30 Facts About Alice Waters

Alice Louise Waters was born on April 28,1944 and is an American chef, restaurateur, and author.

Alice Waters's memoir, Coming to my Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, was published in September 2017 and released in paperback in May 2018.

Alice Waters created the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996 and the Edible Schoolyard program at the Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley.

Alice Waters is a national public policy advocate for universal access to healthy, organic foods.

Alice Waters graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a degree in French cultural studies in 1967.

Alice Waters brought this style of food preparation back to Berkeley, where she popularized the concept of market-fresh cooking, using the local products available in Northern California.

Alice Waters claims that food is a way of life and not just something to eat.

Alice Waters worked on the congressional campaign of Robert Scheer, an anti-Vietnam War politician.

Alice Waters often cooked for and entertained her fellow campaigners.

Alice Waters eventually returned to Europe, where she first trained at a Montessori school in London.

From Turkey, Alice Waters then returned to France, where she embarked upon a year-long journey.

Alice Waters's travels solidified her love of all things food and French and inspired her to return to California and open Chez Panisse.

Lulu Peyraud's vineyard cooking significantly influenced Alice Waters's cooking and her menus at Chez Panisse.

Alice Waters has said that what Chiang did to popularize Chinese cuisine in America is what Julia Child did for French cuisine.

In 1971, Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse, which she named for a favorite character in a trilogy of Marcel Pagnol films.

Chez Panisse was intended to serve primarily as a place where Alice Waters could entertain her friends.

Alice Waters opened the upstairs Chez Panisse Cafe, a concept championed by Tower, in 1980.

In 1984, Alice Waters opened Cafe Fanny, named after her daughter, between the wine shop of Kermit Lynch and Acme Bread.

Alice 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.

Alice Waters became an organic devotee almost by accident, claiming that what she was originally after was taste.

Alice 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 in 1996, Alice Waters founded the Chez Panisse Foundation, whose mission is to transform public education by using food to teach, nurture, and empower young people.

Alice Waters's vision is to teach subjects such as history, science, and art through the vehicle of food.

Alice Waters encouraged President Bill Clinton to plant a White House garden.

Alice Waters supported the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, 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, Alice Waters helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project, which aims to make sustainable food an important part of university-level education.

In 2006, Alice Waters oversaw the creation of the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome, which aims to provide a replicable model of simple, sustainable and seasonal food for other like-minded institutions, and which operates an internship program.

Since 2002, Alice Waters has served as a vice president of Slow Food International, an organization dedicated to preserving local food traditions, protecting biodiversity, promoting small-scale quality products around the world.

Alice Waters was drawn to the Slow Food movement because of its work in passing food knowledge and traditions to future generations.

Alice Waters has received numerous awards for her cooking, environmental advocacy, and other achievements.