The Alice Waters and Judy Wicks program last night at Hendricks Chapel offered more food for thought than even this foodie could digest in one sitting. Their visit has sparked a wave of discussion, creativity, and action that I expect to reverberate in our region for some time to come. Don Mitchell of SU's Geography Department was a great moderator of the hour and a half-long conversation. If the purpose of this University Lecture was to inspire and provoke then the evening was a success indeed.
And how could it not be? Alice Waters and Judy Wicks are both doing quite revolutionary work through their restaurants but in very different ways. When asked during the conversation and during the Q&A about how we can make concrete changes in our food system Waters was insistent that the way to go was by feeding the children and changing school lunches. She believes the schools can be the engine for sustainability. It is never to early to teach people that we digest our values--and once children establish the connection between delicious food and all the things they learn in school they will grow up valuing sustainable food; they will bring it home to their parents. It is a long-term strategy for change.
Judy Wicks, on the other hand, is about alternative economies and not buying into the systems that works against your values. She doesn't want a world where we are controlled by multi-national corporations but instead believes that bringing local economic power back into our communities provides an alternative to corporate globalization. She believes in fair trade, living wages, and knowing not only where your food comes from but knowing who makes your clothes, who built your house--it is all about relationships.
In addition to the rather heavy talk about the consequences of our food choices there was laughter, and memories shared and poignant stories told about how they began in this work. I think their early years are instructive to us when we think about getting something started here in Central New York. Alice Waters spoke of her life-changing visit to Provence. The impact of the markets and the taste of food simply changed her life--she spoke of her first Mesclun salads--and the seeds to grow the lettuces and herbs that she brought back to Berkeley and she compared them to the the dull imitations packaged by Dole.
Judy Wicks spoke of the starting the White Dog Cafe in the first floor of her house because it provided a way to work and have childcare--and have great food made for her. She had a longing for the simple food her mother used to cook---she remembered cooking food from the family garden when she was growing up. She spoke of riding the wave that Alice created and she soon learned that it wasn't enough to have a sustainable restaurant and compete with other places by holding the secrets to great, local farmers. She realized that real change would come when more and more chefs were sourcing locally and supporting small farmers too and that led to the creation of the White Dog Community Enterprises.
There was a lot more said last night plus there were conversations held over the pre-lecture dinner and at the breakfast Judy Wicks spoke at today at the YWCA. Plus there was the post-lecture meeting to connect people to work on a sustainable food network AND the panel this afternoon (on which I spoke) to talk about a just food landscape. So, for the time being let me leave you with a few choice statements to chew on in the hopes that this very vibrant conversation will continue. I'll post more about the other events in the days to come.
Judy Wicks: Poverty is about not being able to provide for yourself and we as a society are poor.
Alice Waters: (on first steps for Syracuse) Begin right here with the food at Syracuse University. This is where the conversation is happening. Start with a good bakery. Provide food that is good, clean and fair. Wrap it in a message, connect it with the University, send the bread to different communities.
Judy Wicks: (on eating local) When it comes to vegetables, it is more important to eat local than organic; when it comes to meat, it is more important to eat humanely raised than to eat local.
Alice Waters: Buying from the farmers' market is like making a donation to the greenbelt, its an offering to the environment.
Judy Wicks: (on political action) We need to collaborate in this counter revolution and just get out into the streets. But getting people to fall in love with food is a way to change their lives, their voting.
Archive Alert: On this date in 2006 I was astonished by a giant in my garden.
This is fascinating. Really interesting Wicks comment about humanely raised meat.
Posted by: jen maiser | October 11, 2007 at 11:51 AM
I have yet to blog my reactions to this event, but thank you so much for your thoughtful post. One of the best parts of the evening for me was finally getting to meet you and seeing you talk the next day! I hope we can get together and continue the discussion in the future.
Posted by: bazu | October 14, 2007 at 07:24 PM
Did you happen to read this article about local food in the schools in the NY Times?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/dining/17carr.html?ref=dining
Thought it was interesting/relevant.
Posted by: Kathleen | October 17, 2007 at 10:28 AM