A Visit from Alice Waters

Kristi Hanson
2025-10-16T18:53:00-04:00

We were thrilled to welcome the legendary Alice Waters to Twin Barns at The Staats House for a conversation with author Bill Buford, about food, farming and building a culture of food from the youngest age.

Alice has always been a fixture in my family’s life. We moved here from Berkeley, California where Chez Panisse was central to our community and our way of thinking about the food we prepared and ate. My son could want for no other restaurant than the warm woodworked dining room upstairs, and we spent many lunches at the Cafe together, pondering the beauty and deliciousness of The Perfect Pear. It was, truly, magical, and a valuable and inspiring education for us both.

Alice was here to promote her new cookbook, A School Lunch Revolution, which extolls the importance of educating children about food, where it comes from and how it is prepared. It’s a delicious introduction to The Edible Schoolyard Project, which Alice championed in Berkeley. That program, which uses the garden as classroom to teach children important lessons in nourishment, stewardship and community, has since been extended to other school’s across the country. It’s a powerful force for change in the food we eat and, ultimately, the future of food in our country.

I urge you to support this program locally by donating to Slow Food Hudson Valley, whose mission to promote good, clean, fair food for all is critical to how we eat, what we eat and the critical issue of food access in our communities.