7. Vegetarian

Ken Schmidt

Ken comes from a family of foodies. His mother, father and sister all worked in the food services industry. His father was both a Master Chef and a Pastry Chef. His Father owned and operated a bakeshop in Walkerton, Ontario, several decades ago.

Ken started his culinary education at the age of 11, working along side his father and mentor.

While studying to be a chef in Calgary, at the age of 21, he earned his first Culinary Arts competition and won a Gold Medal, his first but far from his last.

In 1972 he accepted a position as the Manager of Food Services at the London University Hospital, in Ontario. While in London, he was one of the founding chef's of the London Ontario chapter of Chef de cuisine, there were 5 chefs that made the first executive. (Now called the Canadian Culinary Federation of Chefs and Cooks.)

In 1976, he was a member of the support team for Team Canada at the Culinary Olympics which were held every five years in Frankfurt, Germany. Canada captured a Silver Medal!

In 1980, Ken joined Conestoga College where he established a program which prepared young cooks for Provincial Certification. In 1983, he founded and became President and CEO of Foodservice Education, a private school for aspiring cooks and chefs. He continued to teach young cooks while he trained Chefs on how to carry on the teaching of young cooks and aspiring chefs until his retirement in 2002.

"I have always and will always have a fond love and passion for the Culinary Arts, especially cooking. There is so much to be thankful for; the education, the training, the experience and the fulfillment of this wonderful profession - it's been a great ride and hopefully with much more to come."

Ken, in his retirement, lives with his wife Mary in beautiful, peaceful and historic Elora, Ontario. They spend the winter in Clearwater, Florida.