Vancouver Food Network

As mentioned in the latest issue of Oprah Winfrey's "O" magazine and just confirmed by an Associated Press wire story, Michelle Obama is planning to break ground tomorrow for a vegetable garden on the south lawn of the White House. In a project that has been gaining ground (so to speak) since primary season, this marks a major step forward in awareness of local food issues, as encouraged by authors and food activists such as Michael Pollan and Alice Waters.

 

 

The first lady will be joined by a group of elementary-school children to begin planting tomorrow, with a primary goal being to stress the superior taste and nutrition of locally-grown foods, while encouraging greater self-sufficiency for Americans of all kinds. The first lady is quoted in "O" magazine on page 146:

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 season? 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.

Congratulations to all the local food activists who have worked to bring these important issues to the forefront, and to the Obamas for having the vision to embrace what may be the most significant presidential action toward grassroots food security since the "victory garden" programs associated with the two world wars. What a terrific way to observe the coming spring equinox and start of our local farmers market season!

• "WHO Farm" activists have long petitioned for such a garden.
• A White House blog entry on the new spring garden, with a PDF map of the layout
• ObamaFoodORama at blogspot has been breaking the story since Tuesday.
• Articles from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and CNN
• Sidewalk Sprouts includes excellent articles on various "victory garden" movements in US history

* Article amended to include news reports of the garden and other developments.