It’s beyond a cliche at this point to say that folks in Acadiana have a special relationship with food. Whole towns are defined by their food festivals. You’ve got your gumbo festival, your rice festival, your sweet potato festival, your crawfish festival  – in the case of Delcambre – your shrimp and petroleum festival.

Of course, that’s thinking about food as culture or as commerce. More essentially: Food is nourishment. You can’t live without…and some might say you can’t really live with it. Think about that the next time you say you’re dying for a link of boudin.

Another way of thinking about it: Food is medicine. It’s how we fuel and regulate our bodies. A good diet impacts how we think and how we feel. Eating right is the best way to live right.

Daphne Olivier, the Unconventional Dietitian

Daphne Olivier, the Unconventional Dietitian

Daphne Olivier is a dietitian who bills herself as The Unconventional Dietitian. Her practice takes a “food as medicine” approach to helping folks deal with chronic conditions and diseases: diabetes, hypoglycemia, obesity and more. She has a tailored approach, helping clients rethink what they eat and its role in their lifestyle.

Daphne grew up in Denham Springs began her career as an independent dietitian in 2011 after moving to Lafayette.

Food can be spiritual medicine too.  Otherwise they wouldn’t call it soul food. Sometimes you run across a bite so good, you might say it was heaven sent — or divine.

Lynore Harding calls her custom bakery Divine Cakes and Sweets Boutique because it was divinely inspired. Lynore has grown her business from her kitchen as home baker, teaching herself the art of specialty cakes and decoration. Since 2019, she’s built Divine Cakes through word of mouth-watering takes on southern specialties like sweet dough pies and tea cakes.

Lynore Harding and some of her Divine Cakes at Tula Tacos

Lynore Harding and some of her Divine Cakes at Tula Tacos

Divine Cakes is mission-oriented. Lynore gets help from her son, who is disabled and her long-term plan for the company is to open it up as a community bakery, where people with disabilities can learn to bake and sell their goods.

Daphne Olivier, Lynore Harding and Christiaan Mader, Out to Lunch at Tula Tacos

Daphne Olivier, Lynore Harding and Christiaan Mader, Out to Lunch at Tula Tacos

Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. Photos Astor Morgan.