First lady Michelle Obama will break ground today for a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. It is the first such garden since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II.
The garden, which has been the subject of a vast Internet petition in recent weeks, has taken on political and environmental symbolism as for advocates of locally grown and organic food.
Michelle Obama said she hopes the garden will draw attention to nutrition issues, as the nation struggles with obesity.
California chef Alice Waters, who is considered a leader in the movement to encourage consumption of locally grown, organic food, has been lobbying for a White House vegetable garden since 1992.
"It just tells you that this country cares about people's good health and about the care of the land," she said. "To have this sort of 'victory' garden, this message goes out that everyone can grow a garden and have free food."
Plans for the garden call for tomatilloes and hot peppers, as well as lettuces, spinach, chard, collards and black kale. There will also be a patch of berries and herbs like anise hyssop, cilantro, and Thai basil.
Read New York Times coverage at the link below.
