Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

Alice Waters is a true Bay Area icon and one of the most influential chefs of her generation.  A long-time food activist, Waters first opened Bay Area local restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971 with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded positively to the restaurant and its focus on locally sourced organic ingredients, delectable hand-made dishes, and wonderfully mastered hospitality.  In pioneering a revolutionary approach to food preparation and service, Waters determined that the rise of fast food, frozen meals, and prepackaged ingredients were increasingly overshadowing the human qualities of eating and cooking. In her recent book We Are What We Eat, Waters urges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture. She writes this book as a declaration of action against fast food values and a working theory about what we can do to change the course.  From years of working with regional farmers, Waters learned about the dangers of pesticides; the plight of fi