Renowned Chef Alice Waters to Receive Award

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of San Francisco (USF) announced today that legendary chef and restaurateur Alice Waters has been named recipient of its 2009 California Prize for Service and the Common Good. The award recognizes significant service in pursuit of the common good for all members of society, and comes with a $10,000 purse and handcrafted medal.

Alice Waters is a renowned chef and champion of food grown locally. She is credited with helping found the "slow food" movement that has revolutionized how we think about sustainable and organic agriculture. As owner of the legendary Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, her influence is felt across the country as she raises consciousness about how the food we choose affects our health and our planet.

Waters also created the Chez Panisse Foundation in 1996 to support educational programs that use food to nurture, educate, and empower youth. Through The Edible Schoolyard and the School Lunch Initiative, the Foundation envisions a public school curriculum that includes hands-on experiences in school kitchens, gardens, and lunchrooms, and provides healthy, freshly prepared meals as part of each school day.

"I am incredibly honored to receive this year's California Prize for Service the Common Good from the University of San Francisco," Alice Waters said upon learning of the honor. "This award recognizes the work of the Chez Panisse Foundation and shows that the university supports a school curriculum that gives students the knowledge and values to build a humane and sustainable future."

"Alice has championed an understanding that raising and preparing what we eat is both an ethical exercise and an acknowledgement that we share the earth's resources and hold it in trust for future generations," said Stephen A. Privett, S.J., University President. "She has worked tirelessly to introduce school children to responsible food production and healthy eating, especially those in underserved communities."

Waters will be honored Thursday, November 5, 2009 at a dinner hosted on the University of San Francisco campus. Proceeds from the dinner will directly benefit USF student programs including internships and service learning projects at home and abroad. For more information about the University of San Francisco's California Prize for Service and the Common Good, or for details about the November 5 dinner event, please visit www.californiaserviceprize.org .

About USF:

Established in 1855, USF is the city's oldest university and is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the country. The University of San Francisco is committed to being a premier Jesuit Catholic, urban university with a global perspective that educates leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. With nearly 8,500 enrolled, the university offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional students the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as persons and professionals, and the values and sensitivity necessary to be men and women for others.

SOURCE University of San Francisco

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