Miyoko Schinner

Miyoko Schinner is an American chef, cookbook author, animal sanctuary founder and owner of cheese brand Miyoko's Creamery. She is a leading advocate for the right of vegan food products to use traditional meat and dairy terms on their labels.

Early life and education

Schinner was born in the 1950s in a village outside Tokyo, Japan. At age 7, she moved with her family to the United States. She graduated from St. John's College in Maryland, where she majored in philosophy and minored in mathematics.

Career

Schinner transitioned to eating vegan in the mid-1980s. During the 1990s, she taught vegan cooking classes and in 2001 Book Publishing Company published her cookbook The Now and Zen Epicure. The book was named after the vegan restaurant Now and Zen that Schinner opened in San Francisco in 1997. She closed it in 2003. Schinner has launched a number of vegan brands, such as UnTurkey, which she exhibited at the 1995 Natural Products Expo alongside competitor Tofurky, and Hip Whip, which she sold in 2012.

Book Publishing Company published her Artisan Vegan Cheese cookbook in 2012. That same year she began co-hosting PBS cooking show Vegan Mashup, with Toni Fiore and Terry Hope Romero.

In 2014, Schinner launched vegan cheese company Miyoko's Kitchen, later renaming it Miyoko's Creamery. Tofurky founder Seth Tibbott was the company's first investor. In 2016, the Specialty Food Association reported the company had "grown 300% year over year," and "they recently signed on to a new 28,000+ square-foot headquarters in Petaluma."

In 2015, Ten Speed Press published Schinner's The Homemade Vegan Pantry. In 2019, the cookbook was named one of the Best Vegan Cookbooks by Good Housekeeping magazine.

In 2017, Schinner founded the nonprofit Rancho Compassion farm animal sanctuary in Nicasio, California.

By 2018, Schinner was being called a "vegan rock star" and the brand Miyoko's was making 19 vegan cheeses, spreads and butters and selling them across the country. Schinner was one of 30 women featured in 2018 The Future of Women project, backed by the United Nations.

Schinner has been involved in legal challenges over product laws that regulate vegan food labeling, with Schinner arguing the laws violate free speech.

Select works

• Japanese Cooking: Contemporary & Traditional [Simple, Delicious, and Vegan], Book Publishing Company, Aug 19, 1999
• The Now and Zen Epicure, Book Publishing Company, Sept. 1, 2001
• Artisan Vegan Cheese, Book Publishing Company, Aug. 8, 2012
• The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples, Ten Speed Press, June 16, 2015