2012 Annual Community Luncheon

Ludeman Center Sep 5, 2012

Sit Down with Alice Waters at Our Annual Luncheon

 

Join us at our next fundraiser luncheon, where Alice Waters, chef, author, and proprietor of the world-famous Chez Panisse, will serve up a flavorful keynote speech.

An American pioneer of a culinary philosophy, Waters maintains that cooking should be based on the finest and freshest seasonal ingredients, produced sustainably and locally. She is a passionate advocate for a food economy that is "good, clean, and fair."

Alice Waters’ work helped create a community of local farmers and ranchers dedicated to sustainable agriculture. And her commitment to education sparked The Edible Schoolyard at a local junior middle school, a program, which includes a one-acre garden, an adjacent kitchen-classroom, and an "eco-gastronomic" curriculum that actively involves students in all aspects of the food cycle.

The Edible Schoolyard led to Waters’ creation of the Chez Panisse Foundation, designed to support programs that use food traditions to teach, nurture, and empower young people. And it inspired the School Lunch Initiative, which integrates a nutritious daily lunch and gardening experience into the academic curriculum of all public schools in the United States.

In addition to her many other roles, Waters serves as Vice President of Slow Food International, a nonprofit organization that promotes and celebrates local artisanal food traditions and has 100,000 members in over 130 countries. She is the author of eight books, including The Art of Simple Food: Notes and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.

Honors and affiliations include:
  • Inductee, California Hall of Fame, 2008
  • Co-recipient, with Kofi Annan, Global Environmental Citizen Award, 2008
  • Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2007
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Restaurant magazine’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants, 2007
  • Founder, Sustainable Food Program at the American Academy in Rome, 2006
  • Force for Nature Award, Natural Resources Defense Council, 2004
  • Best Restaurant in America, Gourmet magazine, 2001
  • Founder, Yale Sustainable Food Project, Berkeley College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2003
  • Vice President, Slow Food International, Bra, Italy, 2003