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During the final year of my nutrition degree, my best friend (Jacob) and I decided to throw caution to the wind and entered into a process that

would demand more from us than we could have ever anticipated.

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After successfully entering, pitching and winning the LJMU Dragons Den competition and securing £10,000.00 to bring a dream-driven concept

to life, we went about setting-up an ethically driven, healthy food cafe within Liverpool John Moores University. Alongside an incredible team of

academics and students undertaking degrees in nutrition and food-product development, our aims were to produce exceptional, nutritious food

to serve to students and staff and to provide students with the opportunity to gain real-world working experience by serving and displaying their

culinary and nutrition-related abilities.

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Through sourcing locally where possible to reduce food miles, by using eco-friendly packaging and by utilising food waste efficiently, we also set

out to send a positive environmental message, to provide nutrition education through the food we served and to try our best to represent what a

modern-day business could be in terms of ethical responsibility.

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It goes without saying that this was an incredibly passionate project that required us to balance the demands of a busy start-up business with

crippling final year deadlines, and to (on occasion) cycling to the kitchen in the dark and in the snow at 6:30am (I feel cold and exhausted even

writing about it). As challenging as it was, our efforts caught fire throughout the University leading to write-ups in the LJMU prospectus, to

appearances on numerous TV and radio shows and to being awarded The Young Entrepreneur of the Year award presented by Prince Andrew.

It really was a crazy journey in every sense of the word and a truly unforgettable experience that I, and I know Jacob, will carry close to our hearts

for the rest of our days as much for the people involved as for the physical manifestation of Mindfull Meals itself.

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Food and the way in which it is sourced, served and appreciated has a major impact to the health of us as individuals, to our environments,

communities and culture. Through it, we connect, grow, thrive or deteriorate and an appreciation of such is so often overlooked, but could be,

if we became a little more "mindfull" of what we decide to consume and the way we choose to go about it.

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Mindfull Meals ~ Feeding bodies, nourishing minds.