Professional Raw Food Chef Training Program - Raw Food Chef School Nicaragua

Danielle Arsenault, founder of Pachavega Living Foods Education, is a lover of many things. She is a passionate Raw Food Chef, Spanish teacher, outdoor enthusiast, mountain lover, cookbook author, humanitarian, environmentalist, vegan and plant-based nutrition expert and lifestyle coach. It is her dream to educate the world about the healing power of plant-based whole foods and a healthy lifestyle rooted in compassion for the planet. She can become lost in the folds of nomadic travels now and then but still finds time to pursue her passions. For almost 10 years, she traveled the world and discovered isolated corners of over 25 countries (and counting). In 2011 a near-death rock climbing accident changed her relationship with the world and life as she knew it. It gave her the realization that we are truly blessed to be alive. We can achieve anything we put our minds to and we have the ability to make our dreams come true. Always with an eye for fresh foods, Danielle has discovered endless combinations and hidden secrets in nutrition – especially in raw, living foods. After the accident, she found herself rapidly healing with no lingering pains whatsoever. She attributed this vitality to the food that she was eating and this sparked her passion for whole foods. She knew it was her calling to strive to educate herself in depth about the healing power of whole foods and a healthy lifestyle. While living in South Korea for years, she collaborated with the lovely Jessica Perlaza by co-creating a vegan, gluten-free cookbook series inspired by seasonal, whole foods. They call themselves the kitchens of pinch and dash and wrote four books together. You can find these cookbooks online. Danielle has also recently published her own recipe book, Heal and Ignite; 55 Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipes to Heal your Body and Ignite your Spirit!

Danielle received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Drama Education and a post grad degree from the Masters of Teaching Program both from the University of Calgary, a Living Foods Lifestyle Education Certification from the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico, a Raw Food Educator Certificate from the Raw Foundation Culinary Arts Institute in Vancouver, a certificate in Permaculture Design from Sadhana Forest in Haiti and is also certified as a Colon Hydrotherapist. Her professional career includes a stint as professor at Pacific Rim College in Victoria BC, Canada where she created and developed several plant-based nutrition courses. She has also been a Raw Food Chef and Nutrition Consultant at Aqua Wellness Resort in Nicaragua, a TV Show Host and Keynote Speaker. Her TEDX Talk, “The Power of Plants” has over 24,000 views on YouTube.

She often holds Yoga Retreats where she partners with Certified Yoga Instructors and caters during the retreat. She is also a contributor to several popular health blogs, including youngandraw.com, healingthebody.ca, elephant journal, zhou nutrition and earth therapy as well as regular contributor to the popular Canadian fitness and running magazine, Impact magazine. She has also appeared on many podcasts including; The Game Changers Mentality Podcast, Dirt in Your Skirt, The Vegan Troubadour Show, Power Plant Body Podcast, Think Plant Based, Mindalia TV in English and Mindalia Television in Spanish.

Looking for some grounding roots, she founded Pachavega Living Foods Education in 2013 to inspire people to take charge of their happiness and health by eating mindfully. She offers whole foods, plant-based catering, nutritional consultation and runs a vegan culinary school that teaches international raw food chef certification. Since 2013, she has graduated over 150 students in the art of plant-based culinary mastery. Pachavega Living Foods Education is an Internationally Certified Raw Food Chef School, certified by the Raw Food Chef Alliance.

In 2012, she also completed a ukulele-infused, singer-songwriter album under her musical pseudonym, Mustache Fable and in 2016 she became an Ambassador for Salome Naturals, a company based out of Canada that sources pure single origin, fairly traded and equitably sourced moringa. In 2017, she was named one of Canada’s Top Vegan Influencers by Impact Magazine, honored among renowned plant-based nutrition experts in Canada who are driving change toward a healthier way to eat. She is also an on-board chef with Sea Shepherd. In the summer of 2018 she joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on their vessel, the M/V John Paul DeJoria, whose main mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Danielle is currently working on a new television series, Heal and Ignite Across Canada. The first episode was filmed in May 2018 and is now in the editing process.

Along with her partner in crime, Cris Ketch, Danielle is also the co-founder of Wanderlust Utopia, a eco-modern retreat center for wellness events and private functions on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Wanderlust Utopia opens November 2020.