Wednesday, February 5, 2014

#WomenCrushWednesday Alice Waters & The Edible Schoolyard Project

Alice Waters


Born April 28th, 1944

Alice Waters is most famous for founding the Edible Schoolyard Project. She owns Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant that is famous for organic, locally-grown ingredients and California cuisineWaters studied abroad in France in college, and this is where her love of market fresh cooking came from. Upon returning to the States she was a political activist for a short time and this led to her food activism. After graduating, Waters returned to Europe and traveled to Turkey, France and London. She founded the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996, whose mission is to transform public education by using food to teach, nurture, and empower young people. Waters is a crusader for organic food as she believes it enhances the quality and taste of the food and beneficial to the environment and people's health. 

The Edible Schoolyard Project was established in 1995 at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. Students at the middle school are involved in growing, harvesting and preparing the foods from the garden. Waters also developed the School Lunch Initiative which aims to bring school children into a new relationship with food by making a healthy, fresh, sustainable meal a part of the school day. There are currently 5 other Edible Schoolyard Projects across the country in New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Waters encouraged President Bill Clinton to plant an organic garden at the White House, but unfortunately it did not happen. First Lady Michelle Obama planted her organic garden in 2009 with objectives from her Let's Move Campaign. 

Waters has written 11 books, won a dozen honors & awards and serves as board member for various organizations. She has one daughter, Fanny and has been married twice. Waters is an inspiration in organic and healthy school lunch activism. She is relentless in her effort to provide all children across America with knowledge of where their food comes from, harvesting and preparation. Her vision will continue to shine through for the future as people are fed up with GMO's, fast food, chemicals and coloring in food and above all, finding a way out of childhood obesity.  

References: 

No comments:

Post a Comment