On day one, I’d like my new President to take immediate action with regard to the United State’s health, environment and economy. He can immediately tackle these burdensome problems by taking the advice of those at Kitchen Gardeners International and ‘Eat the View.’
I once gazed upon the White House lawn, looking between the cherubic cherry blossoms on a spring day back in the late 1990s. My orchestra from small-town Ohio was in the capital to perform various charitable events. We played for the Children’s Hospital, for Vets, for mall-goers and more. I remember rolling waves of Kentucky-bluegrass, punctuated by strong white architecture wholely new to me.
How far I feel I have come since those days, which in reality sit only a decade ago in time. I am no longer the same self-absorbed high-schooler, too enraptured with my tennis skills to give time to my home’s garden. Where I once couldn’t fathom a morning spent picking tomatoes and green beans, now I search out neighbors in need of gardening help. Why was the last person to plant a garden at the White House, I wonder, our dear Eleanor Roosevelt of World War II?
Her inspirational Victory Garden, and the enormous home-owner following it sprouted, was also a traditional reality. People still knew how to grow vegetables, and were still historically aware of the gardens that necessarily fed their relatives during World War I. We are more than a half century down the road, during which time ready-to-eat foods requiring minimal preparation have become the norm. Why would you care about growing some lettuce instead of grass? Why would you choose to sweat a little instead of drive across town to the BIG BOX STORE?
For some of us, it is becoming more of a financial necessity; the rising cost of all food is spreading grocery dollars thin.
For some of us, growing a garden gives control over the methods used to produce the food; negative long-term effects of chemical pest control and engineered products are frightful for our bodies and our ecosystems.
For some of us, such a garden helps us reduce the enormous amounts of energy used to produce, transport and sell commercial foods, all of which are contributing to climate problems.
For some of us, growing a garden keeps us busy after school and out of trouble. Or it keeps us involved in our community, or it keeps us inspired to go outside every day.
Such a garden FEEDS us. Our bodies, our souls, our pocketbooks, our neighbors, our communities, our planet, and so much more. Such a garden is our history, and not to be lost.
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