(continued)

We asked Alice: What about the time commitments required for growing one's own food?

Alice Waters:
Yes it takes more time, but the rewards are great -- and the pleasure at the table is great. We spend a lot of time doing things that are very unsatisfying.

GordonSt:
Alice, I appreciate the sentiment about growing one's own food. But to be honest, I hate to garden.

Alice Waters:
To Gordon who hates to garden: How shall I answer this? Have you had the experience of cooking and eating what you've grown?

GordoSt:
Alice: I have had the experience (admittedly with just a few cucumbers), and I enjoyed the eating much more than the growing.

GordonSt:
Anyone who grows all the food they need for the year in a 10x10 plot is either very thin or a heckuva Green Thumb.

Alice Waters:
GordonSt. You should call John Jevens, bio-dynamic farmer, who's written: How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine! He has an organization called Ecology Action, in Willets, CA -- he's the contact - 5798 Ridgewood Road, 95490-9730. And, you know, I'm a picker more than a gardener - I have a black thumb, myself.

Pinky11:
Alice, what do you think is going to be the major food trend for the coming millennium?

Alice Waters:
To Pinky11 -- I hope it's farmer's markets -- people shopping in farmer's markets.

il_moro:
Alice, I understand you wrote the president urging him to appoint a White House chef who would serve food that shows "care for our waters and pastures." any response on that yet? were you approaching the president for that appointment? and how about your ambition for a garden on the White House lawn? Any groudbreaking ceremonies in the future?

Alice Waters:
The Chef at the White House has responded to me, and assures me that he is sensitive to the environment, and has a roof-top garden with herbs and vegetables. But, I'd still like to see a kitchen garden on the White House lawn. That would demonstrate care for the environment on the outside better than what a chef on the inside can do.

P.Mirandola:
Do you think that the government will ever have enough foresight to sponsor large-scale organic farming?

Alice Waters:
I hope the government will understand that they need to help support the people who are caring for the land for all of us. Whether it's encouraging farmer's markets where those vegetables are sold -- or other indirect subsidies. But also encouraging people to become farmers, making it a respected and treasured occupation....once upon a time we were a nation of farmers....

P.Mirandola:
If you only believe in eating only locally grown foods in season, does this mean that a person in Maine can never eat a papaya at home?

Alice Waters:
I think we're going to have to eat locally, and I think there's a bounty of things to be discovered?. even in Maine. I've a friend in Madison, Wisconsin, and she has the most incredible selection of fruits and vegetables grown locally. Of course, she dries and cans and cures them -- but there's a wide variety from season to season. So, I'm not pro papayas in Maine -- of course then we quickly get into coffee and tea and all sorts of exotic things -- but I think our basic diet needs to come from local sources.

GordonSt:
Alice: I should probably know the answer to this question already, but how much of your time now is spent in the day to day operations of your restaurant versus your books, policy work, and other ventures.

Alice Waters:
These days, well, it's probably 3/4 of my time is spent doing books and political works in the schools and traveling -- but I think it all relates to what's happening in the restaurant. I use the restaurant as my touchstone -- I'm always connected with the cooks and the experience of the restaurant.