Alice Waters Foreword for Food Freedom
Alice Waters Foreword for Food Freedom
For years I have known of Alice Waters and her contribution to the healing of our Earth and humanity through our food. From the time we met in 2022 and through our subsequent visits, she has solidified in my mind as a profoundly integral and radical human in the movement to not just localizing our food system but transforming our world. Alice Waters wrote the foreword to my latest book, Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food, and it is one of the great honors of my life to share my work with her and to be in service as colleagues. The following is her foreword.
When I first met Robin Greenfield, I was struck by the radical nature of his mission. Robin has made an uncompromising commitment to exist in harmony with the Earth. This is not just a personal commitment; it is a provocative public experiment that reveals what is possible if we reimagine our relationship with food.
Food Freedom tells Robin’s story of foraging and growing all of his food for an entire year. Robin does nothing by half measures: By his rules, every bit of his food — oil, salt, honey, meat, fish, spices, tea; even medicine — would have to be grown, harvested, caught or foraged. By foregoing the industrialized food system entirely, Robin upends what I like to call ‘fast food culture’ and its values. Fast food culture extends far beyond a McDonald’s drive-through or the ultra-processed foods in the convenience store. Fast food culture is defined by an insidious belief system based around consumption and waste, all to benefit the for-profit multinational conglomerates that exploit the fragile resources of our planet. In an age where the values of speed, convenience, cheapness and uniformity often trump the slower, more earth-bound values of seasonality, simplicity, biodiversity, and beauty, Robin offers an unwavering vision of what is possible when we break free from the fast food values we have been fed for the past sixty years.
Robin has taken food self-sufficiency to its most radical extension. But as he is the first to acknowledge, this experiment depended upon the support he received from his community. Over the course of a year, he learned about wild berries, greens and mushrooms from experienced foragers, acquired seeds from local nurseries, and tended to gardens he planted in his community members’ yards. This experiment reveals an important truth: Despite the best efforts of fast food culture to separate us from our food sources and one another, we are all interconnected and we are at our best when we foster those connections. The health of our food systems, our communities, and our planet are inextricably linked.
We cannot all participate in the same uncompromising experiments as Robin, but we can learn from his experiences. A whole world of delicious wild edibles can be found all around us, at our fingertips, if we open our eyes to it. And when we eat regenerative food that is grown locally, whether we are foraging it, growing it ourselves, accessing it through community gardens, participating in community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs), or purchasing through farmers’ markets, we strengthen our community bonds and support the people who are taking care of the land.
I have always believed in the power of food to transform lives and communities. I have witnessed it happen firsthand at the Edible Schoolyard Project, a garden and kitchen program I founded thirty years ago at a public middle school. When you get students out into the garden, when they can plant a seed, watch it grow, harvest it, and cook it into something delicious, their whole relationship to nature changes. Food is far more than sustenance. It is a source of connection and growth, a way to fall in love with nature and mend our broken relationship with the planet. Food Freedom shows that when we take control of our food choices, we take control of our future. We become active participants in the creation of a culture that values the planet. This book shows us what is possible and calls us to action, to make these small, meaningful, pleasurable, rewarding changes in our everyday lives. Most importantly, it reminds us that we all have the power to make a difference, one meal at a time.
Food Freedom is an empowerment manual to break free from the destructive food system and live in closer connection and harmony with Earth through growing food, foraging and embracing community.
We welcome you to order the paperback copy here or download the eBook here.
100% of profits, after book distribution, are donated to Gardens of Liberation, supporting Indigenous and Black-led food sovereignty initiatives.
