Passionate about food and nutrition

White Violet Center intern Destiny James is a junior at Johnson and Wales University in Miami, Florida. She received an associate’s degree in culinary arts there last May, and will graduate in May 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in food service management.

From January to May of last year, she interned as a pantry cook at The Forge Restaurant and Wine Bar in Miami Beach, where she prepared cold appetizers and salads and prepped stations for celebrity chefs such as Marcus Samuelsson.

She also interned at the InterContinental Lagos in Nigeria during the summer of 2014. While there, she prepared Western African and Intercontinental dishes under the tutelage of Chef Abu Nasser.

After finishing her current degree, Destiny plans to work in a nutrition related field before going back to school for a master’s degree.
She will be interning at WVC until Nov 17.

During her time at WVC, she hopes to learn how food can be made into medicine. Her passion for food and nutrition came about when her father was diagnosed with diabetes. When medications didn’t help, the family sought the help of holistic doctors and began learning how to eat healthier.

Now an aspiring holistic nutritionist, Destiny hopes to educate individuals seeking to achieve optimum health and wellness.

“I think it’s important, before we ever cook food, to know where it comes from.” she said.

WVC is a ministry of the Sisters of Providence. Interns have many opportunities to get to know the sisters during their experience.
Destiny said she was very surprised by the environment here at WVC.

“I didn’t grow up Catholic, so what I saw on TV was sisters wearing habits. But they don’t here. They’re very relaxed. I feel like … they enjoy life.”
Some of Destiny’s favorite things in life are cooking and traveling. Her favorite dishes to cook are stews and Southeast Asian cuisine. One of her favorite destinations is Nigeria, where her parents live.
“I really love traveling, you know, seeing different groups of people and how they live and interact.”