The White House goes Organic
Updated on 20 March 2009
Food lovers rejoice as the Obamas have started digging up part of the White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, writes Felicity Spector.
The doyenne of organic foodies herself, Alice Walters, says she's delighted after campaigning for a Presidential allotment since the start of the Clinton years.
But let's be honest, she was hardly likely to get very far with Bill. The President who was more Krispy Creme than five-a-day.
The Obamas are clearly made of more healthful stuff and they're also anxious to show organic produce isn't just for snobs.
As Alice Walters put it on 60 Minutes the other week: "Good food should be a right and not a privilege. Everybody deserves this food. And that's not elitist."
Michelle Obama is commandeering some local schoolchildren to help with the planting and harvesting and is keen to make this an opportunity to talk about the nation's diet.
Michelle Obama is commandeering some local schoolchildren to help with the planting and harvesting and is keen to make this an opportunity to talk about the nation's diet.
Her husband, after all, was once the subject of a heap of articles claiming he was 'too skinny' to be President, with jibes at his penchant for grilled fish and salad and those constant trips to the gym.
There is a serious point, of course - promoting local, sustainably grown food, helping children realise what a healthy meal contains, combating the rising obesity tide.
Critics point out that in times of economic trouble, organic produce is surely something of a luxury. And Obama's got into trouble over his rather refined tastes before on the election trail in Iowa, he asked a bewildered crowd "Anyone gone into Whole Foods lately? See what they charge for arugula?"
Luckily for the First Family's pocket-books no need now to shop at Whole Pay Cheque. Arugula will be among the 55 different vegetables being planted on their lawn.
