Alice Waters has been in China the last few weeks, and this week joins a “class trip” of a cultural and diplomatic mission there with other prominent American celebrities including Meryl Streep, Michael Pollan, author Amy Tan, director Joel Coen, and cellist Yo Yo Ma. Waters put together a multi-course dinner for Chinese and American diplomats the other night, and she was surprised to discover that organic carrots and radishes weren’t so hard to find over there. Also on the docket for Waters and Pollan have been visits with organic farmers, from whom she bought produce for the meal, and Chinese food activists. But all is not well: “America’s [food] history will be repeated here unless there’s a counterrevolution,” Alice tells the Journal. And as for finding organic poultry for the dinner, she was out of luck. “Oddly enough, in the land of Peking duck and growing organics, we couldn’t find a single organic duck.” [WSJ]
