Judy Wicks: Activist and Restaurateur

by Bruce Schimmel

As the flamboyant owner of the White Dog Café in University City, many people know who Judy Wicks is. When asked, Wicks herself seems less sure.

Wicks calls herself an activist and restaurateur and then immediately corrects herself. "Restaur-an-teur," she says with a giggle. "I never could pronounce that word quite right."

No matter, both pronunciations are correct -- but neither "restaurateur" nor "activist" seem entirely accurate. Nowadays Wicks is more an economist than an activist.

Wicks is speaking on the phone from her office above the White Dog. She says she's wearing a comfortable green blouse: "It's made of hemp," she offers.

It's noon, and Wicks has already been to a breakfast meeting of the Pennsylvania Economy League to talk about how to attract people back to Philadelphia.

And moments before, she interviewed a candidate for the new position of managing director of the White Dog Foundation. The Foundation provides seed money to "promote a socially just and environmentally sustainable local economy."

Wicks is getting ready for a May 3 conference she's co-sponsoring at Penn for the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.

The Network brings together all kinds of businesses that promote a "local, livable" economy -- architects, cleaning companies, alternative transportation, artists, independent media, clothing designers and, of course, food producers.

Though Wicks is concerned with larger economic issues, her passion is always food -- and for a powerful personal reason.

"I'm pretty much addicted to food," Wicks admits, punning, "I'd really like not to relish fatty foods and sweet foods as much as I do."

The key to Wicks' ideal economy can be summed up in two words: Buy local. She practices what she preaches not only in her restaurant, but in her personal finances.

"If you invest in the stock market, you're not investing in your own community," says Wicks, adding, "I took all my own money out of the stock market."

With the market in the dumps, that may be bitter advice for many to swallow. But Wicks says making tough decisions palatable might be just what she does best.

"What my real profession is," says Wicks, "is that I use good food to lure innocent customers into social activism."

How would Judy Wicks give away a million dollars? Listen to a longer interview at www.schimmel.com/wicks_judy.mp3.