Alice Waters on Why Profit Was Never the Point

9 to 5ish with theSkimm

theSkimm

Entrepreneurship, Careers, Business

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	you at some point thought you would have to close. What did you learn from that experience?
0:08.6	Probably to care a little bit more about making money. I didn't care. I still don't care.
0:17.1	I'm Carly Zakin, and I'm Danielle Weisberg. Welcome to 9 to 5-ish with the skin. We've run into so many questions over the years and had so many moments where we needed advice and we got it from women who'd been there.
0:32.8	And that's what we're bringing you at this show. Each week we're helping you get what you want out of your career
0:37.7	by talking to the smartest leaders we know. Because we know your work life is a lot more than
0:43.7	nine to five. All right. Let's get into it. Hi, everyone. Today, our guest is Alice Waters. She is a
0:53.6	James Spirit award-winning chef,
0:55.8	restaurateur, activist, and mother of the farm-to-table movement in the United States.
1:02.2	Alice grew up in New Jersey, where eating post-war favorites like TV dinners and microwavable
1:07.0	meals was the norm. It wasn't until an exchange program in France in her early 20s
1:12.4	when she fell in love with food. After returning from her time abroad, Alice became a Montessori
1:17.9	teacher and she'd host her friends for dinners after work. To better accommodate those friends,
1:23.0	she opened Shea Pannis in Berkeley, California. It was 1971 and she had no formal restaurant experience,
1:31.7	just a passion for local and organic ingredients
1:34.1	and the desire to curate a space for people to enjoy food slowly.
1:39.8	Shea Ponnese is still open to this day
1:41.6	and has become a kind of culinary destination for foodies.
1:45.7	Since then, Alice has created the edible schoolyard project, which teaches public school
1:50.7	kids across the country how to grow, cultivate, and cook with ingredients grown in school gardens.
1:57.5	Finally, you can catch Alice on the newest season of Chef's Table on Netflix, which features four
2:03.1	legendary chefs who've left their mark on America's culinary arts. Alice, welcome to 9 to 5-ish.
2:09.6	Thank you. Happy to be here. Thank you so much for being here. We're excited to have you on the show.
	...

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