Thoughts for Food
Thoughts for Food
The Global, Historical Roots of the Company's "Food As Medicine,"Philosophy
Company Profile
Classie & Essential Nutrition is a company that provides high-quality food preparation, lifestyle management, and nutritional consulting services. The firm's clients include large for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, and nationally significant institutions.
The company specializes in the preparation of healthy and flavorful foods, from original and proprietary menus. Its clients have been those who prefer that their foods be not only flavorful and creatively presented but, also, unquestionably healthful. Using only the freshest natural ingredients, spices, herbs, and seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables, Classie Nutrition is committed to providing to its client’s workforce members, in its virtual classrooms, uniformly memorable dining experiences. It also provides to them information that will facilitate their own transitions to preparing more nutritional meals, and building healthy dietary habits and lifestyles for their families.
Patricia Marshall Harris, the majority owner of Classie & Essential Nutrition, developed her culinary skills and healthy lifestyle expertise very honestly. The eighth of 10 siblings, Ms. Harris was raised in a loving home, wherein meals, their careful planning, and the fastidious selection of the fresh produce, meats, poultry, and seafood that comprised them, were important family "occasions." As she has frequently said, "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."
Harris grew to be comfortable in the family kitchen at a very young age, staying close to her mother, Classie, learning at her side, and becoming a very willing student of the culinary arts. In the process, she became a conduit for ensuring that her family's culturally unique respect for food, and proper nutrition, and its hundreds of delicious, Southern-inspired menus, would be preserved.
Not long after arriving on the campus of Spelman College, in Atlanta, she found herself growing frustrated with the taste and presentation of the institutional meals available at the school. Accordingly, she developed a habit of eating only the vegetables provided by the college's food service. Over time, she found herself drawn to conducting research on vegetarian diets and meal preparation, and their related nutrition and health benefits. She became an avid reader of books on those topics and began to experiment with the food preparation techniques and recipes she discovered, adding spices and other flavor enhancements, making them truly her own.
Harris has been certified in wellness, nutrition, and holistic nutrition by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates (AFPA).
Harris also knows a thing or two about “healthy lifestyles.” Since January 2013, according to her FitBit tracking, Harris has accumulated more than 28 million steps, which represents close to 14,000 miles!
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