Comments on: Alice Waters' Crusade For Better Food

Lesley Stahl Profiles The Outspoken, And Sometimes Controversial California Food Activist

[chilepepper99]

Why is she using Tuscan olive oil in her cooking when there is perfectly good organic California olive oil?

I'm thinking that Alice doesn't always practice what she preaches.....

[patpilette]

Alice is very fortunate to be living in CA. She has great weather to grow ALL year long. Tell theat to those living in Chicago, Detroit, ClevelAND IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER and IN An APARTMENT WITH ONE WINDOW FACING NORTH. I live in So. CAl and can't grow "organic" ALL year long!! Organic? What's Organic? Plastic- Cardboard??

[MMuscles]

Two MAJOR points were missed amidst all the whining about the cost of real food.

First, cheap has a way of becoming expensive. The health of the population is atrocious due to a totally corrupted and inadequate food supply.

Secondly, supermarket food is artifically cheap because of farm subsidies. Soy and corn - which are in almost everything - are cheap by comparism thanks to the American taxpayer.

Leslie, I hope you remember how good that breakfast tasted.

[mray121212]

I don't get why people are saying that Lesley Stahl was gushing over Alice Waters. I thought the opposite was true. The questions were ignorant and disrespectful; the voiceovers mean-spirited and needlessly snarky. I'm not sure who Lesley Stahl thought she was speaking for, but I never realized that supporting small local farmers and teaching children the value of gardening was such a radical idea.
 
A more honest assessment would have shown interviews with small farmers who are helped by the Slow Food movement as well as those who feel that the movement's ideals are hurting their bottom line.
 
Instead, Ms. Stahl and 60 Minutes decided to offer up anonymous, personal attacks disguised as "some people say..." And while it was humorous to watch Ms. Stahl show shock and awe at the mere sight of a garden (at City Hall, oh my! In a schoolyard? And children garden?), the segment made me lose respect for 60 Minutes as a news institution; a respect that probably never will be regained.
 
It's not just about 60s era idealism, it's about supporting our communities and it's about eating healthy seasonal foods.

[advancedsociety]

Indeed we don't know how to cook. I had an "Alice Waters" type mom and realized her uniqueness when people "broke" into my dorm room and stole the sauces i brought from home every weekend. She was and now i am extremely paranoid about food that is prepared quickly. For my family cooking and eating is a family affair and is never done alone. I hate driving so having my garden downstairs is very convenient and cheaper too. I also use pots to start my vegetable so it is possible anywhere you live. America must revolt and demand better quality food we deserve it. My husband who is a physician is already witnessing the onslaught of the "lower quality being" We are just not as strong and resilient as our parents were. This must end.

[twpest]

I must say that I found this segment to be an example of lazy (or perhaps rushed) reporting. The segment basically rehashed stories about Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, and Edible School Yard that have been done previously by other news outlets, albeit perhaps not aired to such a large audience. Few sources were cited. Gavin Newsom may be a high profile mayor who hosted an event but he's neither a nutrition nor agriculture expert. His role in the piece would have been far more meaningful had it been a substantive discussion regarding what role government can, should or should not play, and the obstacles that would be encountered.

I expect more from 60 Minutes. Was the piece rushed or were you just not that interested?

[dmorry]

I'm the same age as Alice Waters. When I was in Junior High in L.A. we had a school vegetable garden where we learned to grow vegetables. We didn't know it was an "Edible Schoolyard." The teachers didn't tell us that the vegetables were "organic" or that we were "eating local." All we knew was that we were learning to grow vegetables. I guess the education kids are getting now is a lot more sophisticated.

[JMACFAR]

I would like to add that I saved lots of money on fresh greens by growing them myself last summer. There is nothing more satisfying then planting a seed and watching it grow into food that I pick and eat. The fresher picked, the more nutrients in each bite! There is science behind this, in case anyone is wondering. (That is why frozen can be better then fresh in a supermarket, since it is frozen at the peak of freshness rather then having had to travel a long distance with diminishing viability) My kids ate all my grape tomatoes and my toddler discovered the joy of sugar snap peas straight off the vine. Any excuse to get out to exercise in the sunshine is great. But to get out in the sunshine and get your exercise in ones own garden is even better! I am glad that I don't have to rely solely on what I grow to eat, but it sure makes me appreciate the work that goes into my food a whole lot more!

[yvonneglaze]

Someone should remind Alice Waters that paying 7.00 dollars a pound for "organic" tomatoes is unaffordable to 99% of the people in this nation...especially with the severe recession we're in....but people like Alice are recession proof, and money is no object...I just love Alice's defense of Leslie's comment about her (Alice) being an elitist .....How many people in America does she think has a 10,000 wood burning stove in their kitchen, by which they can bake an organic egg, with some organic virgin olive oil, and serve it with organic tomatoes, overlooking their own organic garden !!!!!...elitist..for sure...pretensious...definately......

[JMACFAR]

Alice Waters came across as a pious, utopian minded ideologue. This is not to say that the slow food movement or the local-vore movement is out of touch or unaffordable. As a mom of three and one whose economic situation has varied over the years, from poor to somewhat comfortable, I have consistently valued what I place on my family's table. When possible, I buy organic, but more often I buy local. I avoid processed foods, sugary sweets and meats and dairy laden with antibiotics and added hormones.. I seek out food grown locally--Here in Michigan that means I can buy Michigan milk products, eggs from a co-op a few towns away, dried, frozen, and fresh cherries, bread fro the local bakery, wine, cheese, apples, blueberries, a horde of veggies, dried black beans (as I discovered today) chicken and beef, (especially when the farmer's market returns after our long, cold winter), and even sugar grown from by sugar beet coops. The local beer from the brewery a few miles away can't be beat either! And guess what? I can get most of these items from my local Meijer or L and L ( a smaller family owned grocer). Am I going to pay more for some of this items then if I bought brand names and or processed stuff? Yes, but not always. I am usually getting a fresher and better product, as well. Am I putting money into the pockets of the many hardworking small farmers in my home state? YES! I am supporting them and my local economy and encouraging these businesses to keep going. And by shopping for these items at my local mainstream markets, I am voting with my dollars to keep these products coming.

No matter how small our budget was, I was able to keep healthy, wholesome foods on the table, I have made trade-offs over the years....Obviously, we would pack our own lunches (all natural peanut butter for many years), and we cooked our own meals. We didn't have cable for over a decade. We didn't buy a huge home that we had to struggle to afford and we limited our debt. The latest and greatest gadgetry never made it into our priority list, hence spending a little more on what we put into our bodies, which we will have with us for life, was and is an easy thing to do.

I do believe that society needs to place more value on food. We spend a smaller proportion of our income on food then ever, and yet people still find a way to complain about food costs and it usually the first thing that gets cut back on. Would you do the same with cable television service? Maybe we should examine what it is we're buying and we it comes from and what it is made of and wonder if your great grandmother would recognize it as food? We need to value the hard work of the farmers who grow the food we eat. We need to make good eating a more mainstream habit that cuts across all economic lines. The less processed food we eat the better we will feel. It is the small farmers, rather then the Con-Agra, that need support so that fruits and veggies are accessible to many more people. And it all starts with your next trip to the supermarket.