Joshna Maharaj possesses a unique ability to inspire people from both sides of the dining table. She is equally talented a chef as she is a food activist with an authentic goal to improve everyone’s relationship with food. Joshna is unapologetic in her strong belief in chefs and social gastronomy to bring values of hospitality, sustainability and social justice to every dining table.
A powerful and engaging speaker, Joshna is a two-time TEDx speaker and oft-sought after voice for business spectrums of all genres. She hosts “Kitchen Helpdesk, a weekly food column on CBC Radio and also co-hosts a food podcast, “Hot Plate.”
In addition to supporting an array of food driven, community causes, Joshna also dedicates her time to educating post-secondary students and industry peers alike.
Joshna has just released her first book “Take Back the Tray” (ECW Press) about her work building new models for institutional food procurement, production and service. The book is a movement to reconnect food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in public institutions around the globe. It is a passionate story about how a chef tried to disrupt the institution in hopes for systemic change.
Joshna has represented and produced notable work for major brands and be seen highlighted on mainstream medium from editorials on Chatelaine to the critically-acclaimed national program Fridge Wars.
Can you tell the difference between local produce and a grocery store import? Test your food knowledge with Samira Mohyeddin, host of CBC Radio series Unforked, and Toronto chef and author Joshna Maharaj.
What might hospital food from the future look and taste like? At Nourish's Food for Health Symposium (May 15-16, Toronto), the audience was transported to the future of 2030 to be a part of “The Hospital Food Experience from the Future”. The exuberant and playful event invited three Canadian hospitals: CHEO, Holland Bloorview Kid’s Rehabilitation Hospital, and Unity Health, to work with three “celebrity” chefs: Chef Rich Francis, Chef Joshna Maharaj and Chef Simon Wiseman to show audiences with three ambitious dishes that embody the future of what hospital food could look and taste like. Judged by a taste panel made up of Elder Margaret Edgars (Haida Elder), Tessie Harris (Dietitian), Abena & Aiden (Age 7 and 8), André Picard (Globe & Mail Health Columnist) and Dr. Edward Xie, (Emergency Doctor), the panel collectively determined which dishes best embodied the success criteria: Patient-friendly, Planet-friendly and Scale-friendly.
Our global food system is in crisis. Currently, the ‘Four Cs’ (COVID, Climate emergency, conflict, and rising costs) are converging, and the world is at a turning point. We must come together to identify possibilities for food systems transformation, action plans, and policy change. From international conferences to communities in the most remote areas of the world, stakeholders are uniting to find solutions to the urgent threats to food systems on global and local levels.
Students and advocates of student food security from across Canada joined a virtual Cook-Along to work towards creating a better campus food culture! They used local and seasonal ingredients to cook either a Root Vegetable Soup or a Warm Winter Salad, under guidance from Chef Joshna Maharaj. It was such a fun and impactful event!
A talk with Joshna Maharaj, Chef and Activist
The chef, activist and author fights for Canadians' right to healthy food in public institutions
CANADIAN TASTEMAKER: CHEF JOSHNA MAHARAJ, PARABERE FORUM CANADIAN CORRESPONDENT
Joshna Maharaj on Tackling Food Security, Inclusion in Canada’s Hospitality Industry + More
Chefs Shane Chartrand and Joshna Maharaj are pitted against each other to cater to a shopaholic father's need for flavour and some world champion cravings.
For a chef, smell is the second-most important sense. Losing mine led to loneliness and burned muffins, but I’m trying to get it back.