Academic & Professional Foundations

Shadi Bee holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, where her graduate work focused on eco-tourism, agro-tourism, and sustainable development. Her academic training included extensive fieldwork in Nepal, where she examined food culture, agritourism projects, and the intersections of sustainability and community development. She has taught at the university level, spoken at dozens of conferences across the U.S. and internationally, and continues to bring academic rigor to her work with plants, food, and wellness.

Cross-Cultural Study of Food & Plants

Shadi’s expertise is rooted in cross-cultural herbalism and culinary traditions. She trained in Western Herbalism with students of Rosemary Gladstar and completed a series with Brigitte Mars in Colorado. Her studies in Ayurveda included Ayurvedic cooking with a focus on Indian cuisine, as well as work with Dr. Vasant Lad on the chakras and neuromagnetic energy fields.

Her immersion into global food culture spans Nepal, Japan, Italy, France, Mexico, and beyond, where she has studied the ways food, herbs, and fungi shape cultural identity and wellness. These experiences inform her approach to cooking, teaching, and product creation — always weaving together tradition, culture, and innovation.

Wine & Culinary Immersions

Shadi has also undertaken immersive studies in wine regions across Europe and North America, including:

• Europe: Tuscany, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Paris, and the Swiss Graubünden

• United States: Washington’s Skagit Valley and San Juan Islands; Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Rogue Valley, and Columbia Gorge; California’s Napa, Sonoma, Russian River, and Livermore Valleys

• Canada: the Fraser Valley and the Montreal Valley

These experiences have given her a deep understanding of terroir, culinary pairing, and the cultural dimensions of wine and food.

Product Development & Entrepreneurship

For more than 15 years, Shadi has been developing products that merge plants, herbs, and wellness into innovative consumer brands. She has created and sold multiple companies, successfully placing products in Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage, and other national retailers. Her expertise includes recipe formulation, herbal body care, functional mushroom products, hemp-based foods and topicals, and organic food innovations.

Ethnomycology & Mushrooms

As an ethnomycologist, Shadi studies the cultural history, folklore, and culinary/medicinal uses of fungi across the globe. She has spent years researching and formulating with functional mushrooms, bringing them into food, beverages, and wellness products. This expertise is expressed in her teaching, product development, and her pioneering work with mushroom-forward baking.

Commitment to Sustainability

Shadi’s background in sustainable development is central to her philosophy and practice. She has studied, created, and implemented agritourism projects, farm-to-table experiences, and sustainable business models. As a farmer and gardener, she grows and sources plants with care, always choosing organic and non-GMO ingredients. Her commitment extends to packaging and product design, favoring glass, recyclable, and sustainable materials whenever possible.

Bringing It All Together

Root and the Hearth is the culmination of Shadi’s academic studies, global food and herbal immersions, entrepreneurial ventures, and passion for plants. It is a place where private chef services, a plant-forward and mushroom-forward bakery, immersive teaching, and botanical wellness products all converge. Shadi’s life’s work reflects her belief that the best ingredients, cultural wisdom, and sustainability can come together to create food and products that nourish people, community, and planet.