Alice Waters
Encyclopedia
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse
, a Berkeley, California
restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine
.
Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked among the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Waters has been cited as one of the most influential figures in food in the past 50 years, and has been called the mother of American food. She is currently one of the most visible supporters of the organic food movement, and has been a proponent of organics for over 40 years. Waters believes that eating organic foods, free from herbicides and pesticides, is essential for both taste and the health of the environment and local communities.
In addition to her restaurant, Waters has authored several books on food and cooking, including Chez Panisse Cooking (with Paul Bertolli
) and The Art of Simple Food. She is one of the most well-known food activists in the United States and around the world.
She founded the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, and created the Edible Schoolyard
program at the Martin Luther King Middle School
in Berkeley, California. Waters serves as a public policy advocate on the national level for school lunch reform and universal access to healthy, organic foods, and the impact of her organic and healthy food revolution is typified by Michelle Obama
's White House organic vegetable garden.
after transferring there from UC Santa Barbara
. She received a degree in French Cultural Studies in 1967. During her time at UC Berkeley, she studied abroad in France, where she shopped for local produce and prepared fresh foods simply in order to enhance the experience of the table. During her time in France, she says she “lived at the bottom of a market street” and “took everything in by osmosis”.
She brought this style of food preparation back to Berkeley, where she popularized the concept of market-fresh cooking with the local products available to her in Northern California.
, which was sweeping across campus at the time.
In response to a campus-wide ban on political involvement and activism, Berkeley students joined together to form the Free Speech Movement. One of the student leaders of this movement, Mario Savio
, had a profound influence on Waters. Savio became famous in 1964 for delivering a speech inciting individual student protesters to take action against the “machine” of political oppression. In his Sproul Hall
Steps speech he said: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious…And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop”. Although her political aims have shifted, her approach to provoking change has remained constant over her tenure at Chez Panisse.
During this time, Waters worked on the congressional campaign of Robert Scheer
, an anti-Vietnam War politician. She often cooked for and entertained her fellow campaigners, and for the first time was building her reputation as a cook in addition to an activist.
school in London, and then spent time traveling in Turkey and then in France once again. Principles of the Montessori method, which emphasize practical and hands-on activities for children, are evident in Waters’ idea of “edible education” and her Edible Schoolyard, which engages children in the preparation of fruits and vegetables that they tend to with the supervision of their teachers.
After training in London, Waters next traveled to Turkey, which she credits with impacting her approach to hospitality and her respect for local communities. In his book Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, Thomas McNamee recounts Waters’ experience in Turkey, where a young Turkish boy shared tea and a small bit of cheese with Alice and her traveling companions, even though he had very little. This small act of kindness had an effect on Waters' approach to hospitality and generosity in her own restaurant.
From Turkey, Waters then returned to France, where she embarked upon a year-long journey. Her travels solidified her love of all things food and French and inspired her to return to California and open Chez Panisse.
Waters counts Elizabeth David
, the English cookbook author and writer, as one of her influences. She also credits Richard Olney
, an American authority on French food who spent much of his life living in France, with influencing her simple, rustic cuisine.
Olney introduced Waters to Lucien and Lulu Peyraud, owners of the Domaine Tempier vineyard in Provence. Lulu Peyraud’s vineyard cooking significantly influenced Waters’ cooking and her menus at Chez Panisse. In her foreword to Olney's book, Lulu's Provencal Table, Waters wrote: “Lucien and Lulu's warmhearted enthusiasm for life, their love for the pleasures of the table, their deep connection to the beautiful earth of the South of France – these were things I had seen at the movies. But this was for real. I felt immediately as if I had come home to second family.”
In addition, Waters has said that she learned Chinese cooking from Cecilia Chiang
, and the two became lifelong friends. Waters has said that what Chiang did to popularize Chinese cuisine in America is what Julia Child
did for French Cuisine.
films. From the beginning, the restaurant was a collaborative effort, and was intended to serve primarily as a place where Alice could entertain her friends. Realizing the difficulty in sourcing fresh, high-quality ingredients, Waters began building a network of local farmers, artisans, and producers, and continues to source the restaurant's ingredients through her local network. Waters opened the upstairs Chez Panisse Café in 1980, which serves an a la carte menu for lunch and dinner. In 1984, Waters opened Café Fanny, named after her daughter, a few blocks from the restaurant. Café Fanny serves breakfast and lunch in a casual, European-café setting.
