This week was the first time I realized that the recession that we have all been getting used to has hit us all where we live -- in our stomachs. The cover image in the New York Times of Michelle Obama tilling the garden plot brought it all out. We are what we eat and what we don't. I love the idea of a White House garden. Why hasn't there always been one? I mean, come on, Bush had a ranch. How come the rancher in him didn't turn out the White House lawn to some grazing cattle.
A White House garden. Self-sustainability in the People's House. What a wonderful example. How about an orchard, vineyard and compost heap, greywater-irrigated and solar-powered greenhouse. Paging Alice Waters and José Andrés. The phrase "tightening our belts" has been misconstrued. It is not a deterrent to eating, except to those young starlets with eating disorders, but tightening our belt is a result of losing weight because of eating less.
Now, in a nation with an obesity and Diabetes epidemic, losing some weight is not a bad thing. "The Gilded Age is over," my dear friend exclaimed as we ate beans and rice -- delicious, by the by. What we need to do is even out the food distribution, feed those who need it -- yes here in America there are many hungry people -- and take less off our plates. The image of the First Lady getting her hands dirty with the touching of the very earth that sustains us is a good start. We can all do something about this if nothing else. Hunger. Human hunger.
One of the sad aspects of the R Diet is the shrinking of our news. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer... gone to my hands. This weekend the anorexic New York Times magazine came weakly out from the noticeably thinner paper. The poor darling. Both my husband and I held it in our hands, smiling tentatively at its condition. We both realized that someday it too would be gone, a memory of another place, another time. It is a sad, long goodbye. I will miss it but I won't miss the greed, avarice, gluttony, grossness, selfishness, deceit and cruelty of the last eight years and beyond.
I want growth, healthy growth. Grassroots growth. Seeds planted and taking root in front of a hungry America. Give him time. Give them time. Give it all time. Yes we can. Wait and wonder.
Yes, I think it's a wonderful time to be alive - a chance to be a part of a really exciting experiment in redesigning how we live in this country. We’re beginning to look at all the ways in which we “feed” ourselves – physically by what we eat, mentally by what we watch and read, and spiritually by what we believe and how we choose to treat on another.
Somehow the idea of a Victory Garden in the backyard of the White House – the People's House – perfectly captures a sense of where we’re going and how we’re going to get there together. A garden takes physical work. Doing that work yourself brings not only the rewards of fresh vegetables, but also the pleasure of sun on your back, the smells of rich dirt and growing plants, and that great feeling of being physically exhausted at the end of the day. And not only can you enjoy eating what you helped to create, but you can also share the fruits of that labor with others in the local community who might otherwise go hungry – perhaps inspiring them to plant a little something in their own backyards?
What a lovely, lovely metaphor that is for the larger Change for which we all voted in November, and for which so many of us are working – in various capacities - every day.
To Your
Perhaps we could also suggest that the White House replace on its roof the solar panels that Ronald Reagan removed when he defeated Jimmy Carter!
Another thought...that all the Sunshine States mandate a certain percentage of electricity from solar on each new or refurbished rooftop starting with all the state and federal buildings, as they've done in Spain. What a boost to a green industry and how the prices would come down and make it affordable to more people!
Cheers!
Anyway, for this delicious meal you have spent about $ 1.75 tops, it fills you up completely, its good for you, and it tastes great. You can grow the eggplant in your front yard if you are so inclined.
If you don’t want to cook just go here and order the East Beach Salad but it will cost you $8.50.
http://www.thenaturalcafe.com/menu.php
Just a Photo-Op? YOU BETCHA! Lots of them, lots of funny stories how Daddy cut his thumb with the herb snippers… Every difficulty that they will confront will be the same difficulties the new Grow to Eat Gardner will have to ACTUALLY deal with. Pests, water, weeding, failure. Michelle would be wise (and we sorely need some of this kind of wisdom) to make the White House Family Garden that can TEACH the Nation whilst they entertain the Nation. It doesn’t need to be the biggest thing she does, but it just might be the most important things Ms. Obama can do.
I’d LOVE to see Michelle, and her children learning from Gramma how to use, and preserve the things they harvest. I’ve been working very hard over the last years to learn this stuff, and I still can’t feed myself without ever going to the grocery. Getting us closer to our family and neighbors is essential to making these perilous times less frightening. The “middle class” broken, and ill, could just possibly save the United States from third world hunger, by re-purposing the family backyard.
The Obama Family can help us do this by leading us. Showing us, teaching us, and working alongside us.
And a smack in the face to those genuinely living in poverty, without a millionaire movie-star lifestyle.
And what brought this realization? Not her own inability to buy this week's groceries, or having to stock up on unhealthly Ramen noodles at 10 for a buck because she can't afford much else. No, it was a photo of the First Lady tilling in a White House garden (which she presumes never existed prior to the current administration - Unlikely). And of course there is the obligatory shot at "the past eight years."
However, now that I myself have taken the easy shot against a celebrity who lumps herself into the collective 'we" - As though we all suffer in the same way - I otherwise agree with the premise of Ms. Curtis's article.
Waters is an inspiration and a gift, especially for those of us who also enjoy eating exquisite food! Michelle Obama made a great decision to follow through.
Kudos to both women for doing something worthy for the public at large.
Yep, my spouse was raised on a truck farm and apple orchard, and he's squeezed as many semi-dwarf fruit trees in our yard as he can, as well as a vegetable garden. I have a black thumb, so I stick with a little herb garden and the herbs can survive even me. I've been astonished at how much enjoyment we get from the produce. Spouse suckered me into getting backyard chickens too, years ago, and we adore them --endearing, friendly, comical pets who pay their own way with eggs! Kids love the garden and the chickens, and interacting with chickens helps them learn to be kind. (And tends to make vegetarianism all the more appealing for many reasons, with the result that the humans are all healthier.)
I think the main reason more people -- especially with a low income -- don't do this is why I didn't earlier: lack of energy and no vivid sense of a future. If you come home from work really tired and discouraged, it's easy to forget about the ongoing beauty, satisfaction, and health benefits of gardening. But once you start, it's a source of energy and encouragement. It's not for nothing that family farmers keep farming just for love of it, even when they don't need to.
i wonder how many trillions obanker is going to steal from the poor to give to rich hedge fund managers and other criminals? i wonder what relevance this media poodle has to REAL LIFE?
i wonder how long until the "left" wakes up to realize that they've been NEOCONNED
Funny - I just don't see the connection. But, I suppose there's a connect somewhere in there for you.
clippings over the fence onto our lot for decades. What wonderful compost. Everything grew beyond
our expectations and we had produce to share and can and savor. Everything tastes so much better
and I assume is more nutritious.