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going after the "garden vote" ...veggies on the White House lawn

Here are some more of my thoughts which I wrote for another garden writer
but which address Rose Marie's question of "who'd take this on?"

----

I think there's a lot of symbolic power in the White House as "America's
House".  We choose who lives there and how long.  We pay the bills
associated with the house, including the salaries of the 8 gardeners who
maintain the 18 acres of grounds.  It is only logical that we should have a
say in what our house looks like and what messages it sends.  

All four of the main candidates are running on a "change" platform.  "Vote
for me to bring change to White House," they say.  I recognize that
"changing the lawn" by replacing part of it with edible gardens is probably
not what most people have in mind, but it would send a number of messages,
all of them positive.  At a time when America is in the grips of an obesity
epidemic and the world is struggling with climate change, it would send a
message that fresh fruits and vegetables produced close to home are good and
healthy things.  

All candidates are saying that they're the best person to reach out to
independents and across the aisle to the other party.  Gardens already do
that.  Productive home gardens are not conservative, liberal, democratic,
republican, red, white, blue, black, Latino, male or female.  They cut
across all lines.  They even cut across national borders.
 

So what's standing in the way of change?  I suspect the biggest argument
against would be "tradition" : i.e. we can't plant a kitchen garden at the
White House because it would involve tampering with a landscape of
historical significance. In digging a little deeper in our history books,
most people would be surprised to learn that planting edible gardens would
not involve breaking traditions so much as returning to them.  In 1800, John
Adams was the first president to occupy the White House in 1800 and one of
his first additions was a vegetable garden.  It was 25 years later, in 1825,
that John Quincy Adams developed the first flower garden on the White House
grounds and planted ornamental trees.  So, if there's a gardening tradition
that's less well-rooted, it's that one.  I don't know which President did
away with the fruit and vegetables or why, but I know a garden historian who
would.  

For me, promoting home gardens - at the highest of levels - is the
responsible thing to do.  Last August, the Guardian reported that more food
will have to be produced worldwide over the next 50 years than has been
during the past 10,000 years combined in order to keep up with population
growth which is projected to hit 9 billion by 2050.  That will involve some
radical new thinking about what food is, where it comes from, and who
produces it.  

I recognize that I'm partially the product of Maine's unusually-strong
gardening culture (one relatively small state with several nationally-known
garden writers and seed companies).  We've even got our First Lady, Karen
Baldacci, on board. Among her first acts as First Lady was to plant a
kitchen garden and set up a greenhouse at the Governor's Mansion, Maine's
answer to the White House.  If it can happen at the state level, surely it
can happen nationally.  


-----Original Message-----
From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Rose Marie
McGee
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 7:53 PM
To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
Subject: Re: [GWL] story idea for garden writers in need

Interesting question. I read Walter Scheib's book "White House Chef"  
Two Presidents, One Kitchen. He had a nice section about being  
interviewed by Hillary Clinton and one thing she wanted him to  
install was a rooftop garden at the White House to grow fresh herbs  
and some of the vegetables they used. The question was if he could  
and would take it on....he was enthusiastic. Who knows what is  
happening now.
Rose Marie Nichols McGee
Nichols Garden Nursery
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
On Feb 4, 2008, at 11:11 AM, Roger Doiron wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
>
>
> I don't know who's looking for a timely and fun idea for an  
> article, but
> I've got one!
>
>
>
> Which presidential candidate will secure the "garden vote"?
>
> Think about it: we pay attention to which candidate has the best  
> chance of
> courting women, evangelicals, Latinos,  African Americans, gun  
> folks, so why
> not talk about the "garden vote".  You know better than I do just  
> how many
> gardeners are out there.  It seems to me that I came across a  
> figure of 10
> million people who grow some of their own food.  That's a lot of  
> votes!  As
> one home gardener who's connected to several more, I can think of  
> at least
> two things a candidate could pledge to court my vote.  The first  
> would be to
> plant a kitchen garden on the White House grounds.  What better way  
> to "be
> the change" they'd like to see in the world than to make the White  
> House a
> healthy and environmentally-friendly model for what every American  
> household
> should be doing.  The White House had productive edible gardens for  
> many
> years, so we're not talking about doing something new and weird, just
> something forward-looking and responsible.  Growing fruits and  
> vegetables
> for the family table used to be as American as mom and apple pie,  
> and it
> could be again with the right leadership and inspiration.
>
>
>
> The second way a candidate might secure the garden vote would be to  
> call
> upon another great American tradition: the tax break!  To help  
> encourage
> people to plant carrots, perhaps we need to offer them some.  Stick  
> with me
> here because this isn't as silly as it sounds.  We give tax breaks  
> to people
> to encourage them to put hybrid cars in their garages and solar  
> panels on
> their roofs, so why not a tax break to encourage environmentally- 
> friendly
> and healthy food production?  One model for this might be the home- 
> office
> tax deduction.  When I prepare my declaration each year as a self- 
> employed
> person working from a home-office, I am asked to measure the square  
> feet of
> my home office space as a percentage of my total habitable space.   
> I'd be
> more than happy to do the same for my garden and yard.  If the IRS  
> trusts me
> to report the first accurately and honestly, why not the second?   
> Those who
> don't have yards should, at a minimum, be able to deduct their  
> annual fees
> for renting a plot at their local community garden.
>
>
>
> I suspect that you have some ideas of your own to add to this.  Let  
> me know
> off-list if you want me to provide a quote. I can also put you in  
> touch with
> a garden historian who could provide more info on the history of  
> the White
> House gardens.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Roger
>
>
>
> -----
>
>
>
> Roger Doiron
>
> Founding Director, Kitchen Gardeners International
>
> Fellow, Food and Society Policy Fellowship Program
>
> 3 Powderhorn Drive, Scarborough, ME 04074, (207) 883-5341
>
>
>
> "Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands, and the
> mouth."
> -Lanza Del Vasto
>
>
>
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