Waters became an organic devotee almost by accident, claiming that what she was originally after was taste. She says: “When I opened up Chez Panisse, I was only thinking about taste. And in doing that, I ended up at the doorstep of [organic farmers].”
Waters' current organic food agenda includes reforming the USDA school lunch program to include organic, local fruits and vegetables and changing the way America eats, but her passion for organics started at her restaurant, where she discovered that organic ingredients were the essential element necessary to create delicious food.
In addition, Waters won the lifetime achievement award given by the S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants association. She was the third recipient of the annual award, and is the only female winner in the award’s history. About Waters, the 50 Best Restaurants writes: “Described variously as a visionary, a pioneer, ‘the mother of American cooking’ and ‘the most important figure in the culinary history of North America’, Alice Waters is certainly one of the most influential figures in American cooking of the last 50 years.” [Waters' book] Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, was named as one of the 50 best cookbooks of all time by The Observer. Her book ranked number 11 on the list, which also included books by Deborah Madison, a Chez Panisse alum, and David Tanis, one of the restaurant's current head chefs.
Waters has also recently been mentioned in the 2010 International Raw Food Restaurant Directory, published by Ki Publishing. Former Chez Panisse staff include Mark Peel, of Campanile, in Los Angeles; Dan Barber
, of Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Blue Hill Restaurant
, in New York; Judy Rodgers, of Zuni Café
, in San Francisco; Gayle Pirie, of Foreign Cinema, in San Francisco; and Suzanne Goin
, of Lucques, in Los Angeles. The restaurant currently operates with a staff of over 100 people, including chefs, pastry chefs, and interns.
In celebration of the restaurant's 25th anniversary, Waters founded the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, whose mission is to transform public education by using food to teach, nurture, and empower young people. In particular, the Foundation has worked with the Berkeley Unified School District
to develop a public school curriculum that is integrated with the school dining services and incorporates growing, cooking, and sharing food at the table into the school day in order to build a humane and sustainable future for the school's students.
The Chez Panisse Foundation is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) organization.
Waters' work at the Edible Schoolyard has also developed into her School Lunch Initiative, which has the broader goal of bringing school children into a new relationship with food by making a healthy, fresh, sustainable meal a part of the school day. The School Lunch Initiative is a collaborative project with the Center for Ecoliteracy
, also in Berkeley, and is also the topic of a series of studies through the Center for Weight and Health, at UC Berkeley.
The School Lunch Initiative is focused on bringing wholesome school lunch to the 10,000 students in the Berkeley Unified School District. In 2005, the Chez Panisse Foundation provided a grant to Berkeley schools to hire Ann Cooper as the Director of Nutrition Services for the district. Cooper and the Foundation eliminated almost all processed foods from the district and introduced organic fruits and vegetables to the daily menu, all while staying within the district’s budget. Waters' vision is to teach subjects such as history, science, and art through the vehicle of food.
In September 2010, the Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, Center for Ecoliteracy, and Chez Panisse Foundation released an evaluation report on the School Lunch Initiative. The report tracked elementary and middle school students over three years to determine the effects of the School Lunch Initiative on children's eating habits and knowledge. The report found that students in schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components ate more daily servings of fruit and vegetables than students in schools with lesser developed programs, and that they scored higher on food knowledge assessments. Schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components integrated kitchen and garden classes into the school curriculum, in addition to overhauling the school lunch program.
Although the work of the Chez Panisse Foundation has focused primarily on the Berkeley Unified School District, Waters has become a vocal and familiar advocate for school lunch reform and activism at the national level, as well. In 2009 she appeared on the CBS television program “60 Minutes
,” and made a public call for President Obama
to plant an organic garden at the White House to catalyze change in the US food system,.
She also encouraged President Bill Clinton
to plant such a garden, although she didn’t see it come to fruition until the Obama administration took residence. Michelle Obama, in conjunction with her anti-obesity campaign Let's Move!
