We were lucky to catch up with Mee McCormick recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The first significant risk I took was 15 years ago when I decided to heal the massive ulceration of the total circumference of my small intestines with food. I had been diagnosed with this ulceration and prescribed a plethora of medications – each attached with pretty dangerous and horrific side effects. As a small child, I had watched my mother suffer these side effects as she had Crohn’s disease in the 1980s.
At the time, there were few books on healing with food and nothing on digestive healing. The only set method was macrobiotics. I was the worst cook ever, but I heard a voice deep down inside my heart that the only thing touching the lining of my intestines was food, and food had to influence the healing of the intestines. I mastered macrobiotic cooking as an apprentice to a macrobiotic counselor.
I set out on a wild, risky journey – my goal was a year of healing with food, and if it didn’t work, I would consider the medications – everyone thought I was nuts; my mother-in-law staged an intervention with her personal nurse.
Within a year, the constant burning pain from the ulcer was gone, and my entire family was eating real whole foods.
I took another risk by writing about my journey in my first book, My Kitchen Cure, and the release of this book helped me land a spot on a nationally syndicated talk show, The Better Show (Meridith Studios). I also enrolled in a professional culinary program, studying French and American classics.
Grass-fed & finished cattle ranch and bio-dynamic produce farm. We were an hour from Nashville in a very rural, financially challenged community. Everyone thought I was crazy and often asked, “Who in the world would drive to Pinewood?”
I soon found out—there were lots of People. Producing enough food to sustain the restaurant was a giant financial risk and undertaking, but we did. We made it through COVID-19, which increased our business when most restaurants were closing down.
A massive flood in August 2021 hit Tenessee and our riverfront community and took us out.
A risk I knew we faced, as we had been severely flooded two times before.

My first risk, healing my intestines with food and learning to cook, changed the course of my life, first by saving it and second by allowing me to participate in my community positively and generously. I am a changed person because of the risk I took.

Mee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a wellness chef and farmer living in Nashville, TN. I began cooking to save my life. I had ulceration, the total circumference of my small intestines. I began in macrobiotics, appreciating with a macrobiotic counselor. I then attended a professional culinary program in Los Angeles, learning French and American Classics.

I am the author of two books, My Kitchen Cure and My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure. I am also a master at creating allergy recipes, as I have Celiac disease and food allergies.
I ran my own restaurant, located on our working cattle ranch and biodynamic farm, for seven years. We grew the majority of our food and all cuts of beef and pork, making our sausage and bacon. We specialize in serving inclusive tables, supporting each customer’s individual needs.
I have contributed to over 6O television morning shows across the country, from Nashville to Hawaii. In 2020, I was chosen as one of Southern Living Magazine’s Cooks of The Year.
I am currently working as a consulting chef for commercial kitchens, inspiring the inclusive kitchen concept by guiding kitchen lines in creating, executing, and serving today’s customers’ special dietary needs, such as food allergies, low-fodmap, and healthier choices.
I also work with individual people and families to form healthy, easy relationships with their kitchens and their newly diagnosed dietary needs. I use microbiome testing and gut mapping via doctors to create individual recipes and menus to bring balance back into their bodies.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2021, a major flood destroyed our working cattle ranch and farm and caused great damage to our mercantile and restaurant. Our tiny riverfront community was devasted. After 7 years of running the restaurant and mercantile, I had to close. We fought to save our farm, and my entire life had to change. In the last 2.5 years since closing, I thought I would never cook again professionally, as I have been needed to cook for my family members. My brother-in-law was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, my ChaCha (she is like a mother to me) was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lived with me, and my husband was diagnosed with liver cancer. Suddenly, I found myself cooking for my loved ones with the same resilience I had when I learned to cook to save my own life 15 years earlier. This led me to create my current business as a Cooking Coach and Consulting chef.
There are so many of us who need to change the way we cook for ourselves or a loved one, and it is overwhelming and intimidating.
I’m them. I’ve been there, and some days I am there.
But connecting in the kitchen to others isn’t just helping them; it inspires me.
What Happens to us definitely can happen for us.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Authentic Connection. I believe that if people can see themselves in me, they will connect to my product, and I try to see myself in them. We are desperately searching for honest mirrors and want to support a product that genuinely serves our wellness.
This is how we build community something we all crave.

Contact Info:

• Website: mee-mccormick.com
• Instagram: @meeemccormick
• Facebook: @meeemccormick
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/meetracymccormick
• Other: meeemccormick on tiktok

Image Credits
Photographer: Heather Muro Photographer: Leila Grossman