Alice Waters on Slow Food

Devin Glage — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:39:57 +0000

Alice Waters, author of The Art of Simple Food, owner of world famous restaurant Chez Panisse, and matriarch of the Slow Food Movement in the US was recently features on the popular investigative reporting show 60 Minutes. In the interview Leslie Stahl draws the conclusion that perhaps the ever passionate Waters is living in a parallel universe filled with luxury, where the average consumer can afford $4/lb locally grown, organic grapes. While I agree that the lifestyle that Waters advocates is a bit out of reach for many people who have to work with a limited food budget, she does make a good point at 6:56mins about the often attacked price of organic and sustainably grown food.

To paraphrase:

We all make decisions about what we want to eat and how we spend our money…some people want to buy Nike Shoes, two pairs. Others want to eat good, sustainable food.

Watch CBS Videos Online

The point being made here is that good food should not be some elitist luxury, but rather a restructuring of our priorities. Do you need another pair of Nike’s? Or would you be better off spending that money on good quality food?

From the perspective of a recent university student, a lifestyle often associated with late nights of partying and frequent binge drinking, it has been my experience that people are very quick to call organic food expensive, and complain about being unable to afford it. A claim not often grounded in logic however, as most students will spend more money in one night at the bar than on a typical grocery bill.

Good food should be the last item sent to the chopping block when funds are tight. In a down economy, the best resource you can invest in is your health.

DevinGlage.com » Alice Waters

Alice Waters on Slow Food

Related Topics