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Who knew Big Bird was a Republican?

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We were a busy working family, and I would find it difficult to feed my family in a healthy way - quickly. So I decided to change our diet, and this happened throughout the course of the campaign, with simple things. I started adding more fruits and vegetables, trying to sit down and prepare a meal as a family a couple times a week, and eating out a little bit less. Trying to eliminate processed and sugary foods as much as possible. And I saw some really immediate results with just those minor changes. I thought well, if I could help other families learn these small changes in my role as first lady, that would be a good thing.

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Yesterday the White House announced President Obama’s 2010 request to Congress for $50 million to set up a Social Innovation Fund with the goal of identifying the most promising results-oriented non-profit programs in order to expand their reach throughout the country.

Taking a page from his grass-roots leadership style, Obama’s announcement of the request continues to drive home a message that change will come from the individuals who make up the communities they live in.  The request for seed capital to identify and foster those efforts will come in parallel to an administration re-looking at policy areas to enable new approaches.

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But I have to wonder…did she guess that she’d be saving the taxpayers money by reducing the grocery bills at the White House?   A recent Wall Street Journal article touted the savings in backyard gardens:  investments as small as a dollar can produce $75 worth of veggies, and the average family with a garden saves about $530 per year on groceries.

Intrigued, I decided to investigate my own cost/benefit analysis in my small organic garden in San Francisco. 

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Just a few days after Michelle Obama invited local fifth graders to help plant the White House Kitchen Garden, the MACA, a group which represents and is comprised of former executives from Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto and DuPont Crop Protection, sent the White House a letter (which can be viewed in its entirety here) expressing their disappointment that she had not “recognize[d] the role conventional agriculture plays in the US.”

But that’s not all. The group went on to provide a dose of propaganda educational information, including little known fact that “technology allows for farmers to meet the increasing demand for food and fiber in a sustainable manner.” Drawing a clear line between technology, undefined, and sustainability does not, in the strictest terms, suggest the group’s total disapproval of organic farming methods.

That outright statement came in an email MACA sent their members shortly after sending the first lady aforementioned letter, in which they said that the idea of an organic garden “made Janet Braun, CropLife Ambassador Coordinator and I shudder.” [italics mine].

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The Victory Garden concept is going through a well-deserved revival, currently fueled by First Lady Obama’s White House garden plantings inspired by the Eat The View campaign. 

As I write about in this month’s Hobby Farm Home, Victory Gardens today redefine what “patriotism” can be, bringing self-sufficiency and healthy, local eating back into the realm of national pride that just might take us back to where we were over sixty years ago, when 30 million Americans grew about 40 percent of the vegetables consumed nationally.

Victory Gardens today hold opportunity for deeper creativity and self-expression.  Sure, we garden for everything from fresh flavor and health benefits to cost savings to the family budget.  But this season, give your garden an extra eco nudge by defining a “mission” for your growing efforts.  What bigger planetary issue do you hope to address by working the soil?

Such a garden mission can be private, something just you know and keep in your heart as a motivator when the mercury rises and you need an extra reminder of why you garden.  Or you can take your mission public, using it as an education tool to help others make the connection between a radish seed and transforming the world.

Here are some sample missions to get you started:

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ABC news’ Brian Hartman has reported what many have been wishfully waiting to hear for months: the Obamas will soon plant an organic vegetable garden on the White House South grounds.

Following a 60 Minutes interview with Chez Panisse chef, renowned slow foodist and activist for improved national eating habits in the US, Alice Waters, on Sunday March 15th, wherein she called with continued clarion for an organic garden at the White House, First lady Michelle Obama talked of her plans for the garden in an interview for Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine that will feature in its April issue.

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Mrs. Obama took the opportunity to speak on the importance of both community service and building green:

“The work you’ve done here is quite impressive, and the evolution of your work to include green building, something that we’re talking more and more about as a nation, energy-saving practices, and environmental awareness, it demonstrates how YouthBuild has endured as a leading non-profit organization, keeping up with the times, making sure that the training and education that you get is current.”

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Dear Ms. Obama:

What will be your first order of business as “Mom-in-Chief”? Here’s a suggestion: invite Malia’s and Sasha’s classmates to plant an organic garden at the White House. Think of the lessons that your children and their classmates will reap.

There can be no grain without pain.

Digging up turf and prepping soil is hard work. Success in the garden is a direct function of the effort that went into creating and sustaining a hospitable environment for plants.

Addressing challenges requires a systems approach to problem solving.
Contrary to popular myth, the most successful organic growers think and act like scientists. They try to emulate not annihilate natural processes.

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[Kroft] Did you seriously consider sending the girls to public school?

You know, we’re still in the process of figuring out that transition and what we have asked people to understand is that the decision that we make will be based on the best interests of the girls. We haven’t made that decision yet. We want that to be a personal process, and people have been really good about respecting that.

I do respect the Obama’s decision as parents to choose the best school for their girls, but most parents in the United States do not have this luxury. I am a public school teacher, and I strongly support public education as a necessity in a democracy. It is a personal decision of the Obama family where their children attend school, but politically, public school would be the best decision.

Here are five reasons why Sasha and Malia should attend public school:

1. It sends a message that Obama believes in public education: Politician after politician states that they support public education, but when it comes to their own children, public schools are not good enough. This hypocritical message tarnishes public opinion of our school system, and it furthers the view of politicians as elitist.  Sasha and Malia currently attend private school in Chicago.

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