Why You Should Know Alice Waters

If you think about eating local, seasonal, organic foods, and loving what you eat, you probably have Alice Waters to thank, whether you know it or not.

She's the revolutionary foodie whose Berkeley, Calif. restaurant Chez Panisse pioneered local, seasonal specialties. Outside of Northern California, however, she's not as well known, as stories in today's Chicago Tribune and San Fransisco Chronicle show.

She's on a book tour promoting her new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.

Despite her continued anonymity -- to the surprise of long-time foodies -- her message is getting out there. Local and seasonal foods, including organic produce, tend to be more nutritious, more tasty, and carry a smaller "carbon footprint" than their counterparts in supermarkets.

Alice Waters in the flesh can make that transformation happen more quickly. After a meeting with the Chicago mayor, she convinced him to start six new "edible schoolyards," an invention of hers that gets students and teachers gardening and making their own food.

To see if she's coming to a town near you, click here.

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