We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karina HINES a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Karina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

Food is a powerful tool in healthcare, and cooking is one of the greatest acts of self-care.

We live in a world facing both an environmental crisis and a health crisis—and we are not teaching people how to cook in ways that support their health and healing journey.

Botanical Kitchen was born out of the need to fill the gap between practitioner and patient | client, and between local farmer and consumer—offering guidance on how to make dietary changes, follow an anti-inflammatory eating style, and cook with the growing season.

Nutrition begins in the soil, and how we grow and cook our food directly affects our health.

Karina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Karina Hines is a chef, certified functional nutrition counsellor, herbalist, educator, and founder of Botanical Kitchen.

She blends expertise in culinary arts, nutrition, herbalism, and education to promote holistic healthcare through food. Her focus on creating nutrient-dense recipes and using everyday food as medicine aligns with functional nutrition and recognises the profound impact of diet on health.

Karina advocates for soil health and regenerative agriculture, emphasising the interconnectedness of local farmers, vibrant food, flavour, the environment, and human health.

While she encourages eating in-season and sourcing from local farms, she meets people where they are—encouraging everyone to cook with what they have and approach food as the foundation of healthcare and self-care.

Karina is a total food nerd who trusts in the healing power of plants. An Australian-born farmer’s daughter, she grew up in the kitchen and garden of her family’s farm in Drake, New South Wales. This early connection to the earth deeply informs her vibrant, seasonal cooking style. With over twenty-three years of experience as a professional chef focused on flavourful, nutrient-dense food, she has a broad understanding of how the food we eat affects our health.

Karina spent more than a decade in Europe and the Mediterranean working as a chef in private homes and aboard sailing yachts. After relocating to Boston and Portland, Maine, she launched a private chef and consulting business. A strong advocate for the healing power of plants, Karina founded Botanical Kitchen to share anti-inflammatory, seasonal recipes and offer a membership program that helps people follow an anti-inflammatory eating style.

Her mission is to bridge gaps in healthcare by offering practical, sensible education on using everyday food as medicine. Karina develops and leads workshops and programs focused on functional nutrition and food as medicine, collaborating with farmers, purveyors, holistic practitioners, and lifestyle medicine communities.

A lifelong student of food, plants, and health, she is certified in functional nutrition, trained in herbalism, and passionate about regenerative food systems. She believes nutrition begins in the soil and advocates for biodynamic, sustainable farming practices that support ecological and human health. She encourages shopping locally, eating with the seasons, and choosing food that gives the most nutritional bang for our buck—and our bite.

Karina’s own early health crisis inspired her path. She understands the role food plays in restoring and maintaining vibrant health and is committed to creating accessible, adaptable recipes for people navigating health challenges and therapeutic eating styles. Her recipes come with chef’s tips, ingredient swaps, and practical ideas that support dietary diversity and personal choice.

Botanical Kitchen was born from Karina’s desire to help people use the healing power of food and cooking as a foundation for health and self-care. She loves local, seasonal, flavourful food and believes anyone can become a confident cook.

| “Cooking is one of the greatest acts of love and self-care. Nourishing food is the best medicine and one of the greatest gifts you can give and receive.”— Karina Hines

ABOUT BOTANICAL KITCHEN
Botanical Kitchen
Support your health and empower your healing journey.
Eat everyday food as medicine.

Eat to Thrive is our motto—we focus on anti-inflammatory foods with a functional nutrition approach. We make healthy taste great and help people who want to eat better to support their health using everyday food as medicine.

We give you the “how-to” skills and inspiration on what to cook each week to bring vibrant, flavourful, nourishing food to your table.

We offer adaptable, flexible choices for navigating different tastes, eating styles, food allergies, and therapeutic diets.

Our food-as-medicine recipe memberships guide you to taste the seasons and follow an anti-inflammatory eating style. We provide weekly recipes and meal ideas using sensible, in-season fresh and frozen anti-inflammatory ingredients.
Chef’s Table Membership ~ omnivore eating style – access to all recipes
Whole Plant Life Membership ~ plant-based vegan eating style ~ access to plant-based vegan recipes

We advocate for cooking as self-care and view nourishing food as the best medicine and foundational for vibrant health.
We help bridge the gap in healthcare by providing a blueprint to support doctors, practitioners, patients, and clients in making sustainable dietary changes. We provide culinary + functional nutrition education and food as medicine programs to support vibrant health.
We support and collaborate with regenerative farms, small businesses and regional food systems. Botanical Kitchen follows the growing season and guides people to cook local in-season ingredients with confidence and taste the seasons. We believe nutrition begins in the soil and advocate for the importance of diverse, chemical-free, sustainable small farms that grow vibrant food and healthy communities.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My creative journey is rooted in a deep respect for the healing power of plants, traditional plant medicine, and the rhythms of the natural world. I’m inspired by ancient wisdom and the everyday practice of using food as medicine to support the body—on a cellular level and in real life.

My mission is to teach people how to make practical, nourishing changes and use cooking as an act of self-care and food as a powerful tool in their healing journey. Nutrition begins in the soil, and how we grow our food affects our health. I am a farmer’s daughter and deeply believe in supporting small, local farms and food systems for flavour, health, and sustainability. Botanical Kitchen focuses on inspiring people to use seasonal, local ingredients that are grown with intention and care, and offers recipes to help them cook local, seasonal food with purpose and confidence.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part is hearing stories about how my classes, recipes, or website have helped people improve their health. It’s a privilege to witness.

And on those days when it all feels too hard—because the digital world of tech, sales, marketing, and all that “stuff” is not my strength or background—I’m a chef. Hearing people’s stories and the significant impact dietary changes have made to their health is both rewarding and inspiring—it’s what keeps me showing up and doing what I do with Botanical Kitchen.

If I can help people change their eating style, the way they shop and eat local ingredients, how they feel, get off their medication, cook real, nutrient-dense food, and feel more confident in the kitchen—and in themselves—and experience the impact of food as medicine, that’s the true reward. Our health is truly our wealth.

As a private chef I love that I get to work with wonderful local farmers and purveyors and cook vibrant local food that is full of flavour and create great dishes that taste great and are deeply nourishing

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.botanicalkitchen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/botanicalkitchen.eat/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Karina.Hines.Botanicalkitchen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-hines-80975b162/

Image Credits

Photographer Kari Witthuhn-Henning