, planted the White House organic vegetable garden in March 2009, and many cite Waters’ influence as a leading factor in the First Lady’s current objectives with Let's Move! and the White House garden. An article in the ‘’San Francisco Chronicle’’ states that:
. The Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans serves students in grades K through 8 from the Green Charter and Arthur Ashe Charter Schools. In addition to Open Garden, which includes the entire community in preparing a seasonal meal, the Edible Schoolyard has become a part of the school curriculum, and helps students learn about Creole cooking and indigenous food traditions. The affiliate program in New York City, located in Brooklyn at P.S. 216, will boast a newly designed kitchen and a four-season greenhouse in addition to a quarter-acre organic farm. P.S. 216 has nearly 500 students in grades K though 5, with 16% English language learners. The Greensboro affiliate program opened in 2009 at the Greensboro Children's Museum, and hosts a variety of weekend, after-school, and summer programs for children in the community. The program will also provide training and education for community parents and early childhood professionals.
The Larchmont Charter Schools in Los Angeles
incorporate several gardens into their three campuses, which infuse the school curriculum with real-life applications through gardening and science. Participation in the school lunch program at the Larchmont Charter Schools is mandatory, and often features a family-style lunch made from local and organic ingredients. The San Francisco Edible Schoolyard program is operated through the Boys and Girls Club in Hunters Point, where there is a distinct need for access to healthy food and nutrition education. In addition to hosting an 800 square feet (74.3 m²) garden, the program hosts cooking classes and organizes trips to local farmers markets.
, and believes that providing all public school students with free food in school would build the foundation for a healthier and more sustainable food culture in the US.
In 2003, Waters helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project
, which aims to make sustainable food an important part of university-level education. The project maintains an on-campus organic farm and integrates organic, local products into the university’s dining program
, an organization dedicated to preserving local food traditions, protecting biodiversity, promoting small-scale quality products around the world She was drawn to the Slow Food movement because of its work in passing food knowledge and traditions to future generations.
films, which chronicles the lives of working-class citizens in 1930s Marseilles. In the films, Honore Panisse is a kind, older man who agrees to marry Fanny, a younger woman who is pregnant with another man’s child. He is Waters’ favorite character because of his kindness and generosity, qualities she wanted to emulate when opening her restaurant. Waters named her daughter after Fanny.
In 1980, Werner Herzog
asked Waters to cook his shoe for the film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
. She prepared the shoe in the Chez Panisse kitchen, braising it in duck fat, herbs, and spices.
In turn, many people in the film industry are friends of Waters and of Chez Panisse. Francis Ford Coppola
, Philip Kaufman
, and others are notable restaurant patrons, and often attend events at the restaurant.
, and then to Stephen Singer, an importer of Italian olive oil and Chez Panisse’s wine buyer. Her daughter, Fanny Singer, was born in 1983.
, David Chang
, Suzanne Goin
, Rick Bayless
, Judy Rodgers, Scott Peacock, Molly McCook, Rose Gray
, Skye Gyngell,and Frank Stitt.
magazine awarded Chez Panisse restaurant as the Best Restaurant in America in 2001. In addition, Waters has won other honors.
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...
, a Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine
California Cuisine
California cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion cuisine and in the use of freshly prepared local ingredients.The food is typically prepared with strong attention to presentation...
.
Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked among the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Waters has been cited as one of the most influential figures in food in the past 50 years, and has been called the mother of American food. She is currently one of the most visible supporters of the organic food movement, and has been a proponent of organics for over 40 years. Waters believes that eating organic foods, free from herbicides and pesticides, is essential for both taste and the health of the environment and local communities.
In addition to her restaurant, Waters has authored several books on food and cooking, including Chez Panisse Cooking (with Paul Bertolli
Paul Bertolli
Paul Bertolli is a chef, writer, and artisan food producer in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Until mid-2005, he was the executive chef of the Oliveto restaurant in Oakland, California...
) and The Art of Simple Food. She is one of the most well-known food activists in the United States and around the world.
She founded the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, and created the Edible Schoolyard
Edible schoolyard
The Edible Schoolyard is a garden at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. The Edible Schoolyard was established by chef and activist Alice Waters through the Chez Panisse Foundation...
program at the Martin Luther King Middle School
Martin Luther King Middle School (Berkeley)
Martin Luther King Middle School is a public school in Berkeley, California serving grades 6-8. Its address is .-History:...
in Berkeley, California. Waters serves as a public policy advocate on the national level for school lunch reform and universal access to healthy, organic foods, and the impact of her organic and healthy food revolution is typified by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
's White House organic vegetable garden.
