Quotes by Alice Waters

“Im glad its a woman. It cant be anything but encouraging to people to have someone at the top, particularly from another country. That particularly makes a beautiful statement that someone has succeeded to the extent that they represent the president.”

“She has influenced all of us.”

“Kids come into the classroom and its very hands-on, ... Kids like this. After phys ed, its their favorite class.”

“There arent many big ideas about how to solve the problems,”

“[In Berkeley, Waters was thrilled to have Charles draw attention to the Edible Schoolyard, her creation.] Its great to have a prince supporting an environmental movement, ... We dont have one. We need a prince. We need money.”

“Every change ultimately is one for the better. You dont know how it is going to be. It is just shuffling the cards, and people who havent revealed themselves might reveal themselves.”

“Im always going back to Elizabeth David. I continue to be a fan. I can read and reread and find something important in there.”

“I think shes really up there at the top. It happens only when somebody is very non-compromising and when somebody is attending to all the details and learning about all the changes in food. The way she has incorporated organic ingredients into her standard repertoire, she is somebody who is keeping up on whats important and getting better at doing it.”

“Papayas should never be refrigerated.”

“Edna Lewis had the hands and soul of a great artist, and like all great artists, she had something of which the rest of us know little or nothing.”

Teaching kids how to feed themselves and how to live in a community responsibly is the center of an education.

Im focused on the next generation, because I think its very hard to break the habit of adults whove got salt and sugar addictions and just ways of being in this world. Its very hard even for the most enlightened people at famous universities that are very wealthy to spend the money that it takes to feed the students something delicious.

I feel like old age in America is a very sad thing. I have been many different places around the world where getting older is something you look forward to.

If I werent involved with food, Id be working in architecture. Design is that critical to me.

We have to bring children into a new relationship to food that connects them to culture and agriculture.

The problem with living in a fast-food nation is that we expect food to be cheap.

I think Americas food culture is embedded in fast-food culture. And the real question that we have is: How are we going to teach slow-food values in a fast-food world? Of course, its very, very difficult to do, especially when children have grown up eating fast food and the values that go with that.

I feel it is an obligation to help people understand the relation of food to agriculture and the relationship of food to culture.

Food culture is like listening to the Beatles - its international, its very positive, its inventive and creative.

I dont want food that comes from animals that are caged up and fed antibiotics. I am really suspicious of that kind of production of meat and poultry.