Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
Audiobook5 hours
We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto
Written by Alice Waters
Narrated by Alice Waters
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
From chef and food activist Alice Waters, an impassioned plea for a radical reconsideration of the way each and every one of us cooks and eats
In We Are What We Eat, Alice Waters urges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture, the philosophy at the core of her life’s work. When Waters first opened Chez Panisse in 1971, she did so with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded to the locally sourced organic ingredients, to the dishes made by hand, and to the welcoming hospitality that infused the small space—human qualities that were disappearing from a country increasingly seduced by takeout, frozen dinners, and prepackaged ingredients. Waters came to see that the phenomenon of fast food culture, which prioritized cheapness, availability, and speed, was not only ruining our health, but also dehumanizing the ways we live and relate to one another.
Over years of working with regional farmers, Waters and her partners learned how geography and seasonal fluctuations affect the ingredients on the menu, as well as about the dangers of pesticides, the plight of fieldworkers, and the social, economic, and environmental threats posed by industrial farming and food distribution. So many of the serious problems we face in the world today—from illness, to social unrest, to economic disparity, and environmental degradation—are all, at their core, connected to food. Fortunately, there is an antidote. Waters argues that by eating in a “slow food way,” each of us—like the community around her restaurant—can be empowered to prioritize and nurture a different kind of culture, one that champions values such as biodiversity, seasonality, stewardship, and pleasure in work.
This is a declaration of action against fast food values, and a working theory about what we can do to change the course. As Waters makes clear, every decision we make about what we put in our mouths affects not only our bodies but also the world at large—our families, our communities, and our environment. We have the power to choose what we eat, and we have the potential for individual and global transformation—simply by shifting our relationship to food. All it takes is a taste.
In We Are What We Eat, Alice Waters urges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture, the philosophy at the core of her life’s work. When Waters first opened Chez Panisse in 1971, she did so with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded to the locally sourced organic ingredients, to the dishes made by hand, and to the welcoming hospitality that infused the small space—human qualities that were disappearing from a country increasingly seduced by takeout, frozen dinners, and prepackaged ingredients. Waters came to see that the phenomenon of fast food culture, which prioritized cheapness, availability, and speed, was not only ruining our health, but also dehumanizing the ways we live and relate to one another.
Over years of working with regional farmers, Waters and her partners learned how geography and seasonal fluctuations affect the ingredients on the menu, as well as about the dangers of pesticides, the plight of fieldworkers, and the social, economic, and environmental threats posed by industrial farming and food distribution. So many of the serious problems we face in the world today—from illness, to social unrest, to economic disparity, and environmental degradation—are all, at their core, connected to food. Fortunately, there is an antidote. Waters argues that by eating in a “slow food way,” each of us—like the community around her restaurant—can be empowered to prioritize and nurture a different kind of culture, one that champions values such as biodiversity, seasonality, stewardship, and pleasure in work.
This is a declaration of action against fast food values, and a working theory about what we can do to change the course. As Waters makes clear, every decision we make about what we put in our mouths affects not only our bodies but also the world at large—our families, our communities, and our environment. We have the power to choose what we eat, and we have the potential for individual and global transformation—simply by shifting our relationship to food. All it takes is a taste.
Author
Alice Waters
Alice Waters is the visionary chef and owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. She is the author of four cookbooks, including Chez Panisse Vegetables and Fanny at Chez Panisse. Known as the Queen of Local Food, she founded the Edible schoolyard at Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. She lives in San Francisco.
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Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories: Foreword by Alice Waters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Carnivore's Manifesto: Eating Well, Eating Responsibly, and Eating Meat Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
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Reviews for We Are What We Eat
Rating: 3.666666693333333 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
15 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a bit tone-deaf and reeked of privilege.
Would we all love to cook our food from scratch with organic locally grown seasonal produce and love our jobs? Yes.
Do we all have the time, money or energy to do this? No.
Does this book address wage, time and health inequality in regards to how we could love this way with our own limitations? No.
That aside, the writing was easy to read and I liked that it included photography. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I have been reading about FOOD for a very long time and also have wanted to go to Water's Chez Panisse in San Francisco for a very long time. Hoping one day I will get there! Although the content of this book was preaching to the converted (that's me!) I still wanted to be reminded of the importance of organic food, seasonal food, the connection of farm to table, the value of a living wage for farm workers, the protection of lands where food is grown, the value of slow food as opposed to the fast food culture, the value of soil (and so much more) and this book served the purpose. Alice Waters has been an advocate of these values for a very long time. While at times the tone was a tad preachy and earnest, I still enjoyed it and there were lots of good reminders for making good food choices.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Alice Waters and this book is a continuation of her thoughts on thoughtful eating. Value simplicity, don’t waste and know where your food comes from.