Early life
Waters graduated from the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
after transferring there from UC Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
. She received a degree in French Cultural Studies in 1967. During her time at UC Berkeley, she studied abroad in France, where she shopped for local produce and prepared fresh foods simply in order to enhance the experience of the table. During her time in France, she says she “lived at the bottom of a market street” and “took everything in by osmosis”.
She brought this style of food preparation back to Berkeley, where she popularized the concept of market-fresh cooking with the local products available to her in Northern California.
Free Speech Movement
Also during her time at Berkeley, Waters became active in the Free Speech MovementFree Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement was a student protest which took place during the 1964–1965 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley under the informal leadership of students Mario Savio, Brian Turner, Bettina Aptheker, Steve Weissman, Art Goldberg, Jackie Goldberg, and...
, which was sweeping across campus at the time.
In response to a campus-wide ban on political involvement and activism, Berkeley students joined together to form the Free Speech Movement. One of the student leaders of this movement, Mario Savio
Mario Savio
""...But we're a bunch of raw materials that don't mean to be - have any process upon us. Don't mean to be made into any product! Don't mean - Don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone!...
, had a profound influence on Waters. Savio became famous in 1964 for delivering a speech inciting individual student protesters to take action against the “machine” of political oppression. In his Sproul Hall
Sproul Plaza
Sproul Plaza is a major center of student activity at the University of California, Berkeley. It is divided into two sections: Upper Sproul and Lower Sproul. They are separated by 12 vertical feet and a set of stairs.-History:...
Steps speech he said: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious…And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop”. Although her political aims have shifted, her approach to provoking change has remained constant over her tenure at Chez Panisse.
During this time, Waters worked on the congressional campaign of Robert Scheer
Robert Scheer
Robert Scheer is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Nation...
, an anti-Vietnam War politician. She often cooked for and entertained her fellow campaigners, and for the first time was building her reputation as a cook in addition to an activist.
Additional Influences
Waters eventually returned to Europe, where she first trained at a MontessoriMontessori method
Montessori education is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. Montessori education is practiced in an estimated 20,000 schools worldwide, serving children from birth to eighteen years old.-Overview:...
school in London, and then spent time traveling in Turkey and then in France once again. Principles of the Montessori method, which emphasize practical and hands-on activities for children, are evident in Waters’ idea of “edible education” and her Edible Schoolyard, which engages children in the preparation of fruits and vegetables that they tend to with the supervision of their teachers.
After training in London, Waters next traveled to Turkey, which she credits with impacting her approach to hospitality and her respect for local communities. In his book Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, Thomas McNamee recounts Waters’ experience in Turkey, where a young Turkish boy shared tea and a small bit of cheese with Alice and her traveling companions, even though he had very little. This small act of kindness had an effect on Waters' approach to hospitality and generosity in her own restaurant.
From Turkey, Waters then returned to France, where she embarked upon a year-long journey. Her travels solidified her love of all things food and French and inspired her to return to California and open Chez Panisse.
Waters counts Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David CBE was a British cookery writer who, in the mid-20th century, strongly influenced the revitalisation of the art of home cookery with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes.Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the...
, the English cookbook author and writer, as one of her influences. She also credits Richard Olney
Richard Olney (food writer)
Richard Olney was an American painter, cook, food writer, editor, and memoirist, best known for his books of French country cooking....
, an American authority on French food who spent much of his life living in France, with influencing her simple, rustic cuisine.
Olney introduced Waters to Lucien and Lulu Peyraud, owners of the Domaine Tempier vineyard in Provence. Lulu Peyraud’s vineyard cooking significantly influenced Waters’ cooking and her menus at Chez Panisse. In her foreword to Olney's book, Lulu's Provencal Table, Waters wrote: “Lucien and Lulu's warmhearted enthusiasm for life, their love for the pleasures of the table, their deep connection to the beautiful earth of the South of France – these were things I had seen at the movies. But this was for real. I felt immediately as if I had come home to second family.”
In addition, Waters has said that she learned Chinese cooking from Cecilia Chiang
Cecilia Chiang
Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang is a Chinese-American restaurateur and chef, best known for founding and managing the Mandarin Restaurant in San Francisco, California.-Early life:...
