After seeing Alice Waters on the Charlie Rose show (go to his website) I wondered whether eating organic for so long hasn't put her on tranks. She appeared to be in a trance, simpering like a Helen Hokinson clubwoman (see Club Women can Cook Too) and I don't think her smile would pass the fresh'n'local test, it came and went as regularly as a traffic light. She clung to her mantra "taste" but she never defined taste for us, simply applying it across the board to all organic food. She never eats tasty things like preserved food or food with additives or anything that isn't organic and she travels with her own organic lunchpack. And she hasn't cooked at her resto Chez Panisse for 24 years.

The funniest moment was when she wanted to buy locally grown pears in NYC in February!

Charlie Rose tried hard to energize her but with zilch results. He offered a refreshing perspective to the overwrought sanctimony of the fresh'n'local movement. He'd never heard of Slow Food and I don't think he knew much about Alice before his producer booked her.

Some of the comments on the show...
Comment by Jan Brown on Friday, Feb 8 at 10:52 AM

I too, was struck by Water's wanting to buy locally grown pears in NYC in February, and turned the show off.

Comment by eileen on Thursday, Feb 7 at 03:17 AM

yes! yes! yes! so wonderful to see alice waters :: dear soul :: and charlie's bewilderment at the powerful integrity of her message :: education, agriculture, cultural values :: health and happiness :: the children, the future :: and your health too charlie :: a lovely evening :: may it grow :: slow and slow :: breathe :: mangia mangia ! xo

Comment by N. Sarah on Friday, Feb 8 at 10:06 AM

I watched the interview with disappointment and disbelief at Water's vocal delivery, mannerisms, and anecdotes of her own sanctimonious lifestyle. It appears that over the course of the past 30+ years she's deified herself into a saint for the environment and savior of our nation's food "values". I wouldn't want her as my spokeswoman for eating better and "greener"; she was totally uninspiring and out of touch with the climatic realities which face local growers (and consumers) outside of sunny California. As a New England native, when I ask myself where my olives, lemons and oranges come from, the answer which comes to mind is "a place a heck of a lot warmer than here". Bless my Massachusetts apples and Maine potatoes! I will vow to do my part to help the environment though, and save a few trees by forgoing purchasing her 415-page hardcover cookbook. I shall put the $35 towards my vegetable garden, groove all summer on the joy of tending to the plants and watching them grow, and continue to "value" my food experience by canning/freezing my harvest for the winter months. I don't need an expert or a 2-pound cookbook to tell me the tomatoes from my own backyard will taste better than the pale "organic" ones from the store, and that the strawberries in N.E. grocery stores in February probably won't have much flavor.