Our Story

When Jessica was growing up, she learnt many wonderful kitchen tips from her mum Lorrae. Lorrae was inspired by her Uncle Laurie, who was a confectioner and chef, with a wondrous history creating chocolate bars for Hoadley's which later became Roundtree and then Nestle. Uncle Laurie always had a sandwich in the fridge just incase he got a visitor, and his home always smelled of the most delicious dishes. His signature candy was the Peanut Brittle which sadly no one in the family has the recipe for, only the memories!

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When Jessica's sister Melissa went vegetarian in 2005, Uncle Laurie would pop around weekly with an extra bag of fruit and vegetables. The family had some challenges learning to adapt, but eventually cooking together became a lot easier when Jessica and Lorrae also went vegetarian. Dad Andrew was quite easy to convince, eventually developing a love for tofu, and all the dishes they cooked. 

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Jessica had missed cooking with her sister, and together they started to explore the world of plant foods, trying many new ingredients that they probably wouldn't have tried prior.

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This food journey took off! Jessica and Melissa travelled a lot in that time around Australia for music concerts, and delighted in exploring the local vegetarian/vegan restaraunts in each city. They also got to journey to the east coast of the USA and were blown away by how many more options there were.

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Jessica and Locky met playing competitive eight ball in 2015. Locky shared his story over the months, detailing how he had been in a car crash that had almost claimed his life. He broke his neck and back, and acquired a traumatic brain injury that affects his congnition, memory, energy levels, speech, and many more daily aspects. Locky was going to the gym twice a day every day to work on his rehab.

 

He was eating healthy, but was eating the same things every meal. When Jessica would cook for him, she'd ask Locky what he thought of her meal -- his one response: "it was good". For Jessica, this wasn't ideal, so she began researching how she could help Locky understand flavour and enjoy food again. Learning about neuroplasticity, the pair began to understand that building new pathways in the brain was possible. A key finding about the olfactory system's role in memory meant that food was a wonderful way for Locky to make improvements and for Jessica to explore more food that would help.

 

And with that, Green Elephant was born.

 

Locky is a peer mentor in the brain injury community, providing support and understanding to people at all stages of their injuries. His involvement in a 10-week program called RTP that covers all aspects of life after brain injury lead to an idea. Jessica could come in during the nutrition week and cook her favourite meals for the group! Each cook has been tailored to the group of participants present, including seasonal availability of ingredients and dietary needs. This experience inspired Jessica to begin building the business - focused on hosting events in the community and helping people cook plant-based dishes in their homes.

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Veg food has certainly come a long way in 2 decades, along with Jessica's kitchen skills and creativity. It is this unwavering passion that Jessica brings to each and every workshop. Finding new ways to incorporate core ingredients, and new dishes to showcase. There's rarely any food left by the end of the session!

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If you're nervous about coming to your first workshop, fear not friend, as Jessica loves to hear all food stories and the things that inspire you. It will be just like having a chat and a meal in a friend's kitchen.