Growing roots: my journey to conscious nutrition

Rooted by Cate didn’t appear overnight. It grew slowly, the way the most meaningful things tend to grow. I’m Cate — Catherine Montes — and this project is the result of years of combining science, lived experience, curiosity, and a deep desire to help people build a more conscious, calmer relationship with food. My story starts far from San Sebastián, in Canada, and has unfolded through laboratories, classrooms, and now this space that I’ve created with intention and soul.

I grew up in Canada, where I studied Food Science and later specialized in Nutrition at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. My professional path began in the food industry, working in laboratories at companies like Swiss Water Decaf, Golden Boy, and others. Those years taught me to understand food from the inside out — processes, composition, quality, safety. That scientific foundation is still a core part of how I see nutrition today: grounded, rigorous, curious, always asking “why” before “what.”

Life eventually brought me to San Sebastián, where I built my family and shifted toward the academic world. For 12 years, I taught Nutrition at the Basque Culinary Center, an institution recognized worldwide for its work in gastronomy. Teaching wasn’t just about sharing information; it was about learning how to translate science into language that people can actually use in their everyday life. It was in those classrooms that I refined something essential to my work now: making nutrition feel accessible, human, and practical.

After more than a decade in teaching and applied research, I felt something nudging me toward a new direction. I wanted a space where I could bring together the science, the empathy, the real-life experience — a place where people could reconnect with food without fear or overwhelm. That’s how Rooted by Cate was born.

Rooted by Cate began with one simple question: How can we nourish ourselves in a way that feels conscious, realistic, and calm in the middle of everyday life? This project is my answer. It’s a space where I offer a more grounded, humane approach to nutrition — one that doesn’t rely on strict diets or perfectionism. Instead, I focus on small, sustainable changes, listening to the body, understanding each person’s context, and using science as a tool for well-being rather than pressure.

Through workshops and guided sessions, I create spaces where people can ask questions without judgment, understand what’s behind the food they eat, explore how certain plants and foods can support health, and reconnect with a more authentic, balanced way of eating. My work is shaped by calm, presence, and genuine listening. Because nutrition isn’t only about what we eat — it’s about how we relate to food, the stories we carry, and the changes that feel truly possible.

And if you’ve found your way here, it’s also a beginning. Rooted by Cate is more than a nutrition project; it’s an invitation to care for yourself, to understand your body with more kindness, and to build a more grounded, peaceful relationship with food.