Vote for White House Farmer

Author Michael Pollan suggested last fall
that the next president--as part of a broader move to encourage
understanding of and support for sustainable agriculture--should
appoint a White House Farmer.

"Since enhancing the prestige of farming as an occupation is
critical to developing the sun-based regional agriculture we need, the
White House should appoint, in addition to a White House chef, a White
House farmer," wrote Pollan, the author of books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.
"This new post would be charged with implementing what could turn out
to be your most symbolically resonant step in building a new American
food culture. And that is this: tear out five prime south-facing acres
of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and
vegetable garden."

The idea caught on, and the campaign to get President Obama to
appoint a White House farmer has captured the imagination of tens of
thousands of Americans--thanks in no small part to an election that is
being held to select three finalists for the position. Their names will
be submitted to Obama as part of the campaign to get him to embrace
Pollin's proposal.

The voting finishes at midnight Saturday, and several dozen contenders are making their pitches at the great White House Farmer website.

Pioneering chef and restaurateur Alice Waters is in the running.

Here's her campaign statement:

Alice Waters was born on April 28,1944, in Chatham, New
Jersey. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in
1967 with a degree in French Cultural Studies, and trained at the
Montessori School in London before spending a seminal year traveling in
France. Alice opened Chez Panisse in 1971, serving a single fixed-price
menu that changes daily. The set menu format remains at the heart of
Alice's philosophy of serving only the highest quality products, only
when they are in season. Over the course of three decades, Chez Panisse
has developed a network of mostly local farmers and ranchers whose
dedication to sustainable agriculture assures Chez Panisse a steady
supply of pure and fresh ingredients. Alice is a strong advocate for
farmer's markets and for sound and sustainable agriculture. In 1996, in
celebration of the restaurant's twenty-fifth anniversary, she created
the Chez Panisse Foundation to help underwrite cultural and educational
programs such as the one at the Edible Schoolyard that demonstrate the
transformative power of growing, cooking, and sharing food.

Another popular contender, Wisconsin community gardener
Claire Strader says:

Claire is just the woman to turn 5 acres of the White
House lawn into the nation's premier urban farm. Claire has worked in
small-scale organic agriculture for 15 years, including her 8 years at
Troy Community Farm where she turned a 5-acre parcel of weedy urban
landscape into a highly productive and wonderfully beautiful vegetable
farm. Not only does Claire produce food for CSA, market, and wholesale
on this small urban farm, she also educates college students,
high-school youth, and adult volunteers through the farm's internship
programs. Claire is an excellent farmer and educator who could not only
feed the first family and others in the DC community well, but also
serve as a brilliant role model for future farmers all over this
country.

What's more, Claire's farm is part of a larger non-profit that also
runs a 5-acre community garden, a restored prairie, and several kids'
gardening programs on 26 open acres in the city of Madison, WI.
Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens not only feeds people, it also
teaches people to feed themselves. Claire's work with this organization
connects her with other growers and educators who have the skills and
ambition to help this country both eat local and grow local. First the
White House lawn, then the lawns across the nation!

Read up on the candidates and cast your vote for White House Farmer.

It's easy--just go to the White House Farmer site and read up on the contenders. Then go to the voting list and click your candidate.

It's also important. The United States can and should be a leader when
it comes to smart policies with regard to land and food issues.

Just as the appointed Surgeon General can and should be an important
communicator with regard to medical issues, an appointed White House
Farmer could become a major player in the debate what we eat and how we
produce it.