Alabama Chanin Answers: Who Is Your Hero?

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Alabama Chanin Answers: Who Is Your Hero?

Chauncey was diligent in asking me to post. She just didn’t give up. I almost dreaded when her next email would come as I really did not know what I wanted to say with my “personal” voice. It seems that my “Alabama Chanin” voice has become my personal voice or, perhaps, that my personal voice has become one with my Alabama Chanin voice. For this reason, it was difficult to find a place and time to speak my own mind.

I was asked the other day by a journalist, “Who is your hero?” And my answer was, “If I have to choose one, Alice Waters.”

The person asking the question replied, “Who is Alice Waters?” And I did not know where to begin. So, my answer was rather bland, “Why don’t you Google her?”

So, I Googled Alice Waters myself and became inspired again after all these years.

If I could have “Dinner for Twelve before I Die” – a game that I play often with an ever changing cast of characters, Alice Waters would forever be both Chef and Honored Guest.

The Edible School Yard is one of the most important projects started in years as it takes the mission of the 4-H Club and the best of Montessori training into our contemporary society and straight to the classroom where it prepares a legion of children to appreciate, cultivate and propagate their own food and tastes.

I have tried to model my life after The Edible School Yard. My own backyard is a place to plant, grow and reap the rewards of a good days work. I want to use fabric, fashion, textiles and my voice to feed the hungry, myself and my family while learning (and loving) the taste of it…

That is why Alice Waters is my hero.