About Valentina

Valentina is a food ecologist, activist, consultant and coach. She curates workshops, offers mentorships and taste experiences where people can learn, be, taste, and think differently about food, health and their relationship to the broader living world. She participates in projects that seek to foster ecological soundness and regenerate our biomes at every scale through the dynamic intersections of health, agroecology, education, art, and hospitality. 

During her fifteen-year journey in seeking a balanced state of health and vitality, Valentina explored many different approaches to food and health ––from microbiology, fermentation, the history of the industrialization of food, genetic functional medicine, cutting edge nutrition science, global food systems, alternative agricultural practices, and food policy, to Japanese and Italian food cultures, Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, Daoism, Deep ecology, Tantric Shaivaism, and somatic body work.

As she sees it, the path to vitality is only found beyond the contemporary fixation with our individual bodies. It lies in nourishing the wellbeing of the communities and environments we are part of, experiencing deep pleasure, and cultivating a sense of belonging. She is convinced that these are necessary ingredients for real health to manifest, which are often overlooked and thus people remain stuck in states of dis-ease.

Valentina is enthusiastic about ancient food preservation and alternative agriculture methods that amplify both the flavor and the nutritional potential of what we eat even as they build ecological literacy and enrich local economies. Her practice is not only about connecting to sources of real nourishment but about awakening the dormant senses—those forgotten gestures of taste, smell and touch that awaken us to the primal symphony of life. A bite can be a portal to a world where boundaries between human and non-human dissolve, where we encounter a deeper, more delicious, wilder intelligence at work.

Here are resources that she considers vital nourishment.

Education and Collaborations

Valentina has studied with Sandor Katz, apprenticed with the Japanese fermentation artist Markus Shimizu from Mimi Ferments Lab in Berlin, and participated in the Koji Conference in 2020. She did a Permaculture Design Course at the Kul Kul Farm in Bali in 2017. She has developed and offered workshop series at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy, the Third Floor Lisbon, and Rebundance’s Food Evolution Program. She collaborates with the Michelin-listed Restaurante SEM on R&D and koji cultivation. She has offered fermentation one-on-one coaching to chefs such as Diogo Noronha and Johnnie Collins and collaborates with agroecological projects such as Terra Sintropica, Vivid Farms, and Quinta das Abelhas.

Valentina holds a Master of Gastronomy in Food Ecology, Education and Creativity from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy, an M.A. in Art History and the Art Market from Christie’s Education, New York and a B.A. in Hospitality and Business Administration from Boston University.