, and the two became lifelong friends. Waters has said that what Chiang did to popularize Chinese cuisine in America is what Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
did for French Cuisine.
Background
In 1971, Waters opened Chez Panisse, which she named for a favorite character in a trilogy of Marcel PagnolMarcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. In 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie Française.-Biography:...
films. From the beginning, the restaurant was a collaborative effort, and was intended to serve primarily as a place where Alice could entertain her friends. Realizing the difficulty in sourcing fresh, high-quality ingredients, Waters began building a network of local farmers, artisans, and producers, and continues to source the restaurant's ingredients through her local network. Waters opened the upstairs Chez Panisse Café in 1980, which serves an a la carte menu for lunch and dinner. In 1984, Waters opened Café Fanny, named after her daughter, a few blocks from the restaurant. Café Fanny serves breakfast and lunch in a casual, European-café setting.
Dedication to Organic Food
Central to the operations and philosophy of Chez Panisse is Waters’ and the restaurant's dedication to using organic ingredients. Waters has become a crusader for organic foods, believing that they are both better for the environment and for people's health in addition to tasting superior to commercially-grown, non-organic foods.Waters became an organic devotee almost by accident, claiming that what she was originally after was taste. She says: “When I opened up Chez Panisse, I was only thinking about taste. And in doing that, I ended up at the doorstep of [organic farmers].”
Waters' current organic food agenda includes reforming the USDA school lunch program to include organic, local fruits and vegetables and changing the way America eats, but her passion for organics started at her restaurant, where she discovered that organic ingredients were the essential element necessary to create delicious food.
Recognition and Legacy
Now in its 40th year, Chez Panisse has become one of the most awarded and renowned restaurants in the world. It was recognized as the Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet Magazine in 2001, and Waters was named Best Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation in 1992. She was the first woman to win this award.In addition, Waters won the lifetime achievement award given by the S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants association. She was the third recipient of the annual award, and is the only female winner in the award’s history. About Waters, the 50 Best Restaurants writes: “Described variously as a visionary, a pioneer, ‘the mother of American cooking’ and ‘the most important figure in the culinary history of North America’, Alice Waters is certainly one of the most influential figures in American cooking of the last 50 years.” [Waters' book] Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, was named as one of the 50 best cookbooks of all time by The Observer. Her book ranked number 11 on the list, which also included books by Deborah Madison, a Chez Panisse alum, and David Tanis, one of the restaurant's current head chefs.
Waters has also recently been mentioned in the 2010 International Raw Food Restaurant Directory, published by Ki Publishing. Former Chez Panisse staff include Mark Peel, of Campanile, in Los Angeles; Dan Barber
Dan Barber
Dan Barber is a chef and owner of several restaurants including Blue Hill in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. He is a 1992 graduate of Tufts University with a B.A. in English.- Achievements :...
, of Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Blue Hill Restaurant
Blue Hill Restaurant
The Blue Hill Restaurant is a restaurant located in New York City near Washington Square Park, with a second location in the Pocantico Hills about 30 miles outside the city. It has been reviewed by the New York Times, and New York magazine.The Blue Hill Restaurant was established in April 2000,...
, in New York; Judy Rodgers, of Zuni Café
Zuni Cafe
Zuni Cafe is a restaurant in San Francisco, California. Named after the Zuni tribe, it was established in 1979 by Billy West, and with chef Judy Rodgers . It is located on Market Street in San Francisco. Rogers was with Zuni as chef and co-owner since it was founded in 1987...
, in San Francisco; Gayle Pirie, of Foreign Cinema, in San Francisco; and Suzanne Goin
Suzanne Goin
Suzanne Goin is a chef and restaurateur from Los Angeles, California. As a restaurateur, she runs four restaurants in the Los Angeles area: The A.O.C., Lucques, and Tavern, which she runs with partner Caroline Styne, and The Hungry Cat, where she shares duties with her husband, David Lentz...
, of Lucques, in Los Angeles. The restaurant currently operates with a staff of over 100 people, including chefs, pastry chefs, and interns.
