Nick Wallace, the CEO of Nick Wallace Culinary, joined Ainsley Earhardt on FOX and Friends Monday morning to discuss the impact of the water crisis facing the people of Jackson, Mississippi who will struggle without having clean drinking water periodically over the next decade. The water crisis is due to a “catastrophic” failure of the pipe system which comes as thousands have left the city and more than 6,000 businesses have recently closed.
Wallace, who owns his own restaurant, culinary institute, and was a finalist on Top Chef, explained that the water crisis hurts the people of Jackson, Mississippi in a myriad of ways. For Wallace, his concern rests largely on the people who will suffer without clean drinking water and do not have the resources to keep up with maintaining some sort of supply.
Wallace is doing all he can to help his community, but times are tough even for him.
“I’m a community person, so I’m always trying to support the community by doing water drives…getting sponsorships that bring tractor trailers full of water,” said Wallace.
However, being the “culinary ambassador” is difficult for Wallace who needs to take care of his ten-year-old daughter when school is closed because of the water crisis. He shared that the impact of the water crisis is emotional for him as closing down restaurants affects his staff and customers whom he “dearly loves.”
For new young chefs, Wallace shared that he is concerned for them and wants them to get the support they need to continue working on their dream. He pointed out that there are so many talented chefs whose businesses will likely not survive the next few years as the water crisis threatens their growth.
Wallace is sounding that alarm that the water crisis must be resolved as soon as possible.