This morning on my way to work I heard that the First Lady has decided to create a vegetable garden on the White House grounds. And I thought, "well that's nice" and then "yay for spring!", and then I didn't really think any more of it... until this was brought to my attention (do NOT under any circumstances read the comments. They will make you want to hurl rocks at all of humanity. Consider yourselves warned). Apparently some people are really upset about this. Some think it will be "unsightly". Others seem to look down on those who grow their own food.
To the first group, well perhaps best to just ignore that group for the moment. I just came back from a public meeting with a company that is planning a new power corridor through southern Maryland to the Eastern Shore, and then on to Delaware and New Jersey. I think most of the scientists in the room were quite close to screaming something like "I'll give you an unpleasant 'viewshed'!", mooning the room, and storming out in response to certain "public" comments. So to that crowd, let me just say YOUR MOM'S UNSIGHTLY! And leave it at that.
To the other group, WTF? Is there anything more wholesome and American than mom's vegetable garden? I think it's really good for us to have an intimate understanding of where our food comes from and what goes into growing it. If we don't do it ourselves, we ask someone else to do it for us, and I think we should understand what we're asking. Not to even mention that growing a few vegetables brings with it some tiny degree of self sufficiency, and I just don't see what could be bad about that, especially with the current economic climate. And so, I think this is an excellent example for a leader to set. Not that I think Mrs. Obama is going to (or should) be out pulling the weeds and hoeing the rows on a daily basis or that her family will benefit greatly from the vegetable supply, but still, it'll be there for everyone to see, and her kids will know about home grown corn on the cob, so I give her an A for effort.
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I agree that growing your own veggies is a great idea. I was so happy when I got tiny little eggplants last fall..even though none of them were edible. I was also quite excited a week ago when I saw that the sweet potato I planted had produced more sweet potatoes (also inedible because I didn't get to them in time). I didn't get to eat them, but dammit I grew them!
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