Alice Waters

A week ago, nonconformist food writer Anthony Bourdain, slow food queen Alice Waters, and celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman took the stage at Food For Thought, a panel discussion that took place in Hartford, CT. There, the three rather different famous food figures discussed, among many other subjects, sustainable food, last meals, celebrity status, and food aphrodisiacs.

Waters made no mention of Bourdain's recent comments about her — in an interview with DCist, he spewed, "Alice Waters annoys the living s**t out of me . . . There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic." While the two got along, they expressed contrasting views on the local and organic food movement. To learn their standpoints and view a clip of the titillating discussion, read more

In addition to being captured in photos by National Geographic, the sustainable food crisis is also the focus of a new documentary. Magnolia Pictures' Food, Inc. is a call to action to change the way America eats. It discusses food consumption today, its heavy dependence on corn, its ties to national policy, and its inevitable impact on our nation's health.

Based on the book Food, Inc. (and similar to The Omnivore's Dilemma), the premise of this film appears to be similar: the country's food system, with its focus on making food bigger, cheaper, and faster, is making America sick. The movie also addresses the contamination issues plaguing the nation and the enormous power wielded by US food corporations, with sustainable food poster boys Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser making appearances in the documentary.

If you haven't seen it yet, below is the trailer for the film, which debuts in select cities June 12. Do you think this documentary will prove to be as influential as proponents are hoping it to be? Will you go see it?

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• Make five well-balanced bag lunches out of one roasted chicken. — Chow
• Watch Stephan Colbert eat New York City's most expensive dishes. — Eat Me Daily
• Should adult diners be allowed to wear bibs? — The Feedbag
• The war on Alice Waters continues. — Gourmet
• Three kitchen techniques that will change your life. — Simply Stated
• Would you eat this macaroni-and-cheese-topped hot dog? — Eater
• Treat yourself to homemade pain au chocolat cinnamon rolls with creme fraiche icing and walnuts. — Serious Eats

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• Homemade baby food is easy and cheap. — Chow
• Lighter than nachos, chilaquiles rojos are a deliciously authentic Mexican dinner. — Serious Eats
• Feeling sick? Make your own bourbon cough syrup. — The Kitchn
• Learn what it's like to attend an olive oil tasting. — Cooking With Amy
• Choose your own food adventure! — The Epi-Log
• Ten white wines under $20.— Bon Appétit
• In case you missed it, here's a recap of Alice Waters on 60 Minutes. — Eat Me Daily

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Alice Waters has been making waves in the food industry lately, so many that she's appearing on 60 Minutes this Sunday. Along with other prominent foodies, she's strongly urging President Obama to promote local, sustainable eating by petitioning for a White House garden.

To solve the country's obesity crisis, Waters believes, we should plant more gardens, and not just any garden, but schoolyard gardens. If you can teach a child to grow fresh, in-season fruit and vegetables, you'll awaken their senses and teach new skills. Essentially, it will change the way they think about themselves, food, and the world.

This is the concept that Waters eloquently presents in Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea ($24.95). The book describes the history of the garden Waters created at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, in Berkeley CA. To find out what I thought of it, read more