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Miyoko Schinner
Miyoko Schinner (née Nishimoto; born 1957) is an American-Japanese vegan chef, cookbook author, activist, cooking show host and social entrepreneur. Since 2024, she has been on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Schinner was born in a town outside of Tokyo, Japan as Miyoko Nishimoto. She left Japan and moved to the United States when she was seven. Schinner and her family settled in Marin County, specifically in Mill Valley, California.
Schinner became a vegetarian at the age of 12. She describes this period as "the 60s and early 70s, the glory days of the hippie movement and spiritualism and hare krishna," or the turn to natural foods within the American counterculture. Her initial exposure to this movement occurred during a camping trip that included vegetarians who "were from a spiritual family and didn't believe in harming animals. I went home and my mother put pork chops in front of me after being vegetarian for two or three days. I looked at the pork chop and just could not eat it. I stopped right there." Schinner's mother did not support this shift towards vegetarian dishes, forcing Schinner to teach herself how to cook. However, Schinner credits this period as the time that she grew to love cooking. Although this interest in cooking led her to consider culinary school, she ultimately decided not to attend (as she would have to work with animal products), and is entirely self-taught.
Schinner began college at the Pratt Institute in order to study graphic design, but dropped out after a year. She eventually transferred to St. John's College in Annapolis, and graduated with a B.A. in philosophy in 1979.
After graduating from college, Schinner developed a number of vegan ventures through the lens of social entrepreneurship.
During the 1980s, Schinner returned to Japan and settled in Tokyo. During this period she transitioned from a vegetarian to a vegan diet for "health reasons" (she realized that she was lactose intolerant). As she began to explore how to create vegan dishes for herself, she decided to sell her creations. She started a small business called "Madam Miyoko" and sold vegan poundcakes (made of Okara), out of her backpack.
She still missed cheese, describing the 80s as the "dark ages of vegan cheese" still dominated by "hippies and macrobiotic food." She briefly visited the United States during this time to attend the Natural Products Expo, where she tasted "Vegan Rella," the only vegan cheese product available at the time. However, she found it disappointing and began to dream of alternatives.
Schinner returned to the United States and settled in San Francisco, where she opened a vegan bakery. It eventually evolved into the vegan Now and Zen Restaurant. During the holiday season, she would make the vegan Unturkey (a seitan roast with a yuba shell), which she exhibited at the 1995 Natural Products Expo (and ended up with $50,000 worth of orders).
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Miyoko Schinner
Miyoko Schinner (née Nishimoto; born 1957) is an American-Japanese vegan chef, cookbook author, activist, cooking show host and social entrepreneur. Since 2024, she has been on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Schinner was born in a town outside of Tokyo, Japan as Miyoko Nishimoto. She left Japan and moved to the United States when she was seven. Schinner and her family settled in Marin County, specifically in Mill Valley, California.
Schinner became a vegetarian at the age of 12. She describes this period as "the 60s and early 70s, the glory days of the hippie movement and spiritualism and hare krishna," or the turn to natural foods within the American counterculture. Her initial exposure to this movement occurred during a camping trip that included vegetarians who "were from a spiritual family and didn't believe in harming animals. I went home and my mother put pork chops in front of me after being vegetarian for two or three days. I looked at the pork chop and just could not eat it. I stopped right there." Schinner's mother did not support this shift towards vegetarian dishes, forcing Schinner to teach herself how to cook. However, Schinner credits this period as the time that she grew to love cooking. Although this interest in cooking led her to consider culinary school, she ultimately decided not to attend (as she would have to work with animal products), and is entirely self-taught.
Schinner began college at the Pratt Institute in order to study graphic design, but dropped out after a year. She eventually transferred to St. John's College in Annapolis, and graduated with a B.A. in philosophy in 1979.
After graduating from college, Schinner developed a number of vegan ventures through the lens of social entrepreneurship.
During the 1980s, Schinner returned to Japan and settled in Tokyo. During this period she transitioned from a vegetarian to a vegan diet for "health reasons" (she realized that she was lactose intolerant). As she began to explore how to create vegan dishes for herself, she decided to sell her creations. She started a small business called "Madam Miyoko" and sold vegan poundcakes (made of Okara), out of her backpack.
She still missed cheese, describing the 80s as the "dark ages of vegan cheese" still dominated by "hippies and macrobiotic food." She briefly visited the United States during this time to attend the Natural Products Expo, where she tasted "Vegan Rella," the only vegan cheese product available at the time. However, she found it disappointing and began to dream of alternatives.
Schinner returned to the United States and settled in San Francisco, where she opened a vegan bakery. It eventually evolved into the vegan Now and Zen Restaurant. During the holiday season, she would make the vegan Unturkey (a seitan roast with a yuba shell), which she exhibited at the 1995 Natural Products Expo (and ended up with $50,000 worth of orders).
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