About Puneeta

Author, Speaker, Climate Advocate

Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma is a Toronto-based writer, sustainability expert and workshop leader.

Photo by Tanvi Madkaiker

Hi there,

My name is Puneeta, and I'm a food writer, workshop leader and public speaker who cares deeply about the links between the climate crisis and food systems around the world. I am passionate about sustainable living practices, nature-based solutions, and teaching people how to make planet-forward choices in their kitchen and home.

My debut book, Good Food, Healthy Planet, was a Globe and Mail and National Post Best Cookbook of the Year and has been featured widely in broadcast and print media, including CTV’s The Social, Breakfast Television, CHCH Morning Live, CBC, BBC World News, The Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, and more.

Good Food, Healthy Planet (GFHP) helps people expand on the notion of 'good food' to one that includes not just us, the people, but the planet too With 250+ pages, 81 recipes, a framework that I cheekily named “Eating with Benefits,” and a robust list of citations at the back, GFHP has been referred to as “category-expanding” and a "comforting yet inspiring read." It offers people a new way to understand what they eat and then how to cook it all with ease.

Food is more than just what happens around the table. Through our choices in the kitchen and at home, we have the power to effect enormous positive change in the systems around us. I grew up in India, in a home and culture that was quite matter-of-fact about health and wellness. Natural remedies were the first line of defence for every ailment, and yoga was part of the school curriculum. Upset tummy? Brew ajwain and saunf. Recurring colds? Haldi doodh every night. Pranayama for stress relief and, of course, Bade Pappajee's (my grandfather) daily directive, "Drink water, it's good for you."

Over the years, I have learned how many of these tontkas (traditional tips) were rooted in ancient wisdom, and are today supported by science. Generations of grandmas knew what was good for us and everyone else, too. Today, my work is inspired by science, research and traditional knowledge and how it comes together in our world today.

The research is clear — food and climate change, and our overall health and the long-term health and prosperity of the planet are all deeply interconnected.

MapleandMarigold.com, my blog, started as a love letter to India and Canada. Maple represents Canada and my life here. Marigold, with its colour and significance in Indian culture, represents my roots in India. I help people feel at home in the kitchen so they can cook for themselves and their loved ones, with ease and confidence.

Here are two ways to stay in touch with me:

If you're a bookstore or an organisation and you would like to host an event, drop me a note at puneeta@mapleandmarigold.com

Lovely to see you here.

Thank you for visiting my digital home and inviting me into your real one.

With gratitude and optimism,

Puneeta

Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma
Photo by Tanvi Madkaiker

About Maple and Marigold

Maple + Marigold started back in 2016 as a love letter. Maple represents Canada, my current home in Toronto and our lives today. Marigold refers to India, the colourful land of my youth and the traditions I learned in my childhood.

My blog started out as a place to share how people can make it all work - easy, delicious, healthy, even in busy lives - while also incorporating my cross-cultural "India meets Canada and all the places in between" influences. On it today, I share my view on sustainability, how we are all connected, the food I grew up eating, while also choosing mostly Canadian foods that are dear to me. I'm standing up for low-waste, tasty good food, a colourful, equitable culture, and a deeply abundant way of living that gives people like me a sense of home.

Since my book, Good Food, Healthy Planet came out, things are looking a little bit different here. Climate change, the current political landscape and the need to build a better world for our children has been a lightning bolt. I feel a new sense of urgency. Wonderfully, enough, we are all part of the solution.

So that's what you will find on Maple and Marigold too. Real food for real people, some recipes, tried, tested and (hopefully, trusted) tips and insight that together offer creative and practical solutions for a world that truly needs all of it right now.

A Globe and Mail and National Post Top Cookbook of 2024

Good Food, Healthy Planet

Your Kitchen Companion To Simple, Practical, Sustainable Cooking

Available NOW

Canada

Amazon.ca | Indigo | Shop Local

United States

Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes&Noble

“It’s modern-day comfort when you want to nourish yourself – and the planet.”
—Julie Van Rosendaal, July 2024, Globe and Mail

Reviews and book news

Work with Puneeta

Puneeta is a trusted voice for good-for-us, good-for-the-planet cooking, Indian and Canadian culture, and accessible, abundant living.

PUNEETA CHHITWAL-VARMA is a cookbook author, Canadian sustainability expert and regular TV contributor. Her debut cookbook, Good Food, Healthy Planet — Your Kitchen Companion to Simple, Practical, Sustainable Cooking (GFHP), is A Globe and Mail and National Post Top Cookbook of 2024. Her "green" book, as GFHP is often referred to, was also featured at the prestigious Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA).

Puneeta is a regular contributor to Breakfast Television, CP24 and CHCH Morning Live. You can also find her on CTV's The Social, CBC Radio, BBC World News, in The Globe and Mail and National Post, Elle Gourmet, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, on KCRW’s Good Food Radio and more.

Puneeta is the founder of the popular food and culture blog Maple and Marigold. She believes sustainability is far easier than we have been led to believe and that eating good food can be uncomplicated and accessible. Puneeta lives in Toronto with her husband, two kids, and their cat.

Interested in a collaboration or in hiring Puneeta's expertise? She is available to speak and teach, and for media interviews and corporate and community workshops to help people learn how to lead a healthy, beautiful, affordable and climate-conscious life.

Drop me a note at puneeta@mapleandmarigold.com

Past collaborations

Over the past 8 years of writing, research and media appearances, Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma has become a trusted voice for good-for-us, good-for-the-planet food, sustainable living, Indian and Canadian culture, and accessible, inclusive living. She collaborates on campaigns and initiatives that share her values.

Here are some examples of Puneeta's past work:

Cooking Workshops — in-person or virtual
Speaking engagements on science-based, good-for-us, good-for-the-planet food.
Cooking videos and live demos
Episodes of her Sunday Cooking Club
Farm visits and behind-scenes tours
TV & radio segments

"I first met Puneeta on our Morning Live set in 2019, and she's taught me so much since then!

From her, I've learned to use every last bit of produce in my fridge, and how to make those fruits and veggies last longer. I save money with her advice to 'shop my pantry' and 'shop my fridge' (especially helpful during pandemic lockdowns).

Puneeta, my lovely friend, you have no idea how many times I think of you — and what you'd do — in my kitchen."

– Annette Hamm, Morning Live, CHCH

Give your people the expertise and optimism they need.

Canadian author and sustainability expert Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma inspires creativity and courage to connect science with what generations of grandmas have known all along. Her debut, Good Food, Healthy Planet is A Globe and Mail and National Post Top Cookbook of the year.

Book Puneeta for your next event, workshop, TV programme or podcast.

contact Puneeta today

Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma<br/><small>Photo by Diana Muresan</small>

Press and Media Recordings

Puneeta is an experienced TV expert, public speaker, workshop leader and food writer. Her debut cookbook, Good Food, Healthy Planet — Your Kitchen Companion to Simple, Practical, Sustainable Cooking, has been featured extensively on TV, Radio and print. Please see this section for Reviews and Praise related to her book, Good Food, Healthy Planet.

Here are some clips. This list is not kept updated.