Isabel Cowles Murphy, Community Outreach Coordinator, & Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ Teacher.
Isabel Murphy came to Houston in 2007 by way of New York, where she worked as an environmental journalist. Upon arriving in Texas, she began teaching organic gardening, while also working in the kitchen at Monica Pope's acclaimed locavore restaurant t'afia.
Before loving to Houston, Murphy spent many summers learning organic growing on a tomato farm in Northwest Connecticut, where she grew up. Her rural roots endowed her with a sense of the outdoors that she enjoys sharing with inner city students in Houston, and she is proud to work as an after school gardening instructor at Rodriguez Elementary. "The children I see in class don't ordinarily get to spend a lot of time outdoors, and the Recipe for Success gardens give them a crucial connection with nature," Murphy says. "Seeing that experience come full circle in the kitchen is really moving--the kids make a fundamental connection between the earth, their food and their bodies."
Murphy graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and has enjoyed maintaining her journalistic roots while working with RfS. Her writing can be seen in The Huffington Post, My Table Magazine, Chef's Blade and on her blog www.breadandcourage.com, which features farm to table eating. She has recently assumed responsibility for Community Outreach for the Foundation which has given her the opportunity to meet many new friends who share her passions.
Isabel Murphy came to Houston in 2007 by way of New York, where she worked as an environmental journalist. Upon arriving in Texas, she began teaching organic gardening, while also working in the kitchen at Monica Pope's acclaimed locavore restaurant t'afia. Before loving to Houston, Murphy spent many summers learning organic growing on a tomato farm in Northwest Connecticut, where she grew up. Her rural roots endowed her with a sense of the outdoors that she enjoys sharing with inner city students in Houston, and she is proud to work as an after school gardening instructor at Rodriguez Elementary. "The children I see in class don't ordinarily get to spend a lot of time outdoors, and the Recipe for Success gardens give them a crucial connection with nature," Murphy says. "Seeing that experience come full circle in the kitchen is really moving--the kids make a fundamental connection between the earth, their food and their bodies."
Murphy graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and has enjoyed maintaining her journalistic roots while working with RfS. Her writing can be seen in The Huffington Post, My Table Magazine, Chef's Blade and on her blog www.breadandcourage.com, which features farm to table eating. She has recently assumed responsibility for Community Outreach for the Foundation which has given her the opportunity to meet many new friends who share her passions.
