Weekend program educates on vegan cooking

Seasoned personal chef, entrepreneur and author Keva Miller gave a vegan cooking demonstration at Champion Brewing Jan. 27.

The demo was part of Richmond’s first 72 Hour Plant-Powered Weekend, presented by Richmond Vegan Action and advertised as a “vegan restaurant challenge.”

A number of Richmond restaurants, like Boulevard Burger & Brew and Postbellum, offered vegan options throughout the weekend as part of the event. Some venues donated a portion of their profit to the Central Virginia Food Bank.

Miller moved from Atlanta to Richmond to find herself and pursue a corporate career after leaving her culinary dreams in Georgia. After achieving everything she wanted as a child in the corporate world, she felt empty because she realized she had abandoned her passion.

“From birth, we learn to figure out who we are through everything but ourselves…we listen to family, school, media,” Miller wrote on her website. “We learn very early on to become obedient to everything but us (because who are we to think that alone is good enough?)”

Following a self-proclaimed quarterlife crisis, Miller decided to return to her true passion: cooking. She started the company Feedshine, its website describes itself as Richmond’s “premiere spiritually based personal chef and lifestyle company designed to help streamline and simplify self-actualization via holistic living.”

Some of Feedshine’s services include in-home meal prep, private chef services, direct access to holistic specialists and instructors around the world, and a blog on natural foods, products, mindfulness and other self-care.

“Feedshine is the result of my own journey towards healing me. I wanted to make self-actualization more approachable,” Miller said.

During the demo, Miller wowed the crowd with her smile and powerful words. The message was clear when it came to watching her cook: Miller has a fresh, hard-to-find passion for her career. As Miller tossed multi-colored vegetables in a skillet full of oil, she shared a story of reaching her childhood dream of corporate stardom only to realize she had lost what she truly loved: inspiring people through food.

Miller has more plans for the Richmond vegan scene. On March 6, Feedshine will host “Sprout: The Inaugural Private Plant Tasting at The Broken Tulip” in Carytown, a new restaurant created for diners to appreciate the experience of multi-course tasting meals. Featuring seven plant-based courses, the event has been described by Miller as “a transformative journey of the senses.”

Madeline Wheeler Contributing Writer