Alice Waters on Why Profit Was Never the Point

Alice Waters never cared about making money. After more than 50 years in business, she still doesn’t. She opened her restaurant, Chez Panisse, with money that friends and family lent her. They had no expectations of ever seeing it again. It’s no surprise, given she’s sparked a slow food revolution where consuming food slowly and resisting the industrial food system is the name of the game. Some call her the “mother of the farm-to-table movement”. Alice says: it’s just the way things ought to be. 

In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Alice shares: 

• The visit to a certain European country that changed the trajectory of her life 

• How disrupting the traditional hierarchy of kitchens kept Chez Panisse alive

• Why she doesn’t care about money – and when she maybe should’ve 

• The last thing her mom said to her, and how having supportive parents shaped her career

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