or two week's worth of something that will keep people alive

Alive, maybe. But not necessarily healthy by any measure.

I am not saying everyone should eat the way Alice Waters says, but it's not the worst idea. And saying "it's not the way the world is" is like saying that "violence is part of cities, especially inner cities." It's true. But it doesn't, to me, mean we should not strive for something more healthy and sustainable.

If Waters, Pollan, ellie krieger, the Moosewood collective, or Bittman can make it easier to pick a morehealthy meal at the grocery store, I'll live with the zealotry. But that may be because I live with two chronic conditions that might be better if the planet was less toxic.

P-Patches are a great thing, as are CSAs and some Farmer's Markets. If I were not on my phone, I would probably go into a paragraph or two about factory farms as tools of The Man.

Don't shoot the messenger, is what I am saying.

What she seemed clueless about was the amount of time the average person can devote to cooking.

Yeah, but that's kind of the point. We don't have time because we don't make it a priority. Because we keep sacrificing everything for expedience, we wind up with nothing but a fast pace. And stress. And bad food.

The whole culture is out of whack is what she's saying.

I don't think she has a realistic view - ever. But she did create a successful business based on her philosophy. And she has helped a number of local business, over all. ( local farmers) And lots of people in this area have changed how they think about food.

If I listed all of the local culinary institutions that go directly back to Alice Waters' Chez Panisse it would be a very very long list indeed. There are probably three or four major bakeries that all feature people who started there. Innumerable organic growers. Fish mongers, sustainable farmers, chefs (of course), pastry chefs, cheese makers, etc.

And it's really the French ethos. Locally grown food, in season, simply but properly made. Even the local bartenders are pulling directly off that tradition.

She's clueless like the guy who suggested washing your hands before surgery and was dismissed as a quack.

P-Patches

This is Seattlese for community garden, yes? Never seen the term before, but I love that y'all have your very own.

Yep, Seattlese. And a lot of the people with them are using them for a large portion of their foodstuffs.

Ha! As punishment, Elsie's father is threatening to send her to a convent school! Elsie has "an intense horror and dread of everything connected with that form of error and superstition."

(I have more to say about Alice Waters, but I'm kind of flexeril-loopy right now, and I have no confidence that it would come out as anything remotely approaching what I actually want to say.)

oh for goodness sakes. What does Jesus have against convent schools?

Papists.