Well, I've finally found something nice to say about someone in the White House and I think she deserves the recognition.
I recently read
this article about our First Lady and her vegetable garden (it really is a great and informative article - you should check it out). When the current First Family moved into the White House one of the First Lady's projects became planting, maintaining and using a vegetable garden on the White House grounds.
She, along with the help of the White House's assistant chef and other White House staffers, tends to the garden. In it's first year the garden has yielded over 1,000 lbs. of vegetables and herbs. The article states the the White House chef's have used the produce in meals served to the First Family and White House guests.
The First Lady has been able to use this as an aid in her platform against childhood obesity. She has appeared on Sesame Street talking about the need for healthy eating and has had numerous groups of school children to the White House Garden to teach them about gardening and healthy eating. Not only do I appreciate her concern for the health of our nation, but I love the economic and social benefits that are promoted by growing your own food! I grew up with a vegetable garden in the back yard and our freezer was always packed with vegetables that my grandmother had put up for the winter. Not only does it save you money, but there is something so satisfying about eating what you've grown yourself. It proves the value of hard work and wise spending.
I haven't planted vegetables in a few years, but I have kept an herb garden for the past four and have more than gotten my money's worth! You can buy a pack of fresh basil leaves at the grocery store for $3 or you can buy a small basil plant for $3. If you care for the plant it will grow into a small shrub and you will have more than you know what to do with - I currently have so much frozen pesto that I made from the basil that I don't know when I'll use it all up!
I could also go off on seasonal eating, but that is another post for another day...
The article also states that this is the first large-scale vegetable garden to be on the White House Lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden in the 1940's. In those days gardens were a necessity to feed your family and helped supplement war rations. Here are some of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's advertisements I found from the campaign.
Wouldn't a copy of one look cute on a kitchen wall...maybe along with
these?
By the way, the White House also has beehives that produced 134lbs. of honey...maybe it could be bottled and sold to help pay off the national debt? I'm just sayin' :)
