Hello

CINDA CHAVICH

Food and travel writer, photographer and cookbook author

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I've had a long career in journalism and I'm still continuously inspired by the connection to people and places it brings every day.

 

I have been a reporter and journalist for my entire adult life — thanks to a solid grounding in the craft in the journalism program at Lethbridge (then Community) College. After studying English at university in my hometown of Regina, I ended up in southern Alberta to immerse myself in the news business, and it’s a passion that’s never left me. As a student, I edited the college newspaper, worked nights and weekends at the local daily, and graduated from the Communication Arts program at the top of my class, eager to cover the news.

 

My first news reporting jobs were at the Lethbridge Herald and CBC radio, and I eventually settled into the long form world of feature writing at The Calgary Sun where, by sheer happenstance, I added the food and beverage beat to my list of lifestyle writer’s responsibilities.

 

Eventually that led to a job as food editor and senior feature writer at the Calgary Herald, and since then my byline has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, from the Globe and Mail to Maclean’s, Canadian Living and Chatelaine. For a decade, before the days of podcasts, I was the food columnist for CBC's Alberta at Noon radio show, with conversations about food, recipes and trends beamed across the province.

 

I’ve always earned my living as an editorial writer and reporter, specializing in food, beverage and travel writing, and I still approach every topic with the same curiosity and vigor as my first jobs covering crime, school boards and rural council news in Lethbridge. It’s been a job that’s taken me around the world and given me an insatiable love of research, facts and storytelling.

 

As a freelancer, I contribute to a variety of publications. My current regular gigs include writing food and features for YAM magazine, Victoria's top city and lifestyle magazine,  EAT, a BC magazine specializing in food, and Edible Vancouver magazine, but I'm always looking for new outlets to place my feature stories, and opportunities to write specialized food and travel content, whether in traditional print or digital media.

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I've won several awards for my travel and food writing over the years, including a dozen from the Travel Media Association of Canada and recognition from Destination Canada.

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Along the way, I've tested and developed a lot of recipes, and written seven cookbooks, including the award-winning High Plains: The Joy of Alberta Cuisine which won two national gold medals from Cuisine Canada; three editions of 225 Pressure Cooker Recipes, the answer to every Instant Pot cook's questions; the cheeky and extensive collections of well-tested recipes for everyday cooks, The Girl Can't Cook (and the sequel, The Guy Can't Cook); and The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook, which highlights the environmental issue of food waste, with ideas to help people prevent food waste when they're cooking at home.  It was a finalist in the prestigious International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook awards, in the category of Food Matters, and a Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner.

 

And, of course, I'm still developing recipes for my regular magazine food columns and working with chefs to translate their recipes for home cooks.

 

I also have retained my unwavering belief in the importance of independent, fact-based journalism, the basis of a democratic and just society, and something we need to support more than ever today.

As a food writer, I have long been an advocate of local and sustainable food systems, farm-to-table dining, and the producers, bakers, cooks and chefs who bring us closer to that ideal. My latest book, The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook, looks at the global issue of food waste and how we can save food, save money, and the planet by resolving to stop wasting food and home.

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Food is a basic necessity — the common language of culture and community – and the beat I continue to relish covering. There really is joy in cooking, eating and learning about the people who do it best!