Chez Panisse’s Alice Waters: Finally, a Cozy White House Vegetable Garden?
Thank you Ruth Reichl for running this article about Alice Waters from Chez Panisse and the Obamas. Just the thought of having not only foodies but enlightened foodies in the White House is really exciting!
Gourmet Magazine speaks about Alice Waters:
“We all know her philosophy: Food should be local, seasonal, and organic; in homes and in schools, people should come together at the table; the act of eating is an everyday expression of our most deeply held values. But for the past decade, the legendary Chez Panisse founder has been promoting her agenda in ways that go well beyond her celebrated restaurant and educational initiatives. Inserting herself into the political process—fund-raising for Barack Obama; introducing Michelle Obama at campaign rallies; petitioning for a White House garden and a new chef—here is the story of the political education of Alice Waters.”
Waters’s contacts with both Obamas during the campaign, for which she raised considerable sums of money, convinced her that she knew something about their values. “I’ve had a feeling all along that they really care,” she says.
During one campaign event in Oakland, California, for which Chez Panisse provided the food, Waters shouted a question at Barack Obama across the swimming pool: “What’s your position on food and agriculture?”
He came around the other side of the pool, Waters remembers, and “he held my hand while he talked to me. He was so interested in the Edible Schoolyard,” a reference to her project in Berkeley that teaches children how to grow and cook healthy food.
“He told me he had read about it and that he had read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan’s book, but that he didn’t know as much as he should. He did know about the childhood obesity crisis, and he began to cite statistics.”
Waters recalls his exact words: “I’m ready to be educated.” She went back to the restaurant, gathered every book about food she had, and sent them to him.
Excerpt from her letter to Obama in January 2009:
I don’t know how Obama is going to have time to read these books from Alice but I sure wish he would. I can certainly picture Michelle pouring through them. And a vegetable garden at the White House? Think how this could inspire people across the nation! Might be a good idea for all of us to get our hands dirty, touch a little soil instead of say, a keyboard???!!!!
