“My dream is to get all processed food out of our school lunches,” says Alex. “There are lots ways we can improve our kids’ diets in schools.” Alex first saw the impact he could have on kids’ diets when he joined his son for “bring your parent to lunch” day at school. “I thought we could do more to get fresh, seasonal food on the menu,” he remembers. “As someone who grows food and raises livestock, the key for me is building relationships with the people in my community to help get the word out that there’s a better way to do this and then to help make that happen.” Getting the kids to try different foods can be a challenge too. Often they will walk right past the healthier choices in the cafeteria and choose something that their parents would rather they didn’t. “It’s all about educating the kids to stop and think about what they are putting into their bodies,” says Alex.

Timing can be a problem too. Schools often schedule lunch right before a recess. Rather than take the time to relax over nourishing food, kids rush through their meals so they can go play. “Perfectly natural reaction,” notes Alex. “But, let’s work on altering schedules so lunch doesn’t have to be rushed.”

In recent years, Alex has embarked on an ambitious plan to make a change in his community. He works with the Farm to School program in Ann Arbor giving talks on the health and environmental benefits of fresh vegetables; the importance of organic and non-genetically-modified foods; and the effect of “food miles” and the impact of time from harvest to consumption on nutrition.

He also works in the kitchens at the Chelsea and Dexter schools with the cafeteria staff preparing lunches for the students and bringing traditional but new (to the students) flavors for them to try. “Taste,” Alex points out, “is the most important thing to change kids’ habits. They really do enjoy preparing the food and learning its history, but getting them to experience the fuller flavor of truly grass-fed beef or the huge taste in a just-picked tomato—that’s when the light bulb goes off and you know there’s some progress in changing the way they approach food.”

Alex uses his Roadhouse restaurant as well to get the message out. He hosts dinners there and at local schools to raise money to build gardening programs in the Dexter/Chelsea schools, and his annual fundraiser dinner for the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation raises money for farm field trips in local schools. Alex hosts many such field trips himself at his own Cornman Farms in Dexter.

Currently Alex sits on the board of the Wellness Committee for the Dexter/Chelsea public schools. “This is where I can really develop the partnerships necessary to change our approach to eating in our community.”

Though he’s devoted to his family, farm, and restaurant, Alex doesn’t have any plans to slow down his education mission. “Right now the calendar has 10 school or library events through December. And, I’m sure it’ll pick right up after the school break.”

We just got news (a text actually) from Alex’s family at the awards that Alex took home the prize tonight in New York City at the James Beard Awards Foundation. Congrats Alex! Here’s a candid taken right after the award. I doubt you’ll ever see him in a tux again!

Wear our mac-n-cheese home with you! Show your friends and family where your comfort food loyalty lies. Available at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, $20 each. Live out of town? Give us a call and we would love to mail one to you! 734.663.3663

While he’s hardly world famous, Andre Williams is definitely one of those one of a kind creative folks who make their mark.  He was basically doing rap before there was rap. And he stuck his neck out by writing and recording racy songs like “Bacon Fat,” “Greasy Chicken” and “Jail Bait” back when American society wasn’t used to watching pseudo-near-sex on network television.  And since he’s 75, it’s all the more special that we get the chance to have him here, live at the Roadhouse.  Andre will be up here in person in a couple weeks to kick off Camp Bacon by playing live at the Roadhouse Friday night June 18.  Anyways, I’m sure he’ll have more to say (and sing) when he’s here, but below are a few quick notes from my conversation with Andre.

Ari:  Well, for this audience, Bacon Fat is the obvious connection.  What’s the story behind the song?

Andre:  “What happened was, when I was young, I just started venturing off into this entertainment thing that I’m still into. And one of the boys in my group, lived in Memphis, and he got the group invited to audition for the Flamingo Lounge.  That was where all the black entertainers were auditioned.  We were the opening act for a blues singer.

While we were driving down there in the car, I had this ham and bacon sandwich and we saw some cotton pickers and at the time we were maybe a hundred miles out from Memphis. And then meetin’ a disc jockey down there and he got us an audition down there and that got us going with the song.”

Ari:  Well, that’s pretty much the story in the song!  What happened then?

Andre: “When I brought the idea back to Detroit. Miss (Devora) Brown (owner of Fortune Records) didn’t like the idea at all, this talkin’ stuff . . .  She said ‘Records are for singin’’.  And she said ‘Stories are stories.”  But it just happened that Ernie Dunn who was the #1 night time DJ in Detroit back then was in the studio with Miss Brown and he heard me talking about “Bacon Fat,” and he told Miss Brown, ‘If you can record it, I’ll play it!’  At that time unless you were payin’ big payola you never got on the radio, so when he said that  . .. . that was all she needed to hear.”

We recorded the song about 30 times.  You record it, and then keep recordin’, keep recordin’, keep recordin’ til we got it.  We did in 1956 goin’ into 1957.  It’s right around my birthday.  In the fall my birthday is November 1.

Ari:  “Mine is November 3”

Andre: “So we’re both Scorpions.” (he laughs out loud)  “Yep.  All of these things happen to us Scorpios but we manage to scathe through it.

Ari:  Where did you grow up?

Andre:  I’m from Alabama.  That was the 1930s and 40s.  Down there then all there was food and work, and country and western songs.  That was the music I grew up on.  I wasn’t even aware of rhythm and blues . . . my grandparents were sharecroppers and all we heard was the music coming from the guy who owned the plantation coming out of his radio listening to this music and that’s the music we cut our teeth on.  (Check out Andre’s country and western album, “Red Dirt,” recorded with the Sadies)

And then I went from there to Chicago. Right now I’m at 71^st and Exchange on the South Side.

Ari: “When I was little we lived at 71^st and Crandon (a little bit east of where Andre lives now).

Andre:  In Chicago, that’s where I turned bad.  I don’t know. Now that I look back on it I don’t regret it.  There’s a lot of things I wouldn’t do again but I don’t regret it.  But I don’t wanna go through ‘em gain.

Ari:  I can relate to that.

Andre:  “Welcome to the club. Welcome to the club! That is my definite forte. I don’t like slow days.  That’s my forte.  Never never retire!  When I retire.  They’ll be rolling me out.  What I’m gonna retire for?  I was born retired.   Welcome to the club.  You know, I have to have my own space.  The more the merrier.  I got a few kids that like the old man.  That keeps me alive.  It never grows old. Depends on your taste. But it never grows old for me.  You can always add a little salt to the pepper.