Grow: Wāhine Finding Connection through Food

Book Author Sophie Merkens
Rights Available World excl. NZ, Australia and UK

Sophie Merkens takes us on a journey across Aotearoa, meeting 35 inspiring women who find meaning and connection through food. From mothers, gardeners, hunters, chefs and hobbyists, their conversations dive deep into how food influences their lives. Grow – Wāhine Finding Connection Through Food is a refreshingly honest and insightful book about women, food and connection.

Food is a central force of people’s lives, work and travels: it’s often the only shared language. Meet women who know which mushrooms to pick, how to preserve the olives growing along public land, how to make rosewater from blooms, and how to make ‘coffee’ from roasted dandelion roots. Meet women who make it a priority to grow, nourish and connect.

About the Author
Sophie Merkens is a photographer, writer and foodie. To her amazement and utter delight, she has made eating and being surrounded by foodie folk her career, working as a recipe developer and food stylist. For Sophie, morning coffee is non-negotiable, she goes wild for anything with rose in it, and she’s partial to a glass of warm fermented horse milk (a Kyrgyz delicacy). In food and in life, curiosity is her North Star.

When she’s not experimenting in the kitchen, she’s gardening, foraging, hiking, attempting to surf, or on roadies in her van Zephyr Florence. She happily calls Aotearoa home.