“I wanted it to be incredibly beautiful, and full of colors. I wanted everything to be delicious, really delicious. Not just good, but really delicious.” ~ Alice Waters on her vision of the Edible Schoolyard
This past weekend I was privileged enough to be asked to cook at the Green Feast at San Juan Capistrano’s Ecology Center. The guest of honor was one of my hero’s and a mentor named Alice Waters. Alice has been recognized as the “mother of the farm-to-table movement,” and has been leading the sustainable food movement for decades. She pioneered the concept of eating seasonally and locally, created Chez Panisse, one of the most recognized restaurant brands in the world, and then created a national initiative ‘The Edible Schoolyard Project.’ Alice is an all-around Sustainability Renaissance woman.
Four decades ago, my family’s New York City restaurant owned by my French grandmother from Alsace-Lorraine was passed on to my father, aunt,and uncle. Some of my earliest child memories are of our backyard garden behind the kitchen and dining rooms. Keep in mind we were on Manhattan’s East 61st Street between Park and Madison Avenues. It was a “concrete jungle,” to be sure. But to this day I remember the herbs and vegetables that grew back there, ironically right next to the tubs of lard we used to make those perfectly folded French Omelettes. I played back there in that garden, and it was an Oasis to me from the bustle of the restaurant where everyone in my family seemed to always be working.
I tell that story for the same reasons Alice Waters breathes the delicious air that she does––I was a kid, and in that moment I thought every kid had that special place just like I did: a garden to watch things grow, nurture and love. I had garden mentors: my father, aunt and uncle taught me how to plant, and reap, then sow. It was infinitely special and beautiful. Not good. Not delicious. But really, really delicious. It wasn’t until years later that I came to understand that not every child has that. And then I heard about Alice.
Twenty years ago, Alice Waters was quoted in a local newspaper, saying that the school she passed every day looked like no one cared about it. Neil Smith, the principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School at the time, contacted her. He had an acre of tortured land on the school grounds, and he believed she could find a way to help. Even then Alice had a mission: she wanted to build a garden and a teaching kitchen that could become tools for enriching the curriculum and life of the school community. From this land, these two created a place that;
“Involves students in all aspects of farming the garden and preparing, serving, and eating food as a means of awakening their senses and encouraging awareness and appreciation of the transformative values of nourishment, community, and stewardship of the land.
This became The Edible Schoolyard, which “encompasses garden and kitchen classroom settings and provides a hands-on environment for students in which to apply skills learned in traditional math, science, and the humanities.”
Today, the King Middle School garden serves as the model for other Edible Schoolyard affiliates around the country: in New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Greensboro, and my own hometown of Brooklyn.
The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano is an eco-educational non-profit center founded by Evan Marks. It’s a magical place that engages individuals, families, and students in hands-on activities that teach practical, environmental solutions on a realistic community level. This educational farm is an “oasis” in Southern California, and it has grown in leaps and bounds. It’s the kind of place that can change a child–– or an adult’s––view of their world. It’s a place that brings all members of the community together to inspire and create a healthy and abundant future for all of Southern California.
Evan, and the Ecology Center’s chef, Kerri Cacciata, initiated The Community Table Accord, highlighted at this event. Along with a team of Rock-Star chefs, it focuses on building a community and supporting its growth through ten simple principles:
1) Buy Local and Seasonal
2) Choose Organic
3) Eat Fresh
4) Celebrate Diversity
5) Promote Polycultures
6) Grow Your Own
7) Respect Animals
8) Nourish All Children
9) Educate for Change
10) Celebrate the Harvest
This menu for the Green Feast 2016 read like a local horn of plenty: Local Yellowtail, California King Salmon and the first White Sea Bass of the season all from Superior Seafood’s, artisan charcuterie from Michael Puglisi at Electric City Butcher, garden lettuces from Palmquist Elementary School’s garden, apricots, citrus, fig leaves and avocados we picked from the trees of the Ecology Center, Chino Family Farms strawberries sent from heaven, organic vegetables from Bob Harrington at Specialty Produce…..and on, and on.
“In the Community Table Accord are the principles that drive us, day in and day out. These are not only words, but our way of life,” explained Marks. “As the next generation carrying on Alice's rich legacy, it is the greatest compliment to have her join us at The Ecology Center to give us her blessing on this agreement that sets the standards for the sustainable table.”
One of the things that struck home to me this weekend was a comment she made when talking about The Edible Garden. They hold an Iron-Chef competition with the kids each year, and of course EVERY kid wants to be the Iron-Chef. One of the most important criteria for judging the kids is "how well they collaborate to make it happen.” I touch on this because the jewel for our event was a ‘farm-to-table’ feast, that was fit for the gods, with this stunning farm as the backdrop––all put together by a group of adult Iron-Chefs, who collaborated flawlessly for two days to produce this sustainable feast.
A special thanks to Kerri Cacciata (Chef of The Ecology Center), Jennifer Sherman (Chez Panisse), and Silvy (Chez Panisse). These women absolutely killed it, and collaborated their butts off to make this a perfect night for everybody. Chef Paddy Glennon of Superior Seafood’s (an absolute sustainability savant and fishmonger extraordinaire) Chef Jason McLeod (Ironsides Fish), Rob Wilson (The Montage), Paul Buchanon(Primal Alchemy), Greg Daniels(Provisions Market/Haven Gastropub), Pascal Olhats, Cathy McKnight(modelmeals.com) and many more.
There is so much more I could say, but honestly I hope I’ve at least gotten your ears and hearts to believe in some of the principles this group of collaborators live out every day. If you’re ever passing through San Juan Capistrano, take a half-hour and stop at The Ecology Center. They can also be available to host the most amazing special event you might ever need. Visit and support these chefs’ restaurants––where they source everything they can from local farms and boats. Make yourself part of this movement, because together, we can make a change right here and right now.
One last thing Alice said that really clicked with me:
“I am not sure where we start today. Whether it is on a local level or a state level, one by one. But we do know our government needs to buy in and fund this. And why don’t we just do it with a tax on soda.”
And then let's plow it back into gardens for the communities where health has been so devastated by that subsidized sugar and junk in the first place.
