Food Revolutionary Alive and Kicking

Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley and an activist who helped revolutionize the culinary landscape in the United States through her books and The Edible Schoolyard Project, makes lunch with Kim Severson from the New York Times in the article entitled, Lunch with Alice Waters, Food Revolutionary.

Alice's new book: The Art of Simple Food--focused on locally produced, seasonal foods--is due out October 2, 2007. At the age of 63, Alice continues to fight the good fight because, as the article says, "True, radical change — a country full of people who eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the earth — is simply not coming fast enough."

I've got the book on pre-order, but I'm crossing my fingers that it holds true to its word: Simple. I'm a little skeptical of trying to replicate the recipes of top chefs, but at least my money will be going to a good cause.

Desiccation and Desecration

Laura Ingalls Wilder once asked: "Did you ever think how a bit of land shows the character of the owner?"

It's a question I prefer to ignore.

What does my desiccated, desecrated garden say about me? Perhaps it says Matt and I moved to Colorado in June, unpacked our entire lives and built a garden in a week, spent all day every day in Montessori training through June, July, and August, moved into and organized our classrooms, and started our first year of teaching in a Montessori classroom.

Excuses, excuses. At least my quasi-valiant attempt inspired one person to start a garden. And she actually followed-through on her attempt. That makes me feel a little better.