y8s

iTrader: (8)

Curious what you all think of this.

Michelle Obama to plant a vegetable garden on the white house lawn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html



waiting patiently for negative responses to flame immediately.

Stein

iTrader: (46)

Meh, no real feeling either way. If she wants to do it, fine by me. We have a small garden as well. Nice to get fresh tomatoes whenever we want them. I really don't see it being newsworthy, though. Lots of people have gardens.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

I just want to know if SHE will be the one planting and taking care of it. If not how much is the person doing it getting paid?
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Saml01

iTrader: (9)

I think its a great idea. Why? Very simple. It takes us back to our roots. Life isnt about being waited on hand and foot, its about wiping your own ***. Going to the grocer to get everything then taking it for granted that their is food there is destroying the way people think. You gotta take a moment and realize just where the food comes from and what it takes to get it to you. If you stop and think about the simple things for a second you will appreciate just how awesome it is to have them and then look at everything totally differently.

I think a lot of the things Michelle Obama does is to prove this very simple very forgotten point.

Machismo

iTrader: (1)

Woops.....not what I thought this thread was referring too.
But I still think its a good idea, and YES- not so newsworthy.
What will be worthy is the "token" they use to do the planting and tilling.

amex101

iTrader: (1)

I did grow some "stuff" for the people next door. Funny how well weeds and water/fertilizer, will grow some stuff.. "free" upgrades

hindle

Looks like that's a "No".

"The total cost of seeds, mulch and so forth is $200, said Sam Kass, an assistant White House chef, who prepared healthful meals for the Obama family in Chicago and is an advocate of local food. Mr. Kass will oversee the garden."

y8s

iTrader: (8)

The reason this is newsworthy is because, like Sam said, people seem to have forgotten where food actually comes from and how simple it is to grow your own.

Billions of dollars are spent on transporting food all over the globe. How many times have you seen "fresh cherries" at the store for $15 a pound? I will only mention the carbon emissions from all that pointless food transport in passing.

Anyway, food is easy and cheap yet we spend so much on processed chemical bullshit and it's no surprise that there is an obseity epidemic. There are scientific studies done that show organically grown/raised food is significantly healthier for you (and better for the environment) than conventionally grown.

There is also the TASTE benefit of fresh produce. Take tomatoes for example. They are often bred to be strong and picked prior to being ripe and both of those things significantly reduce the quality of the flavor. Try going to a farmer's market with locally grown tomatoes sometime and ask for a sample. You will be shocked. Most markets have signs up that say "don't feel the tomatoes--THEY ARE RIPE--you will bruise them if you touch them" because they are sooooo delicate and ready to pop in your mouth. Then go to a Subway or somewhere and ask for a slice of tomato to eat. You'll be lucky if it's even red and doesn't taste like a rice cake.

It doesn't matter who is tending the garden. I'm sure she'll do some of the work and I'm sure the grounds keeper will do a lot of it. The point is merely to have a garden to simplify your personal food supply chain.

Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

Support your local farm instead.

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Thats ****** awesome. The Obama's in general set such good examples.

My girlfriend and have grown lots of awesome stuff in the past at our old place and will certainly do more of it here. There is nothing like fresh food.

This year we have some bell peppers, more tomatoes and possibly some squash in the works. Growing herbs is also great and very easy.

Nothing like making pasta with fresh basil and tomatoes grown by yourself, drinking a mojito made with fresh mint while you wait for it to cook

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Take it for what it is, a photo op.

Mach929

iTrader: (3)

fresh homegrown organic is by far the best tasting veggies you can get. My mom is a plant nut, has a horticulture degree and whole deal. Needless to say i've grown up with that kind of stuff around me my whole life. eventually i'd like start my own garden at my new house, have to pick a spot first

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Came to this thread expecting a marijuana legalization discussion.

Was disappointed. :(

Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

+1000

The obamas are celebrities, nothing more. I don't have a clue how so many of you guys on here still fall for that crap.

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

Hell yeah, we go to the local farmer's market to get our fruits and veggies. We buy that **** right off the back of the truck. A huge flat of strawberries, 6 bones. Oranges, 1 dollar for a 5lb bag. Gotta love that. The stores and the cost to get the products there are outrageous.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

I think it's good.

I had never been to a farmer's market until I moved out here. I had never tasted actual fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.) until I bought them at one of the local farmer's markets for cheap, and it was shocking how much better they were.

Rafa

iTrader: (22)

y8s; I think I should point you to a recent "60 Minutes" segment with a very well known California woman who's been promoting organic food for many years. She was asked by Leslie Stahl precisely about that; it seems she has been trying to convince some Presidents to do that for quite some time.

I'm sure those 2 things are related.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

a photo op... well that's a pretty shallow interpretation given the state of domestic food supply, but if that's all you get from it, you're losing out.

so even if this gets you guys to go to the local famer's market (direct support of local owners and operators--is there a party that thinks that's not better than subsidies for corn??) then it's a huge success.

planting a vegetable garden in front of the white house is not a new idea. Eleanor Roosevelt did it back when she was first lady.

See, the war required a lot of the produce and requried it cheap so people were encouraged to plant "victory gardens" as a show of support for the troops. home gardeners at one point were responsible for possibly 40% of the nation's total food production.

Rafa: that was probably Alice Waters. She and Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver are somewhat of the triumvirate of local food pushers. And they aren't about hippie liberal crap either. They're about the science of food production and getting the best food you can for yourself.

That means flavor, cost and health benefits--which in a society largely driven by "what's in it for ME?", are utterly important.

For under $2 you can get a pack of tomato seeds. I'd wager that the amount of effort required to maintain those plants and yield as many tomatoes as a family could eat in 6 months is much less than driving to a supermarket to buy mediocre tomatoes. On top of which you get way better taste and nutritional value.

There's your photo op.

9671111

iTrader: (10)

Ever since I started to grow my own stuff I've stopped buying a majority of vegetables and herbs. 5 dollars for a pack of fresh herbs is bullshit. It really is nice having a fresh supply. But apparently that makes me a ------ with a vegetable garden.

Rafa

iTrader: (22)

Not in my book; it doesn't

More power to you