The Think Tank Twittered through President Barack Obama’s interview on 60 Minutes. A highlight: The shout out for the new White House garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden. I’ve taken a big interest in this. (Thumbs up: @NicholasDHall, @jessicadean)
UPDATE: In 1991, Michael Pollan wrote a piece in The New York Times in which he suggested that the White House lawn be turned into a vegetable garden.
Imagine an 18-acre victory garden on the grounds of the White House, managed according to the highest organic principles. This garden, which need not contain any broccoli, would stand as a paradigm of environmental responsibility.
The White House has enough land to become self-sufficient in food — a model of Jeffersonian independence and thrift. Alternatively, a White House garden could help supply food for Washington’s poor. Depending which party is in power, a few elephants or donkeys should be maintained for the purpose of fertilization.
The author of “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” and “Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education” might know a little something.
UPDATE II: Fast Company gets in on this discussion arguing for the Obamas to appoint a Farmer-in-Chief.
UPDATE III: Alice Waters talks to Lesley Stahl about this, noting, “I have been talking non-stop about the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House. I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation.”