Roosevelt Redux?
Presidents like to rip up the records of their predecessors, and that includes changes on the grounds of the White House. Reagan ripped off the solar panels that Jimmy Carter installed on the mansion, and there's no trace today of the Victory Garden planted by the Roosevelts.
So in this time of climate change and high fuel prices, Roger Doiron thinks it's time to "Eat the View" at the White House. In an interview with Garden Design Online, Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, said he's urging the next president to re-plant "an edible landscape" at the White House as an example to all Americans to conserve energy.
Doiron points out that it takes 10 calories of fossil fuel to produce every one calorie of food consumed. Put another way, the average food item in the United States travels 1500 miles to get to your plate -- and costs 400 gallons of fuel.
Doiron believes a new White House food garden could fuel the movement toward edible landscaping across the country. And it wouldn't be anything unusual. The first White House inhabitant, John Adams, planted a vegetable garden, and edible gardens persisted on the grounds throughout the 19th century.
During the administration of Woodrow Wilson, officials brought in a herd of sheep to demonstrate the value of conservation in wartime. "He was trying to make a statement to the American people that the government took conservation of resources seriously," said Doiron. He explained that the sheep, instead of workers, mowed the huge lawn, and the wool was sold, with proceeds going to the Red Cross.
Doiron believes the next president could make a difference by reviving the mansion's edible garden. "The White House is America's house," says Doiron, "and we're at a very challenging moment in American history and global history." A food garden at the White House would help all Americans understand that what they eat is connected to the price they pay at the pump, he says. The garden would also supply the White House kitchen (saving taxpayer money), and leftovers could be donated to local food kitchens.
To sign Doiron's petition that calls on the next president to re-plant the White House food garden, go to his website, Eat The View. And plant an edible garden yourself.
(images: Kitchen Gardeners International)
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