White House to Plant Organic Vegetable Garden
ABC news’ Brian Hartman has reported what many have been wishfully waiting to hear for months: the Obamas will soon plant an organic vegetable garden on the White House South grounds.
Following a 60 Minutes interview with Chez Panisse chef, renowned slow foodist and activist for improved national eating habits in the US, Alice Waters, on Sunday March 15th, wherein she called with continued clarion for an organic garden at the White House, First lady Michelle Obama talked of her plans for the garden in an interview for Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine that will feature in its April issue.
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Mrs. Obama spoke, also, about the importance of healthy eating in that article, and what she hopes the garden will do to send that message to the nation:
We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet. You know, the tomato that’s from your garden tastes very different from one that isn’t. And peas - what is it like to eat peas in seasons? So we want the White House to be a place of education and awareness. And hopefully kids will be interested because there are kids living here.
The expected garden represents a victory for sustainable food and agriculture activists, such as the White House Organic Farm Project (WHO Farm), which have campaigned publicly for this outcome for months. WHO Farm traveled across the country in a biofuel-powered school bus last fall to raise awareness of the cause and focus attention on their request to the White House. Looks like grass roots - or plant roots, in this case - activism still works.
The White House grounds have been decidedly less rustic since 1945, after Franklin D Roosevelt left office and the first lady’s “victory garden” was replaced with inedible plants. However, during Woodrow Wilson’s term in office, during World War I, the South lawn looked like a scene from farms in the president’s home state of Virginia, with sheep brought in to freely graze as a gesture of support for the troops overseas. No animal husbandry activists have yet matched the garden campaign efforts by pushing the Obamas to bring back farm animals to the White House.
Editor’s note: Our own Robin Shreeves has more thoughts on the plans for a White House garden at MNN.com
Photo Credit: susty.com
I feel it necessary to point out that Alice Waters had absolutely nothing to do with the idea of planting a garden at the White House. She’s never even met the Obamas, and just because she gets a lot of press coverage, that doesn’t mean the idea was hers. Gourmet magazine and the New York Times devote tons of column inches to her, because the writers/editors are friends with her. Read this excellent post to get the full details on Alice:
http://tinyurl.com/cfnlo3
There are two gardening groups to thank for this. Kitchen Gardeners International has had their “Eat The View” project going on for months, as has The White House Organic Farm Project. Both of these groups gathered tens of thousands of petition signatures to encourage the Obamas to plant a garden. It’s fantastic that it will happen, but Alice Waters had nothing to do with it.
I’m curious - will we see the Obama family out there actually planting and maintaining this organic garden or will it be White House staff doing the work after the initial groundbreaking for the plot?
I like the idea either way, I just don’t envision the “First Family” actually out there doing this themselves.
In case anyone else wants the answer without the digging I had to do, here’s a link that explains who will oversee/direct and who will do the actual work:
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2009/03/ground-breaking-news-from-secret-white.html
I’m still glad they are doing it, and I’m especially hopeful that Ms. Napolitano’s preparedness efforts will be mentioned on the matter as well. The “Victory” can come in many ways when we garden for ourselves.
[...] This post is prompted by a number of things. First this is the week in Lent when I am focusing my thoughts (and hopefully my actions) on God’s concern for creation and grappling with my own complicity in the pollution that fills our planet. But there is more to it than that. I am excited by the fact that a growing number of churches seem to be responding to the current economic recession by converting their green lawns into vegetable gardens. Even Michelle Obama is planting an organic vegetable garden at the White House [...]
I have nothing against vegetables, organic farming or the Slow Food movement, but holy jeez I want to throttle llice Waters. Trying to push organic gardening as anything other than an indulgence and a luxury is naive at best and insulting at worst.
[...] White House to Plant Organic Vegetable Garden : “The expected garden represents a victory for sustainable food and agriculture activists, such as the White House Organic Farm Project (WHO Farm), which have campaigned publicly for this outcome for months.” - Sustainablog [...]
I have been into organic since 1973. I think this is great! I applaud this!
Why should organic gardening be considered indulgent and luxurious? I read that blog you linked, and agree much more with the comments than the blog itself. Gardening can be inexpensive if not free with some planning and willpower (neighbors gardening together to share tools, etc.), and in general can open the door to a whole new way of living within one’s means and living more healthfully — regardless of education, experience, or income. Just because yuppies buy OG at Whole Foods doesn’t make organic produce luxurious.
That said, as much as I LOVE the idea of a garden on the White House lawn, I for one will feel fine if Mr. President never spends time in it and instead chooses to run the country.
Woohoo! When the first family gets on board with something like this it is sure to spread farther. I really hope there is a huge push in the future for more people to have vegetable gardens instead of a massive lawn.
Fabulous! I hope they go for some organic bags to carry the fruits of their labor in!