Apparently a campaign is afoot to appoint an official "White House Farmer." I think this is a splendid idea, especially after listening to the first two parts of Gwynne Dyer's "Climate Wars" series on CBC Radio. Ahh, Ideas, what would I do without thee?
Dyer says some frightening and enlightening things about how our changing climate will affect food supplies and political stability around the world. His explanation of climate change denial is pretty interesting, too.
In any case, North Americans are out of touch with their food supply, and any of these worthy nominees would improve the current situation. Here's the bio of Alice Waters:
Alice Waters was born on April 28,1944, in Chatham, New Jersey. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967 with a degree in French Cultural Studies, and trained at the Montessori School in London before spending a seminal year traveling in France. Alice opened Chez Panisse in 1971, serving a single fixed-price menu that changes daily. The set menu format remains at the heart of Alice's philosophy of serving only the highest quality products, only when they are in season. Over the course of three decades, Chez Panisse has developed a network of mostly local farmers and ranchers whose dedication to sustainable agriculture assures Chez Panisse a steady supply of pure and fresh ingredients. Alice is a strong advocate for farmer's markets and for sound and sustainable agriculture. In 1996, in celebration of the restaurant's twenty-fifth anniversary, she created the Chez Panisse Foundation to help underwrite cultural and educational programs such as the one at the Edible Schoolyard that demonstrate the transformative power of growing, cooking, and sharing food.
Food is one of life's greatest joys, in addition to being a key part of national and global security. It's also one of humanity's foremost needs, and no amount of wishful thinking will create peace and progress if people go hungry.
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