Phone: (805) 565-7550
Email: [email protected]

Andrea Martin is a professionally trained chef and New York City and State certified teacher who specializes in school lunch reform projects and integrating wellness-based educational initiatives into the school community.  Her clients have included schools in the Tri-State area, school districts in Santa Barbara County, the Berkeley Unified School District, the Garfield Re-2 School District in Rifle, Colorado, the Orfalea Foundations, the Colorado Health Foundation, and the Children’s Health Foundation.

Martin has successfully transitioned school districts from a processed food culture to a cook-from-scratch environment.  Her expertise  includes developing menus and recipes, training and professionalizing kitchen staff, and educating elementary and secondary students through effective social marketing tools such as in-class, after school, school-wide, and community food-based educational programs.  Martin has worked to source products from local farms and uses school gardens in food and culinary-based learning experiences.  She exposes students to the fundamentals of cooking and the pleasure and appreciation of eating, concepts of sustainability, small farm operations vs. industrial agriculture, and health and nutrition based issues.

Martin’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s Degree from Amherst College, a Master’s in Education from the New School, and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America.  During her tenure as a New York City schoolteacher, she designed and implemented a culinary arts training program for high school students and formed a successful social purpose catering company employing graduates from the culinary program.  The business, Venture Catering, was a runner up in the Yale-Goldman Sachs Social Purpose Business Plan Competition.

Martin speaks on school lunch reform issues to parents, school communities, and educators.  She appears in the documentary film “Two Angry Moms.”  Martin is an active member of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and was chosen as the Catherine Brandel Scholar in 2006.