Alejandra Schrader

Alejandra Schrader is an award-winning author, plant-based nutrition certified chef, food television personality, and activist based in Los Angeles, California. Her work focuses on healthy diets, nutrition, and sustainability, with an emphasis on building optimal food systems that promote access to nutritious food for all. Formerly trained as an architect and urban planner, Schrader transitioned to a culinary career after the economic recession.

Schrader is an alum of the cooking show "MasterChef" with Gordon Ramsay, where she was a top finalist. She has also competed on culinary competitions including "Food Fighters" with Adam Richman on NBC and "El Sabór de Aarón" with Aarón Sánchez on Discovery Familia.

She is the author of "The Low-Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-Based Recipes," a work that integrates culinary innovation with environmental advocacy. The book received the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the United States in the Food Waste category. Schrader's cookbook features sustainable recipes with local and seasonal alternatives, designed to be accessible regardless of budget or location, and offers strategies to minimize food waste by utilizing ingredients often discarded, such as peels, seeds, and stalks.

Schrader holds a Certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University, a Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where she graduated first in her class.

As a chef, Schrader has promoted planet-friendly food on major television networks in the United States and Canada, appearing on national TV shows such as Access Hollywood Live, The Talk, Café CNN, Despierta América, Marilyn Denis Show, and The Social. She has been interviewed by media outlets including The New York Times and Forbes. Schrader's personal experience with food insecurity informs her perspective on nutrition equity and sustainable food systems.

Schrader is a founding member of the Chefs' Manifesto, a program by the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, and has played a role in advancing equity and sustainability in food systems. She serves as an Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 2: "Zero Hunger," and has contributed to campaigns by the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Food Programme, EAT Foundation, and Global Citizen. Schrader has been invited to speak at the United Nations and the World Bank, and her international speaking engagements include the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan, the EAT Forum in Stockholm, Devex World, the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the FINUT Conference in Mexico City, and the AGRF Summit in Kigali, where she also cooked for a dinner hosted by President Kagame. As a Sister on the Planet Ambassador for Oxfam America, she has worked with ecological farmers and underprivileged communities in developing countries including El Salvador, Honduras, and Peru.

Through her cooking, writing, and advocacy, Schrader encourages audiences to reconsider the connection between food choices and planetary health.