WASHINGTON – To food guru Alice Waters, change tastes like lamb shoulder braised in white wine and root vegetables with bay leaves, red peas, fried rosemary and garlic.

It’s mouthwatering, to be sure, but also statement-making: All of it was bought at a Washington farmers market from local producers in January – a most inhospitable time to stick with the seasonal, local philosophy.

The message: If she can do it, so can you.

“I’m trying to feed people these ideas,” Waters said before a gathering called Art. Food. Hope. The event occurred on the eve of President Obama’s inauguration, intended to bring together scholars and artists, politicians and businessmen for a salon-style meeting of the minds.

Waters planned a dozen of the dinners to celebrate Obama’s rise to office, bringing with her a who’s who of chefs including Tom Colicchio, Daniel Boulud, Dan Barber, Lidia Bastianich, José Andrés and Obama favorite Rick Bayless.

“We need to bring people to the table to have these conversations, and we need to feed them the food that supports those ideas,” she said.

Waters has been appealing for change through the taste buds since the 1960s, leading the push for organic and local food from her Berkeley, Calif., restaurant Chez Panisse. But for the first time in a long time, she sees an advocate in the White House.

Her dream? A victory garden on the White House lawn, a gesture both symbolic and practical. She’s talked about it with first lady Michelle Obama, explaining that there was a garden at the executive mansion during World War II.

“At this economic moment, with such difficulty, we should be thinking about how we can feed people,” Waters said. “And bringing jobs should include green farming.”

From Waters’ mouth, it’s all so easy: Eat well. Take care of the land. Feed people healthier food. And after her Slow Food Nation event in San Francisco last year, she finally thinks she’s getting somewhere against the tide of a fast-food culture. “I think those ideas are permeating through the farmers markets and a lot of movies that are being made and a fear of where things are coming from around the world – and, of course, the health of the nation,” she said.

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