A School Lunch Revolution

“Geared toward school-age children, many recipes are just a few simple ingredients combined with interesting seasonings and combinations, such as miso-sesame cucumbers, collard greens and a fall fruit cup. [A School Lunch Revolution] is a refreshing divergence from the foods typically offered in school lunches—no chicken nuggets, french fries or soggy, over-boiled vegetables in sight. Instead, Waters emphasizes taking the time to savor and appreciate nature’s bounty.” —BookPage

“Alice Waters, the doyen of slow food, says it’s time for urgency—not at the dinner table, but in the ‘battle for the future of our planet’ . . . Accompanied by recipes, Waters’ essays are brief but compelling, pointedly affirming the durability of her methods.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“[A] cri de coeur. Nominally, this is a book of recipes, but Waters (the chef and founder of Chez Panisse, the Berkeley, California, restaurant often credited with bringing farm-to-table cuisine into the mainstream) seems to have created a blueprint for the ways in which we should feed our kids organic foods, both at home and at school . . . Waters’s world of whole foods is one we can create if we take the time.” —Epicurious, “14 Standout Cookbooks for Fall 2025”

“Learning from renowned Chez Panisse chef Waters is always a joy, and this combination manifesto/cookbook is no different. Her rousing, optimistic, logical blueprint for a “revolution” that removes the processing and packaging from the farm-to-lunchroom pipeline to provide school children with healthful, seasonal, ethically sourced foods is inspiring . . . Once readers are thoroughly convinced, Waters dives into the recipes: simple but never plain, well-explained but always personable, seasonal, nutrient- and flavor-rich, and representative of global flavor preferences. Each recipe is crafted with the personal touch of a handwritten favorite from a friend, and offers variations to expand a dish’s flavor or usefulness . . . [A] gorgeous and heartfelt book.” —Booklist (starred review)