Thousands behind White House vegetable 'plot'
Mar 11, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4HHVsK8wiFYxfFCrG3NyaqThzXg
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Nearly 85,000 people have signed an online petition calling for part of the White
House lawn to be turned into a vegetable patch, the plan's germinator said Wednesday.
"The idea is for the Obama family to plant an organic vegetable garden on part of the White House lawn, with
the cultivated veggies going to the White House kitchen and any overflow going to feed those in need," Roger
Doiron, told AFP, adding the idea had sprouted last year.
If the Obamas were to plant a garden on the White House grounds, it would have the "inspirational potential" to
spawn millions of similar gardens, not only in the United States but around the world, Doiron predicted.
Backing for the idea has come from as far away as Kenya, where farmers asked if they could sign the petition
and make a financial contribution to the cause.
The town of Kingston in New York state has been inspired by Doiron's plan to put in a vegetable garden in front
of their town hall.
In Flint, Michigan, city officials have approved "a three-acre garden smack-dab in the middle of the municipal
complex," said Doiron.
There may be some backing for the plan from inside the White House.
"We are in touch with policy staffers from Michelle Obama's office, and while they are not committing to
anything, they are asking very good questions and are aware of the popular support the idea has," said Doiron.
"They seem to be considering it."
Doiron, an organic gardening advocate who last year harvested fresh vegetables worth 2,000 dollars from his
own patch in his suburban garden in Maine, said precedent exists for the plan.
The White House last had an "edible landscape" in 1943, when first lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory
Garden.
"It was a time of war, it was at a time of economic crisis, and it was at a time when Americans were looking to
the White House for leadership," he said of the Roosevelt allotment.
"Sound familiar?" he added.
www.foodandsocietyfellows.org