Letter to a Young Farmer

“Teaching kids how to feed themselves and how to live in a community responsibly is the centre of an education.”
—Alice Waters

Dear young farmer,

I want to start by saying “thank you.” Thank you for choosing to be a farmer and for choosing to take care of the planet. Thank you for dedicating yourself to feeding us all. And thank you, too, for being the inspiration for my restaurant—indeed, for my life’s work. You are my partner in change.

Forty-four years ago, when I first opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, I could never have imagined that my restaurant would be anything more than a small neighbourhood place