months before she had her baby girl, Erin made the decision to close doors.
That decision came with a feeling of being really terrified about not having a job or a creative outlet for herself while being home alone with a baby. As she built a career and a love for business her self-identity became largely centered around being a businesswoman.
Again, following her instincts, she secured a domain name and built a free WordPress site. As doors were closing on her business Erin encouraged her clientele to stay connected and follow their journey on Instagram. It was then that The Farmer & The Cook started to come to life. She started sharing about their life on the farm, all the yummy local food she prepares for her farmer, how she nourished her growing baby belly, and even foods to increase lactation.
Find this recipe at Instagram.com/thefarmerandthecook
When baby Ren was born she had a rough start, health-wise, and was immunocompromised early on. Erin felt the importance of building those immunities back up, building a healthy microbiome, and creating a the good foundation of gut health carry Ren through life.
In addition to nursing, Erin has started using all her dietetic knowledge to make nutritious baby food.
Not only is she using Instagram to share beautiful pictures of the magic being cooked in her old farmhouse kitchen, she’s also sharing with the world the real food that’s going into their family meals and their health benefits. Erin and her farmer feel the importance of eating local and for those lucky enough to live in their area, she even shares where her ingredients come from.
Time will tell where life leads The Farmer & The Cook. Today Erin is able to spend her days on the farm as a wife and a mom while fulfilling her creative and business sides through teaching others about real food, nutrition, and how they too can make magic happen in the kitchen.
Find inspiration for your own family's real food journey at instagram.com/thefarmerandthecook and Instagram Tips Erin Has Learned while bringing The Farmer & The Cook to life on Instagram below:
Old School Modern Mama,
Melanie Satterlee's Old School Modern Mama Blog
Facebook: facebook.com/oldschoolmodernmama
EMAIL: OLDSCHOOLMODERNMAMA@GMAIL.COM
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/OLDSCHOOLMODERNMAMA
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