Alice Waters @alicelouisewaters, founder of Chez Panisse, an organic restaurant in Berkeley, California, visited Kamiyama, and RichSoil & Co. This time, we would like to report on the evening dinner.
This is the second part of the report by Tomo Mukai, the founder of Rich Soil! (Please take a look at it from yesterday’s post)
At the dinner with Alice, farmers, chefs, people involved in nutrition education, and Kamiyama people gathered to enjoy a meal prepared by Kamiyama chefs, town mothers, Blind Donkey and Kamaya members. The ingredients were mainly vegetables sent by the farmers who gathered that day, including ingredients from Kamiyama.
We were joined by Yuri Nomura @eatripjournal, the organizer of eatrip, Jerome @jeromewaag, former Chef de Cuisine of Chez Panisse and a Kamiyama resident, and Manabe @jeromewaag from the Food Hub, all of whom we met in the course of one restaurant, Chez Panisse @chezpanisse, created by Alice-san. and food hub Manabe @nomadic_kitchen. The talk session with Alice was very passionate.
Both Yuri Nomura and Jerome have spun their own stories from the stream and have influenced many people. The talk made us feel that Kamiyama is also a place that has been nurtured by many people, following in their footsteps and with agriculture at its center.
Alice’s words that she mentioned many times during the talk
“Farmers First”.
Farmers and producers who face nature on our behalf, protect the land, and deliver healthy seasonal ingredients. A chef cannot cook without the producers who grow the ingredients. We are able to deliver food to many people because of the producers who bring us real food.
Farming is a beautiful job, and farmers and producers are the ones who need to be supported by everyone.
On this night, we celebrated and toasted the farmers, fishermen, livestock farmers, and other producers with the words “Farmers First”.
The time spent with Alice was a labor of love for the people who had come together on this day to face food, and gave them courage and inspiration for the future that lies ahead.
At the end of the meeting, Kaoru @kaorushiramomo of Food Hub spoke. Today is the day of sowing.”
Yes, this day is the beginning. The small seeds sown on this day will take a long time to grow. Let us continue our days again in each place so that this seed will lead to the next…!
To those who could not make it to the meeting or those producers who could not make it, we would like to thank you once again for your daily work in dealing with nature and supporting our healthy food supply. We would like to continue to work together with all of you to make our food healthy.
Lastly, I would like to express my big thanks to everyone involved in making this meeting possible, to the people of Kamiyama, and to Alice Waters for coming from across the sea to be here.
Farmer’s Meeting continues. We look forward to seeing you again at the next Farmer’s Meeting somewhere in Japan.