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TechnoratiTransFARM the White House Lawn
Two Peace Corps volunteers decided to write a letter to Obama and suggest that he establish an organic "Hope Garden" at the White House, and of course hire them to manage it.
They
are part of a growing movement of advocates for a White House vegetable
garden, and why not? The Obama family will have a bigger lawn than most
of us, they like vegetables, and we all should be planting a little bit
to eat local and eat healthy.
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| Amanda Fuller and Justin Mog just returned from three years of Peace Corps service in Paraguay. See photos from their SEED BANK IN PARAGUAY. |
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Kluczynski Federal Building 230 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
Dear Farmer-in-Chief Obama,
Congratulations on your victory and welcome to your new home on Pennsylvania Ave. Knowing how much you love fresh vegetables, we'd like to help you tear up the lawn and plant an organic garden!
In the tradition of Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden and inspired by Michael Pollan's vision in the New York Times Magazine, we humbly suggest planting a Hope Garden on the White House Lawn. In these days of rising food prices, global climate change, and deteriorating health, the President's Hope Garden could grow as a model of sustainability for the nation and, indeed, the world. It's a model of a simple way to enhance food security while reducing our ecological footprint and improving our families' health with fresh local food.
We nominate ourselves to be the White House's "First Farmers." Here's our vision:
- Serve fresh organic Hope Garden produce at State dinners and to the First Family, to lead by example and improve White House food "security";
- Give tours of the Hope Garden to journalists, students, and other visitors as a means of educating the nation about healthy eating, organic techniques and the power of growing your own food;
- Use the Hope Garden to support urban gardening initiatives in the D.C. area to show that eating local is possible for anyone anywhere;
- Donate surplus Hope Garden produce to local food banks to feed those without gardens;
- Produce a variety of organic heirloom fruits and vegetables all year round, using cold frames and hoop houses.
We are Peace Corps Volunteers about to return home after three years of service in Paraguay, working to improve food security & nutrition, promoting gardening, and helping Paraguayans diversify their farms sustainably. We have studied these issues at the University of Wisconsin's Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. More than just avid organic gardeners, we also have experience in science & environmental education, research, and program management. And, perhaps most importantly, we are filled with hope and excitement about working with you!
Sincerely, Justin Mog, Ph.D. & Amanda Fuller, M.S.
cc: Dale Haney, White House Grounds Superintendent
Amanda Fuller and Justin Mog just returned from three years of service as Agriculture and Environment volunteers in the Peace Corps. They left for Paraguay in 2005 after earning graduate degrees from the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. You can reach Justin and Amanda via email.
Interested? www.thewhofarm.org, www.eattheview.org, www.change.org/ideas/view/white_house_organic_garden_project_for_the_people.
| Work on the YES! website marked as (cc) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. |
8 Comments so far
Show AllNice symbolic gesture - it should appeal to self sufficiency people, naturists, vegetarians, ecologists and those who advocate feeding the hungry. It could help to make vegetable gardens more trendy and get communities to lift restrictions against gardening on the lawn.
Then can I dare hope for a clothesline on the White House grounds?
Joe
White House Organic Garden Project for the People
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.
Along with the actual garden(s) a program could be implemented to include community members of all ages to assist in the maintenance of the garden(s), and/or the distribution of the harvests.
This would provide outdoor activity, social interaction, hands on training, and purpose to those who need it most. Also, a website might be created for the purpose of involving the public through photos, forums, and updates. Community organizers across the nation could be encouraged to submit photos and information regarding their own community organic garden programs, which might in turn, encourage better use of stagnant land in urban areas.
What better way to send a powerful message of fundamental importance to citizens nationwide and across the globe, than to have the President of the United States of America, openly allocate resources for a White House garden of the organic kind. Please go to the petition already in progress for additional information, and to add your signature:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/organic-garden-project-on-White-House-Grounds
- Jeannine Brewer (activist and concerned citizen), Beverly Hills, FL
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model which makes the existing model obsolete"
-R. Buckminster Fuller
Yes, yes, yes! I agree with all the comments; it IS a great idea. I just hope Amanda and Justin (and those posting) aren't holding their collective breath waiting for the go-ahead, cuz it ain't gonna happen. Too bad.
By the way, as a D.C. resident, I can't begin to tell you the amount of grief I got from neighbors when my wife and I bought our house, a dozen-and-a-half blocks due north of the Capitol, and proceeded to replace "the lawn" with bushes, herbs and ground cover. Americans LOVE their manicured lawns!
"no gods, no masters" --m. sanger
Ask not...
Bring back the Peace Corps as Americas badge of courage
:)
This is a beautiful idea! A hope garden. I love it.
What a perfect remedy for these troubled times!
I'm glad optimistic people you still exist.
I'm glad I'm not alone.
(although, I do think organic food is just a con for gullible rich people)
But I love the idea of hope.
A "Hope Garden" at the White House, one that produces vegetables using organic practices, would send a strong message to the country, and especially the youth. Organic farming is sustainable but consists of only a small percentage of our plant food and fiber production. I would also encourage other green practices at the White House, like restoring the solar panels that President Carter put in place and President Reagan took down.
I applaud Amanda Fuller and Justin Mog for their proposal and I hope it gets the attention it deserves. A garden does not have to compete with the other high priority issues facing our new President. The only problem I see is that Federal facilities are required to issue a bid proposal for any contract. So Fuller and Mog, who appear to be very qualified, would enter the hopper with others. The bid process and selection would take months, and may not be in time for the 2009 growing season. Imagine inviting the first President Bush over for freshly harvested brocolli florets. Maybe George senior would like them for a change.
It would be a good place to demonstrate biochar agriculture also. Biochar is the one method known that can sequester carbon from the atmosphere and return more energy than it uses. Currently it is the only hope of mitigating greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. Without widespread test plots to determine if biochar works with local soils and feedstocks there really isn't much hope of slowing global warming.
Fighting the forces of rather dim lighting wherever they may be found!!