Episode 7: Balanced Brain Skillsets with Alice Waters
Educating through the senses: Alice Waters and the next generation
Food affects more than our health. It affects how we see the world.
Uniformity. Speed. “On demand.” Fake news. Is Fast Food shaping what we expect from the world…and our lives?
Alice Waters sees a parallel between the messages the fast food industry has used to drive its $309 billion (and growing) global footprint and the way our culture has come to see the world.
And she’s worried that the physical health dangers so directly linked to fast food are only part of the price we’re paying for “cheap” eating’s success. She’s worried about our actual sense of the world – and our place in it.
I didn’t really get this until I read her book “We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto.” Then it was like something I couldn’t “unsee,” as the saying goes. Everywhere I looked I sensed how the impact of fast food has affected our culture – and even what we prioritize in life.
Sameness. In a way that makes us resist difference, which humans have long resisted yet seem to now more than ever. Speed. The hustle, the drive, the busy-ness that seems to be spinning unsustainably out of control. “Always on,” in that way of you should expect, or be expected to deliver, whatever is demanded… right now. Manipulation of the truth, in advertising and far beyond. And cheapness. Which, we all know, is never quite possible: there’s always a price to pay. Especially as we consider the fast food industry’s outlandish profit margins. McDonald’s, for example, reported a 29.36% profit margin in Q1 2023.
SOMEBODY is paying for “cheap” when there’s a margin like that.
But wait. I’m getting carried away.
There’s a reason I'm so fired up about this topic.
It’s because I came to see how the agenda the fast food industry puts forth is, as Alice calls out, increasingly shaping what matters in our culture.
And in my O these align closely with the rise in left hemispheric thinking – as in the left hemisphere of the brain – that is increasingly shaping our world.
Priorities like faster, cheaper, wherever and whenever we want it, and “more-ness” seem to be rising in our world. And in our collective brains. And these thoughts and actions correlate strongly with stress, dissatisfaction, lonliness, and a sense of disconnection with meaning, purpose, and dissatisfaction.
They also correlate with the reward circuitry of the left hemisphere and the consequences of their over-activation.
The videos below will take a bit of time to watch. Yet if you invest that time, you’ll get a clear message on issues that affect more individuals than at any known time in history – and what this means to your brain.
“We are what we eat.” Explore below to learn more.
A timeless Alice sharing her vision for freshness, affordability, and social impact – all served up through food. Enjoy the introduction by incomparable chef Olivia Wu; info on her linked below.
Alice sharing her “Slow Food Manifesto” at Arizona State University. She begins at 8:50. A transcript of her talk is linked here, on the ASU website.
Find additional Alice videos below – though first, learn about the hemispheres through Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s incredible TED talk, and (below that) a few short overviews from Dr. Iain McGilchrist. Dr. Jill and Iain are likely today’s most influential voices shaping our understanding of the brain’s hemispheres.
Jill’s classic TED talk – the one that won 30 million views. Enjoy.
You’ll find a fascinating conversation with Dr. Jill on The Sacred Speaks podcast. Her reflections on the right hemisphere’s access to vast, unstructured intelligence say a lot about the power of that side of the brain.
Dr. Jill is an icon. Learn more about her current work, Whole Brain Living, on her website or through her latest book. And if you want a bit more of her unique brilliance, watch below. Heads-up: Dr. Jill is brilliant and you can find a wealth of free content and videos by navigating around her website. You will learn a TON. Oh, and this excellent (hour long) video, too.
This is an excellent intro to Iain’s breakthrough framework. If you want more, check the bottom of this page.
Very worthwhile for understanding the hemispheres and why too much left, and not enough right, so often goes wrong.
Special thanks to some generous sources…
Thank you to The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco for generously allowing me to quote their 2022 interview with Alice Waters and Will Rosenzweig.
Much appreciation to Dr. John Price, a Jungian Depth Psychologist and podcast host, for sharing his 2018 interview with Dr. Jill. Explore The Sacred Speaks for dozens of fascinating conversations with some of our time’s most progressive thinkers.
Gratitude and admiration to Olivia Wu, a wonderful person, amazing chef, and fellow Alice admirer, for all that she shares with the world. Learn more about her and her cooking programs at Liv Cook Eat.
