Nissa Pierson, Neighbor

Founder and Managing Director of the Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Nissa Pierson, is the utmost of a food enthusiast in the kitchen and a culinary herb extraordinaire.  With over 15 years of culinary, agricultural and herbal expertise, she knows how to use herbs in the kitchen (both on our plates and in our glasses) as well as grow them.  She can make just about any dish with ease and believes cooking naturally and seasonally is the best way to live.  Nissa began her food journey as a child in southern California and then venturing off to such places as Central America, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and California again and then to NYC later to open Ger-Nis International LLC, a fair-trade, organic fruit & vegetable distribution company with an emphasis on fresh herbs.  To further her desire to teach others about healthy living and eating, Nissa opened the Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb, specializing in a wide range of recreational cooking and educational classes for adults and children; promoting healthy eating and living habits through hands on and lecture style classroom environments.  She is fully committed to the community, as well as the planet, focusing on the entire cooking and eating process, from grower to “cooker.”  In addition to traveling the world seeking organic and fair-trade conversation for her business, she is a noted cooking instructor, recipe writer and culinary blogger, focusing on fresh herbs as well as an extremist in proving that the art of eating and cooking well is a relatively simple process and just takes enthusiasm and some tidbits of knowledge.  She has specialized in children’s cooking classes for many years and believes children are seeking better food knowledge and is always up for the challenge. Besides being a passionate teacher of fresh herbs, organics and fair-trade, she enjoys spice (in food and life), good conversation and debates, kickboxing, the ocean and surfing, and submersing herself in the food and culture of the world. She loves solving problems and turning lemons into lemonade.