White House May Get Its Own Veggie Garden

Politico:

It's the latest front in food legend Alice Waters' promotion of eating fresh, locally grown foods. Waters told "60 Minutes ...

... " that "the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House" would do much for her cause.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[42skidoo]

Safe healthy food for the First Family, such a first rate idea. I am willing to bet this is a plan already in progress. It would also inspire many to follow the example. We can all use the exercise and fresh air time. An added benefit might follow in chidren being more willing to eat, at least try, vegetables they have helped grow. I defy anyone to turn down fresh peas straight from the garden. Flowers and rose bushes have a place but the White House certainly has a spare patch of ground for this project.

[MAragon]

Oddly enough, this is one necessity revived endeavor that the White House is behind its public on: a lot of people started having their own gardens last year because of the economy and based on the folks I saw lingering around the seed aisles at Lowes, there'll be just as many, if not more, this year growing their own produce. I keep trying to grow stuff every year, but my green thumb could use some help.

[jazabelz]

A lot of restaurants do this. I can't imagine why the White House wouldn't too. It would be great to have fresh vegetables and herbs on hand. I'm sure the Obama girls would also enjoy growing a few things too!

[Stagehnd1]

YEA!! I've been hoping for this!

[Jonahson]

How about an image of recyciling too like using the their end products as fertilizer. Gross eh?

[GingerM]

Lots of people I know are creating Victory Gardens. It's the least we can all do. The FDA and Agriculture Inspectors are a huge joke these days -- Bush literally destroyed all oversight for food inspections. Every single day, there is a new story about salmonella, food poisoning, etc, in our food supply.

The smartest, safest, and cheapest way to diet is to grow your own garden.

It is VERY inspiring to see the White House doing the same.

[johnnygoodwud]

an organic, 'victory garden' at the white house. what a hoot. i've been doing an organic garden in my backyard for the last 8 yrs. am know most for my tomatoes.

remember seeing pic.'s of my grandpa's victory garden during WW2.

[SPQR1052]

It called a 'Victory" garden started during the war - do some research people. Old ideas are now again fashionable.

Love it.

(No I am an X'er if you are wondering!)

[ReesieKitty]

Alice Waters organized the Edible Schoolhouse project several years ago, and similar projects have been started in a lot of cities- Rick Bayless sponsors one here in Chicago. They teach kids how to garden, harvest and prepare foods that they grow themselves. It's a terrific program, especially for kids who only see food that has been processed with all kinds of junk and wrapped in plastic. The best thing about a White House garden would be to show how EASY it is, even if all you have is a couple of tomato plants on your porch or the balcony of your apartment. I grew tomatoes and peppers at my apartments for years and now I have a little garden at our house that we are working on expanding bit by bit each year. They could find a terrific organic gardener to manage the White House garden and blog about it.

[luvangelHussein330]

I needs more plants in my life...thi­nk I might try to grow tomatoes on my balcony or something. It would be nice if the whits house not only had a garden but also hosted an organic/natural farmers market at the white house

[spartanmom]

If you have a sunny balcony, Get some seeds for "Sweet 100" cherry tomatoes.

You can grow them in hanging baskets. Start about 6 seeds in a 10 inch basket and thin to 3 strongest plants once they have two sets of true leaves. Use fish emulsion when you water them (try to get the minty smelling kind).

We used to grow and sell them at a garden center I worked at and we always had great snacks hanging around!

[dayala]

I watched a segment on 60 Minutes last night about Alice Waters, interesting woman...I totally agree with her cause to educate children/everyone about where their food comes and how to grow their own healthy food. I'm going to do my own veggie garden this year.

[floggy]

Only if they can find a gardener to pass the vetting process.

[Texas4Obama]

The White House already has a gardening staff.
There is also a greenhouse up on the fourth floor.

[24kgold]

You need to talk to the stupid republicans about that? abstructionists

[DragonFly]

Ultimately, the production and distribution of food is intertwined with the most urgent topics of today: healthcare, environment, climate control, education and economics.
The food we consume, along with the method in which we produce and distribute our food, has a highly significant impact on all five issues, and organic gardening and farming can bring positive changes to all five.

To read the rest of the letter/proposal to President Obama and to sign the petition, please go to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/organic-garden-project-on-White-House-Grounds

[AriannaFan2]

Thanks so much for providing that link. I signed right away. After hearing Michael Pollan's interview on Fresh Air about this....OM­G, it's SO necessary! (What a stunning speaker he is).

[jeanruss]

If HR 875 is passed, organic gardens and farming will be illegal. Watch "criminalizing organic farming" on youtube.

[dayala]

even more insidious is a program being implemented by the USDA in collaboration with
large Agri-Business Conglomerates is NAIS (National Animal Identification System).

The purpose of the program is to force/impose a massive surveillan­ce/trackin­g/monitori­ng system on every "livestock" animal in the country even if you own 1 cow, 1 chicken, 1 goat, 1 horse...et­c (even though they claim the system is 'voluntary' at the federal level they provide 'grant funding' to States to enforce mandatory compliance)

independent small farmers/hobbyists and livestock pet owners will be hit hard with the massive costs that will underly the monitoring/tracking and reporting bureaucracy pushing most if not all small farmers, homesteaders out of business.

I encourage every American to learn about this program whether or not you are a livestock owner.

http://nicfa.com/WhitePaperNAIS.pdf

http://www.organicconsumers.org/nais_faq.cfm

http://nonais.org/

[spartanmom]

Wouldn't it be nice is Huffpo would get on this bandwagon and have a gardening blogger?

They wouldn't have to look to far (hint, hint)!

[kshawNCvoter]

good idea

[luvangelHussein330]

Look under the link titled "green" there is usualy a few articles on gardening etc

[rblaquinta]

Wonderful Idea!!!!!!! Go Green...