Activism and Public Policy Influence
Waters' effort to promote fresh, sustainable food grown by local farms has extended into her work as a food activist and humanitarian. Waters has always been an outspoken supporter of the restaurant's approach to food, cooking, and supporting the local community, but has more recently formalized her efforts through the Chez Panisse Foundation.In celebration of the restaurant's 25th anniversary, Waters founded the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, whose mission is to transform public education by using food to teach, nurture, and empower young people. In particular, the Foundation has worked with the Berkeley Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District is the public school district for the city of Berkeley, California. Its administrative offices are located in Berkeley's old city hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Center Street and Allston Way...
to develop a public school curriculum that is integrated with the school dining services and incorporates growing, cooking, and sharing food at the table into the school day in order to build a humane and sustainable future for the school's students.
The Chez Panisse Foundation is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) organization.
The Edible Schoolyard and Edible Education
The primary work of the Chez Panisse Foundation has been to establish and sustain the Edible Schoolyard program at Berkeley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. The Edible Schoolyard was established in 1995 and is a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) organic garden and kitchen classroom. Students at the middle school are involved in growing, harvesting, and preparing the foods from the garden, with the aim of promoting the environmental and social well-being of the school community.Waters' work at the Edible Schoolyard has also developed into her School Lunch Initiative, which has the broader goal of bringing school children into a new relationship with food by making a healthy, fresh, sustainable meal a part of the school day. The School Lunch Initiative is a collaborative project with the Center for Ecoliteracy
Center for Ecoliteracy
The Center for Ecoliteracy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to education for sustainable living.-About:Located in Berkeley, California, the Center for Ecoliteracy's stated mission is to support schooling for sustainability....
, also in Berkeley, and is also the topic of a series of studies through the Center for Weight and Health, at UC Berkeley.
The School Lunch Initiative is focused on bringing wholesome school lunch to the 10,000 students in the Berkeley Unified School District. In 2005, the Chez Panisse Foundation provided a grant to Berkeley schools to hire Ann Cooper as the Director of Nutrition Services for the district. Cooper and the Foundation eliminated almost all processed foods from the district and introduced organic fruits and vegetables to the daily menu, all while staying within the district’s budget. Waters' vision is to teach subjects such as history, science, and art through the vehicle of food.
In September 2010, the Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, Center for Ecoliteracy, and Chez Panisse Foundation released an evaluation report on the School Lunch Initiative. The report tracked elementary and middle school students over three years to determine the effects of the School Lunch Initiative on children's eating habits and knowledge. The report found that students in schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components ate more daily servings of fruit and vegetables than students in schools with lesser developed programs, and that they scored higher on food knowledge assessments. Schools with highly developed School Lunch Initiative components integrated kitchen and garden classes into the school curriculum, in addition to overhauling the school lunch program.
Although the work of the Chez Panisse Foundation has focused primarily on the Berkeley Unified School District, Waters has become a vocal and familiar advocate for school lunch reform and activism at the national level, as well. In 2009 she appeared on the CBS television program “60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
,” and made a public call for President Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to plant an organic garden at the White House to catalyze change in the US food system,.
She also encouraged President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to plant such a garden, although she didn’t see it come to fruition until the Obama administration took residence. Michelle Obama, in conjunction with her anti-obesity campaign Let's Move!
Let's Move!
Let's Move! is a campaign to end childhood obesity in the United States. The campaign was started by First Lady Michelle Obama. The initiative has the goal of "solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight."The...
, planted the White House organic vegetable garden in March 2009, and many cite Waters’ influence as a leading factor in the First Lady’s current objectives with Let's Move! and the White House garden. An article in the ‘’San Francisco Chronicle’’ states that:
Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, which replaced her predecessor's literacy drive, addresses much of what Waters has been preaching…Chris Lehane, a political consultant who has worked for Al Gore and Bill Clinton, sees Waters as “the George Washington of the movement and Northern California as the 13 colonies…If you’re going to pick a figure who's responsible for it all, it all comes back to her.”
