Food and Film with Alice Waters: We Are What We Eat

In this edition of Food and Film, we turn the focus on Alice Waters herself and her globally focused, locally-driven campaign to change the way we farm, eat and educate. This loving documentary looks at Waters’ 2023 trip to Japan to meet with local chefs, farmers and food activists, in conjunction with the first anniversary of the publication of her book We Are What We Eat–A Slow Food Manifesto in Japan.

With its own strong tradition of seasonal cuisine, Japan has been particularly receptive to Waters’ farm-to-table philosophy and the mutual respect between Waters and the chefs and farmers she meets is evident in every exchange. At the heart of this loving documentary, however, is the work of Japanese food activists to bring that philosophy into Japanese classrooms, an effort modeled after Waters’ Edible Schoolyard program.

The film will be followed by a Q&A with chef and restaurateur Alice Waters; Paula Daniels, Executive Director, LA County Office of Food Systems; Anna Nakamura Knight, farmer/partner, Old Grove Orange; Janet Nagamine, Hikari Farms; moderated by Erica Lee, Assistant Director, UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies.

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

The screening can be paired with a special dinner at Lulu restaurant at the Hammer Museum, Waters’ latest culinary celebration.