Green Options » eat the view

Victory Garden Redux

Becky Striepe — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:00:55 +0000

Two activist groups are teaming up and petitioning Barack Obama to plant an organic victory garden on the White House lawn!

[Creative Commons photo via Eat the View]

They’re calling the White House “America’s House” and asking the new administration to lead by example. They see a food garden on the White House lawn as a first step towards “a new National Victory Garden Program.”

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Pollan’s Advice to Obama: Turn White House Lawn Into an Organic Farm

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:45:55 +0000

The last time there was an energy crisis in the United States, President Carter installed solar panels to power the White House. Republican president Ronald Reagan promptly removed the panels when taking office.

President-Elect Obama faces not only an energy and economic crisis, but also the potential catastrophe of climate change. One aspect of the current crises often overlooked by politicians is food policy.

Michael Pollan explained at the Bioneers conference:

Energy. The total economy depends on cheap energy, not to mention peace and no threat from terrorism, in order to move goods from point of cheapest production to point of highest purchase. We will not reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy or confront the issue of climate change without dealing with the industrial food system, which consumes 17 percent of our fossil fuel.

Obama needs to address the industrial, transcontinental food system, as it is connected to the economic, climate, and energy crises facing the world. What better way for the president to participate in the local food revolution then turning five acres of the White House Lawn into an organic farm?

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Eat the View Places Third in Climate Matters Contest

Pamela Price — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:01:12 +0000

Guest contributor Pamela Price is the founder of Red, White & Grew, a blog devoted to “Promoting the Victory Garden Revival and other simple, earth-friendly endeavors as bipartisan, patriotic acts in an age of uncertainty.”

Not too long ago, Eat the View (ETV) founder Roger Doiron wondered here how to push the idea of creating a new White House Victory Garden further into the public sphere. At the time, he hoped to see Obama and McCain say on camera whether or not they’d follow in the footsteps of Eleanor Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and allocate a portion of the First Lawn to food production. Thus far neither presidential contender has addressed the notion, but much of the rest of the country is going to learn about it very soon… thanks to the Vimeo.com Climate Matters Video Contest.

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An Eat The View Update

Pamela Price — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:55:29 +0000

If you’re a regular Eat.Drink.Better. reader, then you’re probably familiar with the clever, non-partisan Eat The View initiative to put vegetable gardens in high profile places like the White House lawn.

With the economy and the forthcoming presidential election top-of-mind, a status report seemed in order. After all, we will very soon have an answer to just who may receive the petition to restore the White House victory garden at the very moment in which tens of millions of people may be thinking about gardening as a means of survival.

In short, we Americans need Eat The View to succeed!

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