About Us
We’re so thrilled you found Touch of the Heart! Our work is driven
by our passion to get youth connected to their food, community, and
well-being through cooking and food education.
Mission
Touch of the Heart’s mission is to educate and empower people to take ownership in making mindful decisions about food while cultivating a better understanding and appreciation for food.
Vision
Touch of the Heart’s vision is to make the world a more compassionate, healthy, and happy place through conscious food choices.
Values
Our work at Touch of the Heart is shaped by our following 5 C’s:
- Curiosity: Encouraging curiosity about food.
- Connection: Fostering connections between youth and their food, their community, the environment, and themselves through food.
- Compassion: Emphasizing compassion for food, oneself, others, and the environment.
- Creativity: Inspiring creativity with and making decisions about food.
- Confidence: Building confidence to make mindful decisions about food and to strengthen relationships with food.
How It All Started
Touch of the Heart was founded by owner and founder, Vanessa. A cooking enthusiast and having held and enjoyed various jobs in the food industry, education in the school setting, recreation, and outdoor education, Vanessa knew that she knew that she wanted the work that she did to embody all of those experiences. Specifically, she wanted to create opportunities for youth to not only explore new flavors, but to also understand where food comes from and how our food decisions can affect our health and the environment, all while having fun, learning a practical skill, and of course, creating a delicious dish. As a result, Touch of the Heart was formed and began offering youth cooking parties. In the near future, Touch of the Heart hopes to also provide recreational and in-school/after-school food enrichment programs for Bay Area communities.
Why the Name?
Touch of the Heart is the English translation of the traditional Chinese cuisine, Dim Sum. A cuisine traditionally eaten through the sharing of small bite-sized foods, Dim Sum represents good food, community, connection, and appreciating heritage, all of which is what we want our work to embody. We also like to think that the name, “Touch of the Heart” signifies that food is best when the people who grow and cook it put their care, love, and heart into it.