Edible Schoolyard Affiliate Programs
In addition to the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, there are five affiliate Edible Schoolyard programs around the country. These include Edible Schoolyards in New Orleans, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
. The Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans serves students in grades K through 8 from the Green Charter and Arthur Ashe Charter Schools. In addition to Open Garden, which includes the entire community in preparing a seasonal meal, the Edible Schoolyard has become a part of the school curriculum, and helps students learn about Creole cooking and indigenous food traditions. The affiliate program in New York City, located in Brooklyn at P.S. 216, will boast a newly designed kitchen and a four-season greenhouse in addition to a quarter-acre organic farm. P.S. 216 has nearly 500 students in grades K though 5, with 16% English language learners. The Greensboro affiliate program opened in 2009 at the Greensboro Children's Museum, and hosts a variety of weekend, after-school, and summer programs for children in the community. The program will also provide training and education for community parents and early childhood professionals.
The Larchmont Charter Schools in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
incorporate several gardens into their three campuses, which infuse the school curriculum with real-life applications through gardening and science. Participation in the school lunch program at the Larchmont Charter Schools is mandatory, and often features a family-style lunch made from local and organic ingredients. The San Francisco Edible Schoolyard program is operated through the Boys and Girls Club in Hunters Point, where there is a distinct need for access to healthy food and nutrition education. In addition to hosting an 800 square feet (74.3 m²) garden, the program hosts cooking classes and organizes trips to local farmers markets.
Other Advocacy Projects
Currently, Waters is working at the national policy level to extend free school meals to all public school children in the United States. She hopes to expand programs like the Edible Schoolyard and the School Lunch Initiative in order to reach schools across the US. She supports the Child Nutrition Reauthorization ActWilliam F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998
The William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998 extended expiring authorizations for child nutrition and Commodity Assistance Programs, and the WIC program, through FY2003...
, and believes that providing all public school students with free food in school would build the foundation for a healthier and more sustainable food culture in the US.
In 2003, Waters helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project
Yale Sustainable Food Project
The Yale Sustainable Food Project was founded in 2001 by Yale students, faculty, and staff, President Richard Levin, and chef Alice Waters. The Sustainable Food Project directs a sustainable dining program at Yale, manages an organic farm on campus, and runs diverse programs that support...
, which aims to make sustainable food an important part of university-level education. The project maintains an on-campus organic farm and integrates organic, local products into the university’s dining program
Slow Food
Since 2002, Waters has served as a Vice President of Slow Food InternationalSlow Food
Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of...
, an organization dedicated to preserving local food traditions, protecting biodiversity, promoting small-scale quality products around the world She was drawn to the Slow Food movement because of its work in passing food knowledge and traditions to future generations.
Film
In addition to food and advocacy, Waters’ other passions include film. Chez Panisse was named for “Honore Panisse”, a favorite character in the “Marius”, “Fanny”, and “Cesar” trilogy of Marcel PagnolMarcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. In 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie Française.-Biography:...
films, which chronicles the lives of working-class citizens in 1930s Marseilles. In the films, Honore Panisse is a kind, older man who agrees to marry Fanny, a younger woman who is pregnant with another man’s child. He is Waters’ favorite character because of his kindness and generosity, qualities she wanted to emulate when opening her restaurant. Waters named her daughter after Fanny.
In 1980, Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
asked Waters to cook his shoe for the film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is a short documentary film directed by Les Blank in 1980 which depicts director Werner Herzog living up to his promise that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film Gates of Heaven. The film includes clips from both Gates of Heaven and Herzog's...
. She prepared the shoe in the Chez Panisse kitchen, braising it in duck fat, herbs, and spices.
In turn, many people in the film industry are friends of Waters and of Chez Panisse. Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
, and others are notable restaurant patrons, and often attend events at the restaurant.
Personal
Waters has been married twice, to French filmmaker Jean-Pierre GorinJean-Pierre Gorin
Jean-Pierre Gorin is a French filmmaker and professor, best known for his work with Nouvelle Vague luminary Jean-Luc Godard during what is often referred to as Godard's "radical" period....
, and then to Stephen Singer, an importer of Italian olive oil and Chez Panisse’s wine buyer. Her daughter, Fanny Singer, was born in 1983.
Other chefs
Other chefs who have cited Waters as a notable influence on their work include: Stephanie AlexanderStephanie Alexander
Stephanie Alexander is an Australian cook, restaurateur and food writer.After studying to become a librarian and traveling the world at the age of 21, Alexander's first restaurant, Jamaican House, opened in 1964. In 1976, Alexander's next venture was Stephanie's Restaurant located in the Melbourne...
