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It’s nearly impossible to be attuned to the Minnesota local and sustainable foods drumbeat and not know chef Jenny Breen. I met this veteran good food advocate at an Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) local foods event a few years ago, not long after I moved to Minneapolis.

When it comes to the local and sustainable food movement, she’s no Jenny-come-lately. Jenny was local when local wasn’t cool. She’s a petite powerhouse, a no-nonsense visionary and entrepreneur who will undoubtedly continue to be on the front lines, educating her students, customers, and the rest of us about the importance of real food.

Jenny is the co-author of a brand new cookbook, Cooking Up the Good Life. She and writer Susan Thurston have created a unique yet accessible cookbook, one that also encourages gettin’ those chillins in the kitchen. Almost every recipe has a “The Family Kitchen” sidebar, where Jenny dishes on how kids can get hands-on in preparing meals. “Little hands love stuffing things…”

Jenny writes in the preface, “The colors, the flavors, and the pleasure of eating with the seasons are at the heart of the Good Life. It is a life where cooking at home is a joyful experience – for everyone in the family. In the Good Life kitchen, you will experience a relaxed approach to creating wholesome and flavorful dishes that are simple and quick to prepare, with minimal fuss and equipment. You will gain an appreciation for the landscape and soil from which your food comes, as well as for the people who work to raise that food. Along the way, you will save money and minimize your impact on the environment.”

Check this out…Miso Sesame Pate. Spring Greens Soup with Carmalized Ramps. Wild Rice Almond Croquettes. Wild Mushroom Stroganoff over Buckwheat Noodles. Smoked Salmon, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese Tart. Multicolored Potato Gratin with Heirloom Tomato Sauce and Sausage or Tofu. And don’t forget the sweets. Flourless Chocolate Torte. Ginger Molasses Cookies. Cornmeal-Walnut Shortbread. I could go on, but you should just get yourself a copy and dig in.

Last month, I attended one of Jenny’s book signings at Lucia’s Restaurant and it was there that I had the notion to interview her and hence enlighten you to her genius. I offer you the world according to Jenny.

JG: You’re considered a “veteran Minneapolis chef.” You also co-own Good Life Catering, you teach cooking classes around town, you’re the recipient of a Bush Leadership fellowship, you’re a champion of the vibrant local and sustainable foods scene in Minnesota, and you’re studying public health nutrition at the University of Minnesota. And you’re a mom to two young girls. Please, Jenny, how do you do it all?

JB: (Laughs.) That’s hilarious. The beautiful thing is that it’s all totally connected. It’s not like I work on one thing and then work on something unrelated. My path has been very non-linear. While it’s true that I juggle a lot of things, I am both feeding and being fed by those same things. People ask me about this a lot, like how do I find time to study? I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I weren’t getting something out of it all. It really feeds me. Whether it’s nutrition or teaching or cooking or whatever, it’s energizing and nourishing. I’m getting at least as much as I give. And I do thrive on having something to do.

My parents were activists; they were really driven to make the world a better place. At the same time, just because I do all of these things doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize my limits. I’m not a straight-A student and as a mom, sometimes I feel like I’m not spending enough time with my kids. You have to find peace with knowing that you can always improve.

I would also say that being a student is such a luxury. To go and study, to be immersed in reading, writing, and learning is so amazing. I have been given a gift. I laugh at my classmates who are single and 25 and complain about not having time. I want to say, “Don’t talk to me about not having time.” People are losing their jobs and I have the luxury of being a student.

JG: How did you fall in love with food?

JB: How much time do you have? (Laughs.) It’s kind of a weird and twisted story. I grew up with a family who loves food and cooking and who was into a healthy food environment. I’m so lucky that my parents stumbled upon the natural food world. Forty years ago, they joined North Country Co-op and as a kid, I sliced cheese as part of our member duties. And like all kids, I eventually went away. I think that the most pivotal thing for me was my experience in Israel, which really heightened my awareness around farming and food. I worked in avocado and almond fields and really gained an awareness and appreciation for work around food.

When I came back, I was just so overwhelmed by the consumption in this country. It really blew me away. I had been living such a simpler life and in a totally different world. My experience translated into food and eating; I wanted to apply the rules of simplicity and consumption into food. I wanted a conscious relationship with food. All I wanted to do was work in a food establishment. My parents were like, “We sent you to college and you want to cook?”

JG: How/where did you learn to cook? 

JB: After I got back from Israel, I wandered around the Twin Cities’ various food establishments and once I found Francesca’s bakery in St Paul, I said, “This is where I want to work.” My gosh, it just felt so right. When asked if I had any experience, I said, “No, but I can do this.” And she hired me as a baker.

I really wanted to learn more about whole foods, and later, I ended up at Seward Cafe and was there for six and a half years. People don’t realize how important Seward Cafe was in the local food movement. It was radical, a collectively-run restaurant that was buying organic and whole foods. Farmers would pull up and we would pay them by feeding them. I just couldn’t get enough of that environment. This was a real food system in operation. But the collective process was draining; you’re dealing with a lot of people’s emotions and personalities and eventually, I had to go. I thought, “I can do this myself.”

So I’m self-taught. As I talk about in the cookbook, the food leads and the chef follows. I just figure out how to make it taste like it should.

JG: Tell me a little about your early days as a restaurateur.

JB: Karn, my business partner at Good Life Catering – we’ve been business partners for 17 years - was a good friend and was working the front end at Café Wyrd, Kim Bartmann’s restaurant, pre-Barbette. She was also checking out the local food scene from the other side of town and we realized that we could start making food. We wrote a business plan and all of a sudden started talking to banks and they said that they would lend us money. We were like, “Um, you will?” And in 1996, we opened Good Life Cafe. It just happened. And it just kept working. And it was so much fun; we had a great time.

We were one of Greg Reynolds’ first customers. Greg is so fantastic. We still talk about who found who. He’d say, “Do you want to buy my such and such,” and we’d say, “Oh God, yes.” We’d chat on the phone once a week and write our menu accordingly. Don Roberts would knock on our door with cucumbers. I was just so into it.

Customers back then didn’t really get why our menu was changing all the time. Lucia was around, but not a lot of places were doing what we were doing. We had to do a lot of explaining to our customers, and I really wasn’t prepared for that, but we did have tons of regulars. It was challenging, but very rewarding. We didn’t make a lot of money, but we had a lot of fun and learned a lot!.

JG: Did you grow up in a family that did a lot of cooking?

JB: I did, I did. Both of my parents really loved cooking and are self-taught. But my father struggled with his weight. He really loved food. He had been a professional athlete, but was in a terrible car accident and his body was damaged. So in our household, there was a great appreciation for food on one hand and on the other hand, vigilance around eating and a lot of struggle. It was tough on him. This is why public health became an interest for me. What does it look like when an intelligent person doesn’t have the tools to regain their health?

JG: Why is a local food system important to you? 

JB: What I’ve learned in years of working with farmers, and as a mother and chef, is that it’s important to have a relationship with food, to know how it’s raised and produced. You have to try to have that relationship. It’s a priority for me. It’s the best way to do things, as it gives you first hand, authentic knowledge of food, and on the flip side, you get to know how people and animals on farms are treated. It also allows me to be supportive of my local economy, which I think is critical. No other way is sustainable. I can’t live completely removed from that reality. I do what I can to support my community, which is good for the land and the people.

JG: Sourcing from local and sustainable farmers is a lot more work than having the food distribution truck pull up to your back door and bring everything in one fell swoop. How do you manage all of these relationships?

JB: The good thing is that I’m social, even though my husband would tell you I’m an introvert. You kind of have to be social. To me, these people are incredibly interesting and knowledgeable and interacting is a real treat. I get to know them, their farms, their families - I’m so lucky. How can a chef not know who grows their lettuce?

The same part of my brain that creates recipes is the same part that figures out what I’m going to get from what farmer. I get to know these people; you have to want to do it. It’s definitely not one-stop shopping; it’s more detailed and fussy. But I can’t imagine any other way. When it comes to the quality of food, no “local” chef is going to disagree with me.

JG: Do you think that the local/sustainable food movement can feed the world?

JB: I wish I had a short answer. I think it’s the only way. But my local food system can’t feed the other side of the world. If we can all figure it out, we can feed our respective regions. One region can’t feed the world. It’s not the way the world is designed. This also applies to animals in that there is a lot of land that is just there for feeding, which is a real misdistribution of resources. I can’t always have what I want when I want it. I’m not a purist, but we have to stop assuming that this approach is sustainable - it’s not. If everyone stopped living with these assumptions, we could all feed our communities, which would, in turn feed the world.

JG: It’s one thing to be a renowned chef, but it’s another thing to cook (and teach and write) with a focus on sound nutrition and sustainability. Do you feel that these principles set you apart from the pack?

JB: Oh boy, that’s an interesting one. I do feel a little challenged in finding whole foods, like whole grains for instance. Whole foods are frankly missing from many chefs’ worlds. So nutrition is missing as well. I’m not talking low fat, no fat, etc. That stuff makes me nuts.

There can be so much ego in being a chef. It’s often about showcasing talent versus feeding people. Showcasing is not my motivator. For me, my biggest driver is feeding people. I’m not trying to be righteous, but this should be about nourishing people. I can’t help it…nutrition is what moves me, almost to a fault. I’m compelled to nourish people, not just make beautiful food. But fortunately, that’s what I get to do - make beautiful food. I get to tempt people to a healthier diet, but it’s flipped around. I start with nourishment first.

JG: I love how you talk about involving kids in the kitchen. Can you talk a little about our childhood obesity epidemic?

JB: I do believe that cooking is a health skill. I’m invested in food literacy – getting kids (and adults for that matter) food literate. Knowing where it comes from and what to do with it gives them the tools to be able to consume healthful food, get off the industrial junk, and avoid obesity. I don’t think that people get how food is connected to our health and how dependent they are on evil food. We need to change out the whole food system, which is a huge task.

I used to work with kids at Youth Farm and they would show up with Cheetos & Coke. I just didn’t get it. They weren’t making the connection. So we started talking to them about food justice – food marketing and advertisements. We would say, “Do you know how many grocery stores versus fast food joints are in your neighborhood?” And they got mad, like, “They can’t tell me what to eat.” It was very empowering for them. They realized that they could change their diet and be healthy. It got them thinking on a much deeper level.

JG: What is your favorite food?

JB: I’m a geek, really a geek. I eat broccoli every day. I’m a geek; it’s okay for you to think that.

JG: Do you have any food vices? Is there anything you eat that you don’t want us to know about?

JB: I’m a chocolate lover. You don’t want to know how much of it I eat. I’m a sweets girl.

JG: What are the greatest rewards you receive in all that you do?

JB: Because I teach, I get a lot of one-on-one time with people, a lot of a-has, like, “I can do this.” Real connections are made, and people come to this moment of realization of cooking and real food. It’s so cool.

I had a real fear in writing this cookbook. I was afraid that people would say, “I tried this recipe and it didn’t work.” I put these recipes out there and I have no control. But the rewards are great and I love it when people say, “I made this and it was great. I took it to a potluck.” To receive that appreciation and kudos is of such value to me. It feels really great.

JG: What’s next for you?

JB: The big next is that my family is leaving the country for a year. This is going to be a great opportunity to step back and be thoughtful and intentional. I don’t want to do anything different necessarily. I want to do it better. I want to be connected to all the great work going on in Minnesota. There needs to be a thread that ties it all together and cooking can be one. It’s practical and skill-based and it honors the producers, consumers, and all professions in the middle facilitating these connections.

JG: What would you like your legacy to be? What would you like to leave behind?

JB: I would like to see that the connection between food and health is just out there in the world and that it has reached the mainstream. Food and health are so connected and pursuing a healthy life is such a joyful process. And tasty!

Where to buy Cooking Up the Good Life:

U of M Press
Twin Cities Co-ops
Micawbers
Magers & Quinn
Patina
Bibelot
Barnes & Noble