Profile of a Wedge Classroom Teacher: Desiree Marceau

A new teacher showed up in the Wedge Classroom last spring. Recently hailing from Colorado, Desiree proposed classes never offered before, including wild food and herb walks, and cooking with wild food. We chatted about the path that took her to this unique approach to food and herbs over tea at Caffetto last summer.

A Minnesota native who moved to Denver in 1985 to work for Continental Airlines, Desiree worked for the Denver Country Club as catering director, after "preparing" for the position by studying issues of Food and Wine during flights and trying the recipes at home. She eventually went into private catering, opened a little "to-go" outlet in a former bagel shop in Denver, and wholesaled sandwiches, soups and baked goods to coffee shops.

Propelled into the world of natural healing after being injured in a car accident, Desiree realized that her love of food was largely an offshoot of a deep fascination with plants. While supporting herself with cooking and baking, Desiree enrolled in the Rocky Mountain Center of Botanical Studies (it closed in 2003).

She started Wise Woman Herbal Kitchen in June 2003, only months before moving back to Minnesota. Moving wild foods into mainstream cooking is one goal of her company, because so many resources are wasted trying to eradicate "weeds" that are actually nutritious, delicious, healing foods.

Concerned about the quality of wild food growing in a city environment, I asked Desiree to comment on that. Her standard is vibrancy. Does a plant, and the plants around it, look healthy and full of life? If so, trust the earth and the wisdom of the plants and help yourself to them. You know what you've done to your own yard, and wild plants aren't a staple you'll be consuming in huge quantities, so don't worry. She counsels us not to fear nature. Our health is a result of many factors including exercise, thoughts and emotions, economic status, relationships and a sense of community. No single thing can account for our health, so don't put too big an emphasis on any one component. Strive for balance instead.

Wild foods reconnect us with the seasonal rhythms that govern nature. Watch for Desiree's classes in the coming seasons.