, David Chang
David Chang
David Chang is a noted Korean-American chef. He is chef/owner of the Momofuku restaurant group, which includes Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Má Pêche, Milk Bar and Momofuku Ko in New York City, the latter for which he was awarded two Michelin stars in 2009, and Momofuku Seiōbo in...
, Suzanne Goin
Suzanne Goin
Suzanne Goin is a chef and restaurateur from Los Angeles, California. As a restaurateur, she runs four restaurants in the Los Angeles area: The A.O.C., Lucques, and Tavern, which she runs with partner Caroline Styne, and The Hungry Cat, where she shares duties with her husband, David Lentz...
, Rick Bayless
Rick Bayless
Rick Bayless is an American chef who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is perhaps best known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time....
, Judy Rodgers, Scott Peacock, Molly McCook, Rose Gray
Rose Gray
Rose Gray, MBE was a British chef and cookery writer, who set up The River Café in 1987. She won a Michelin star for this in 1998. It was here that the talents of Jamie Oliver were first spotted...
, Skye Gyngell,and Frank Stitt.
Books
- California Fresh Harvest: A Seasonal Journey through Northern California (California Fresh) (with Gina GalloE & J Gallo WineryE & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest exporter of California wines and is a large promoter of wines from Sonoma County.-History:...
, the Inc. Junior LeagueJunior LeagueThe Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...
of Oakland-East Bay, et al.) , a storybook and cookbook for children
Board memberships
- Founder and President of the Chez Panisse Foundation
- International Governor of Slow FoodSlow FoodSlow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of...
- Visiting Dean at the French Culinary InstituteFrench Culinary InstituteThe French Culinary Institute , also known as The International Culinary Center has locations in SoHo, New York City and in the San Francisco Bay Area of California....
- Honorary Trustee of COPIACOPIACOPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts was a cultural museum and education center dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of wine, food and the arts in American culture. COPIA was located in the Napa Valley in the town of Napa, California...
in NapaNapa, California-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the... - Board Member of the San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
Ferry PlazaFerry BuildingThe San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay and a shopping center located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. On top of the building is a large clock tower, which can be seen from Market Street, a main thoroughfare of the city...
Farmers' marketFarmers' marketA farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
. - Waters serves on the steering committee of the Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Sustainable Food Project, which brings locally grown, seasonal and organic food to students at Yale.
Awards and honors
GourmetGourmet (magazine)
Gourmet magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. Founded by Earle R. MacAusland and first published in 1941, Gourmet also covered "good living" on a wider scale....
magazine awarded Chez Panisse restaurant as the Best Restaurant in America in 2001. In addition, Waters has won other honors.
- Listed as one of the ten best chefs in the world in 1986 by Cuisine et Vins de France .
- Best Chef in America by the James BeardJames BeardJames Andrew Beard was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s...
Foundation in 1992 - James BeardJames BeardJames Andrew Beard was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s...
Humanitarian Award in 1997 - Bon AppetitBon AppétitBon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 - Elected to the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in April 2007 - Given Global Environmental Citizen Award by Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
February 2008 together with Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006... - California Governor Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and First Lady Maria ShriverMaria ShriverMaria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
announced on May 28, 2008 that Waters will be inducted into the California Hall of FameCalifornia Hall of FameConceived by First Lady Maria Shriver, the California Hall of Fame was established at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts to honor individuals and families who embody California’s innovative spirit and have made their mark on history...
, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the ArtsThe California Museum for History, Women and the ArtsThe California Museum, formerly The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts – home of the California Hall of Fame – is housed in the State Archives Building in Sacramento, one block from the State Capitol...
. She was among 12 inductees in 2008. - In 2009, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humanities by Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. - Senior Fellow of the Design Futures CouncilDesign Futures CouncilThe Design Futures Council is an interdisciplinary network of design, product, and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges, and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of the industry and environment...
- French Legion of Honor in 2009
External links
- Bio from Chezpanisse.com
- CA Organic School Lunch Program
- TBO.com Table Conversations podcast interview with Alice Waters.
- WSJ: Ameya Money Went to Waters, Not Slow Food
- Alice Waters on The California Museum's California Legacy Trails
- Alice Waters Advocates For Slow And Fresh Food
- Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard