Please check our media page for coverage of TheWhoFarm.

Please email to faq@TheWhoFarm.org

We will do our best to address any and all questions in a timely fashion.

By the way, medstore the absolute #1 most frequently asked question on the road is whether we can drive upside down (or variations.)  And we answer that question differently every time.

Question:

Where on the White House Grounds are you proposing? That would be the only seeming obstacle, contagion willingness to provide a site that would be able to be secured and accessible at the same time.

Answer:

We made no specific location recommendation.

But Michael Pollan joined our call and recommended that five acres of the South Lawn be planted
with organic fruits and vegetables.

President-elect Obama brought up the Pollan piece (although not the specific South Lawn recommendation) in an interview with Joe Klein for Time Magazine, so we’re pretty sure the thought has crossed his mind.
The essay below was sent to us by an anonymous visitor, anorexia
who shared a vision on the Obama-Biden Transition website. We urge you to share yours!

I submitted a vision for America today that included a food garden (and mentioned you!):

Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to the vision of America under an Obama-Biden administration.

The first changes that I would like to see in a Barack Obama presidency is that the First Family settle into their new home in their own way, making the White House both a statement of their personal style as well as reflecting the rich diversity and true expression of all of America.

One of the most moving and inspirational aspects of the campaign, as Americans became acquainted with Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha, is the love they share, the affection and the deep bonds between them. This expression of wholesomeness and tenderness is a message from and to America, and the world, at a time when familial ties are weakened by the speed and materialism of contemporary life. Bringing this energy of love into the presidential mansion will do much to promote gentleness throughout the world.

Mr. President-elect, take the advice of both Alice Walker and George Bush: have fun in the White House! Please don’t make your new life all about work and the multiple issues that your administration must face. Make time to play with your daughters, to be your wife’s best friend, to put aside your official responsibilities and to just enjoy the affection, intelligence and ties to family – including your extended circle of family and friends. Doing so will set a valuable ideal to other Americans as well as the watching world.

Just as the First Family’s home was renovated during the Kennedy administration to reflect the early history of our nation, let us renew and refresh the face of America by reflecting her richness in all of its glory – not merely showcasing the early Colonial period but every period and culture that have contributed to our unique richness.

The White House should be a reflection of all of our cultures – not just the Anglo origins of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock or the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but truly all of the peoples who came to America – by their own choosing as well as those brought against their will or in seeking asylum, as well as the native peoples whose land this once was.

(Such as restoration could be financed by private donations, as well as through public funds; certainly the people of America – and the world – would find this a judicious and worthwhile effort.)

All families, once they have shelter, then set about to secure nourishment, and here again the White House could establish a good example by setting a table (and inspiring healthy habits) with healthy food, organic, sustainably and locally grown. America has a long tradition, going back to before the arrival of immigrants, of a luxuriant agriculture. Let the new president and his family be a working icon of what Alice Waters calls “the delicious revolution” that is helping to improve the diets and health of people everywhere.

John Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt and other residents grew vegetables and flowers – and raised livestock – on the White House grounds, and there is a growing sentiment among citizens that the president’s home could be a model of sustainability. (The work of two organizations, Eat the View and The White House Organic Farm Project come to mind, as well as the international Slow Food movement.) What a gift to Malia and Sasha to have a garden where they and their friends could tend a little bit of Nature from seed to the table? Surely many citizens would offer to volunteer or fund this effort.

What an inspiration would be a White House garden, providing locally grown flowers, fruits, vegetables and even grains for the dinner table! In addition, gardens, orchards and fields of grain would honor the American farmer who feeds us. Further, a garden tended by the First Family could be an inspiration for school children’s’ programs such as the Edible Schoolyard that, “could transform education and agriculture”, as Alice Waters says, “by feeding them and giving them pleasure; by teaching them how to grow food responsibly; and by teaching them how to cook it and eat it, together, around the table.”

Further, choosing the right White House chef will be very important, lending credence to the principles of sustainable, organic and non-corporate agriculture and feeding ourselves in a delicious, nourishing and creatively American manner. We have an abundant supply of excellent chefs and cooks, both professional and in our homes; let’s utilize and promote this talent!

Next, the president’s home should go energy independent and green, creating a national paradigm in every respect – with energy conservation (yes, change the f***ing light bulbs!), solar, wind, greywater recycling, hybrid plug-in and bio-diesel vehicles, and sustainable architecture, among others. Bring in clean energy and environmentally friendly living experts to advise the White House, such as California’s Solar Living Institute, to set an example of what will become the new national energy and environment policies.

And yes, plant trees, President-elect Obama! Plants trees on the White House grounds, throughout the District of Columbia and throughout America, inspiring Americans and people around the planet to grow more carbon dioxide-inhaling plants. For every tree or other plant, yes, we can reduce the carbon in our atmosphere.

Next, build that basketball court and help to improve America’s health habits through exercise, but not only indoor exercise – go for walks in Rock Creek Park, take the kids for bicycle rides, get outside and appreciate neighborhoods and Nature. Help to free Americans from their vehicles and get them moving again, literally, losing weight and connecting with each other without need of television, mobile phones and Internet.

The arts and culture of America’s diverse population have not been celebrated in the White House or by the presidency over the past decade. Sure, reading and books are wonderful but there is so much more to share and to celebrate: dance, theatre, music, the fine arts, and so on. Let’s bring back into the president’s home the energy and enthusiasm that were showcased during the Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton presidencies.

Finally, let’s recruit volunteers from all walks and stations of American life – not merely the usual folks but drawing from an expanded pool of people representative of all of our citizenry – to accomplish these and other new projects. Let’s make the White House as President Franklin Roosevelt described it, “I will never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people.”

It took three months and twenty-five states. TheWhoFarmMobile has finally met her namesake! (Click for larger image.)

And yesterday, arthritis we were welcomed quite warmly by the FRESHFARM Market folks at Dupont Circle.

May the best man win tomorrow. Our next President will face many tough challenges. May he find comfort in knowing that folks all across this big country are excited that he’ll be living on one of the finest family farms this nation has ever seen.

Don’t forget to vote…
and stay tuned…

In August, Michael Pollan visited TheWhoFarmMobile twice: first in NYC, and again in San Francisco.

And last Sunday in The New York Times Magazine, in an open letter to our next President entitled “Farmer in Chief,” Michael Pollan joined the call for organic food production at The White House!

“Since enhancing the prestige of farming as an occupation is critical to developing the sun-based regional agriculture we need, the White House should appoint, in addition to a White House chef, a White House farmer. This new post would be charged with implementing what could turn out to be your most symbolically resonant step in building a new American food culture. And that is this: tear out five prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden.”

The entire piece is well worth the read.  Informative and stimulating.

Pollan also makes the same suggestion somewhere after the 20 minute mark in his talk at the Google Zeitgiest ’08.

Our friends Keith and George are starting a company called Sky Vegetables. They plan to grow vegetables on the roofs of supermarkets and sell the produce inside the same supermarkets. The food will travel zero miles from the field to the purchase point. It needs only travel downstairs. We have adapting this idea, erectile and are growing food on the roof of TheWhoFarmMobile, no rx even as we travel 60 miles per hour down the freeway across this big country. What could be better than setting up camp for the night and climbing just a few feet up and grabbing some spinach for a nice salad or carrots and cabbage for a stir fry? This is rooftop gardening to the extreme.

Making this garden work has certainly not been an easy task since there is not really a manual on mobile gardening but I have done my best with limited time and resources to at least grow a few things for our own consumption. If we can grow on the roof of a moving vehicle passing through various climatic zones, it proves that you can grow just about anywhere. Then certainly our next President can grow a few edible crops on the fertile soils outside of the White House where presidents in the past have grown food before.

When we acquired the Topsy Turvy bus from Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s,) we were not exactly sure how this experiment was going to work. As soon as we got to New York City from Vermont we started to scheme and made our first plan of action. The makers of the bus in Oakland, led by Tom Kennedy, had designed the roof to stand up to the elements, so it took quite a few hours to remove the hundreds of bolts and screws which held the fiberglass and plywood layers on top of the vehicle. We finally got everything off and below us lay a metal structure that looked perfect for container gardening.

We waterproofed the roof to keep our home inside the bus dry. We also installed a simple drainage system, consisting of drilled holes in the sides. Finally onto the fun part: planting our garden. Since our vehicle is already a bit top heavy, we chose to mix McEnroe Organic Farm’s potting mixture with GaiaSoil, a great lightweight medium used for green roofs and produced locally in New York. We also got some advice on waterless containers or “earthboxes.” Our container gardens were simpler in design, but we plan on enhancing our design in the near future.

Since we knew that survival for many crops would be near impossible on the roof, we selected resilient species and some of the hardiest varieties that folks could recommend to us. We knew that herbs such as rosemary and thyme and root crops would probably be fine, but we also were going for a bit of diversity so we planted a few varieties of squash, cucumbers, and other late summer veggies.

We were in a terrible rush to leave New York in order to make it to Slow Food Nation in San Francisco in time. So we did not have adequate time to build a permanent structure to protect our crops from the wind. We went with a quick fix, and threw some wire mesh screen on top of our containers to divert some of the wind and run with it and see what survived. The 60 mph headwinds throughout the journey and the 40 mph winds from the side in Wyoming did a number on our babies, but there were a few resilient survivors on our cross-country journey.

When we finally got to California where sunny skies reigned supreme, and with a better understanding of the roof dynamics, we had a bit of down time to do some more planting. Through the help of a number of friends and some cheap and donated materials from Urban Ore, a great recycling center in the East Bay, we were also able to set up a windscreen, which will hopefully do the plants a bit better. Another friend donated a large piece of bulletproof plexiglass which protects our plants further.

So on goes our adventure in mobile rooftop gardening and self-sufficiency on the road. Our garden has fared quite well down the California coast, across the Southwest, and into the Southeast. Keep on checking for more updates as we move into colder seasons.

By the way, there is no simple way up to the roof.  But our bus came with a flat-screen tv.  So we’ve tried a couple of times to do a live feed from the roof.  It works alright, and kids love it, but it’s quite energy intensive, as the tv can only draw power from a generator.

The other night on 6th Street in Austin a guy asked us: “If there is one group your project will help, approved who would that be?” Our answer is children. If our theory proves correct, then the way our president eats and thinks about food will impact younger people for longer and in more profound ways than it will impact any other group of people. The foundations of a healthy diet begin at a young age. If the president is meant to lead and inspire, then a president who eats healthy homegrown food in a publicized way will inspire many young people to eat like the president. And if the president follows TheWhoFarm petition’s recipe by inviting public school students to help garden at The White House, it could drastically change the “edible education” landscape in America.

So, with the interest of children at the forefront of our campaign. we’ve made it a priority to visit schools everywhere we go. And sure enough, kids and their teachers are always receptive.

In Oakland, we parked ourside our friend Jenn Su’s house, Sol. The Sol folks have convinced all the lot owners on the block to allow them to to turn the backyards into a garden. On selected weekends, they invite neighborhood kids over for a gardening lesson. We weren’t around for such a weekend, but Jenn’s housemate Deepa invited us to come to school with her at St. Elizabeth’s.

At first, most students seemed more interested in the bus than in our mission. But once we’d let them all trek through the bus, they had a chance to go up to their 2nd story classroom and take a peek at our edible roof. That was the impetus for a good discussion on healthy eating, and the added importance of people who have important decisions to make to eat super healthy. One girl offered us her lunch money so we could buy gas. (We declined. And by the way, contrary to popular belief, unless you have time to make your own fuel, biodiesel is actually more expensive than the regular stuff.) While we were there, a couple of boys were reprimanded for eating avocados without permission. They claimed they’d fallen off the tree, which was apparently pretty unlikely for that time of season. Here’s to hoping avocado snatching is the worst thing those kids ever do.

In Santa Cruz, we stopped by UCSC’s Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, “a research, education, and public service program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system.” The students and apprentices there “get it” completely, and they donated some plants from their farm for our roof.

In Ventura, we visited Patagonia’s headquarters. They have an on-site day care center, and while we didn’t make a formal presentation, those kids seemed darn fascinated when TheWhoFarmMobile rolled into the lot. A few parents brought their little ones to look at the bus during lunch time. I wonder who “dragged” who?

In Los Angeles, our friend Brooke Sparling introduced us to a super high energy fellow named Gabriel, who insisted we stop by Environmental Charter High School. We visited Gabriel’s Green Ambassadors Class, and just about every kid in the class wanted to take a field trip to DC to plant an organic farm on the lawn of The White House. We came pretty close to piling them all in to TheWhoFarmMobile, to head straight for DC. After class, a few kids showed us their gardens. They’d recently planted fruit trees, and hoped that future students would have some organic oranges to snack on. One self-proclaimed “musically gifted” kid told us he’d work on some lyrics for a song about broccoli at The White House.

Our journey is happening at a faster pace than we’d sometimes prefer. In Flagstaff, Arizona, we didn’t have time to make arrangements with any school. But on our way out of town, we stopped to check out the New Start Garden that our host Scott Katz had tipped us off to. The garden happened to be adjacent to a high school. I went in to use the restroom. A student opened his classroom door to ask who I was. I mentioned TheWhoFarmMobile, and the teacher’s ears perked up. Class was put on hold, and a quick impromptu discussion on TheWhoFarm ensued in the garden.

Albuquerque, New Mexico sits on the Rio Grande, which is supposedly the only large river in America used extensively for crop irrigation. As such, most folks seemed quite connected to their food sources. All around town, people grow food in their yards. We were invited to participate in the Carnuel Road Parade, the first, but hopefully not last parade for TheWhoFarmMobile.

That parade led to an invitation to Escuela del Sol, a Montessori school with an active gardening program. Maria Montessori herself wrote that “When he (the student) knows that the life of the plants that have been sown depends upon his care in watering them…without which the little plant dries up…the child becomes vigilant, as one who is beginning to feel a mission in life.” See: Garden-Based Learning in Basic Education: A Historical Review.) We drank organic lemonade together. Some of the kids articulated their very partisan presidential preferences. At recess, some kids drew pictures they thought we should bring to Washington DC.



We found out about the 3rd Annual Symposium for Sustainable Food & Seed Sovereignty at the last minute. A group of Mexican farmers who were slated to present had been denied visas, so the conference organizer asked us to take their slot.




While there, we happened to meet Erin O’Neill, the garden instructor at Monte del Sol Charter School. Erin insisted that we visit. After all, Monte del Sol is an official partner of Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard program, which is of course the prime inspiration for TheWhoFarm. After a bumpy ride on Dinasour Road, we arrived just before first Period. I’ve never seen so many kids running TOWARDS a school bus. They nearly banged down our door. We were brought into the gathering space to talk to the entire 7th and 8th grade classes. We asked the students for an example of leadership by example. We were reminded by one student of history that our 40th president proclaimed ketchup a vegetable, and that inspired many many people to put ketchup on everything. A girl named Helena told us she’d make us a poster.

The next period, Nico, the French teacher from France, brought his entire class aboard TheWhoFarmMobile, where we had a very meandering conversation that included a discussion on the differences in the way the French and the Americans eat. (Some of the students had spent the summer in France.) The kids seemed to think that an organic farm on the lawn of The White House would prove to the French that Americans still know a thing or two about food. We apologized for taking the entire period. Nico said that au contraire, he cares just as much about his students learning about life and food as he does that they master French. Perhaps he’ll have them right a French essay about our visit.

Then it was time for our tour of the Edible Schoolyard, led by a girl called Rose who knew everything there was to know about the garden. Another student said that the garden was her favorite place to read. By then it was time for lunch. We were treated to very healthy portobello wraps that contained greens fresh from the Edible Schoolyard before heading off to Texas.


We wish we had more time to visit more schools, and we truly hope that someday soon every school will have a garden on-site, and not just when TheWhoFarmMobile’s edible rooftop garden comes to visit.

TheWhoFarm congratulates Mr. Will Allen on his 2008 MacArthur Fellow Award. (The Fellowship is a $500, information pills 000, this site no-strings-attached grant for individuals who have shown exceptional creativity in their work and the promise to do more.)

There never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything we’d planned to do. Getting from Point A to Point B has been the order of the day on TheWhoFarmMobile journey. And there is rarely time for a detour, however slight.

But a man who goes by Olde Godsil, the self-proclaimed Sissy Roofer, managed to pursuade us to diverge from our intended route and pay a visit to his hometown of Milwaukee, a city that aims to someday win a Nobel Peace Prize for its collective efforts towards world betterment.

After a blueberry pancake breakfast at Riverwest Co-op Grocery and Cafe, Godsil led us to Growing Power, an unassuming lot in the middle of an unassuming neighborhood.

Sarah, Jay, Colleen, Clara and everyone else at Growing Power were extremely hospitable. They treated us to a super-deluxe tour of this pint-sized urban farm that provides an incredible amount of healthy food in a what is called a “food desert,” as areas without access to healthy food are known.

Big Will made time to show us his compost heaps, which, aided by hungry worms, provide healthy soil for the plants. The heaps also generate heat that is used to heat the greenhouses in colder months.

Will set us up with a bucket of his finest soil, worms, and vermicastings. The presence of Growing Power as we travel around this big country is a constant inspiration. We hope to honor Will Allen’s dreams of providing everyone with a healthy, nourishing diet. We will do this with by continuing on our mission to have a leading-by-example President who plants an organic farm on the lawn of The White House, to feed not only the President, but also supplements the Capitol’s school lunch program and food pantries. Ultimately, we hope to inspire good folks everywhere to grow their own food. Together, we are growing power!

Don’t forget to take a look at this short, powerful clip!

Photos courtesy of K. Croft, except Daniel and Will Allen, courtesy of J. Godsil.

The day began in Prescott, ed Arizona, ascariasis with TheWhoFarmMobile parked outside Coffee Roasters, a coffee shop known for it’s hospitality, slow pace, and conversation.  Nobody seemed much concerned with the financial crisis that morning.  We have not had terribly too much time to reach out to media from the road, but sometimes, the media finds us.  Or more accurately, when the media finds us, they tend to want to do a story.  One man up early walking his dog happened to be a reporter for the Prescott Daily Courier, and after he brought his dog home, he came back with his notepad and camera to find out more about TheWhoFarm.  He had a gentle, inquisitive manner, and asked a number of coffee shop patrons what they thought of our project.

A former rodeo star (with badges to prove it) said he’d enjoyed organic tomatoes in his salad and though the next Presinent would too.

Another local who heard we were headed to Sedona reminded us that Senator McCain has a farm and ranch in Cornville, just a few minutes out of the way on our journey.

A visit to the McCain farm seemed to be an excellent opportunity to preview what the Senator might like to grow should he become the next resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  (Disclaimer:  Yes, we know that Northern Arizona and Washington DC are situated in different climate zones.)  We don’t mind the occasional detour, so we plugged Hidden Valley Road into the GPS, and after passing through Jerome, a revitalized cliffside former ghost town, we were at an unmarked rocky desert road.  An old California transplant with a “Gipper” vanity plate on his Jeep told us that we’d be fine on the road down.

Before long, we happened upon a valley with Sycamore trees, and signs for Hidden Valley Ranch and Hidden Valley Farm.

No Trespassing Signs were posted prominently, so we parked outside, hoping a human being would greet us.  And sure enough, a groundskeeper appeared.  He told us that he couldn’t really share any information, but that he’d get some other personnel.

Those personnel came quickly on their golfcart.  We told them a little bit about TheWhoFarm and TheWhoFarmMobile and explained that we’d like to have a look around.  They told us that they were not authorized to invite in unannounced visitors.  We asked if they’d like to sign the petition respectfully requesting our next President plant an organic farm on the lawn of The White House.  They respectfully declined.  We offered them literature, but they told us we ought to bring our materials to the Senator’s campaign office instead.  They told us we could take a few pictures so long as they were not in the frame, and that then we’d better be on our way.

About halfway down Casey had remarked that it might not be so easy getting back up the road.  And sure enough, his observation was correct.  Sure, we sport ultra-lightweight GaiaSoil on our edible roof, but no matter how you parse it, to paraphrase the Flaming Lips, a school bus on top of another school bus weighs a ton.

So, we called a towing company.  And another towing company.  Neither had a truck available that could rescue us.  At which point the Senator’s personnel returned to inquire what was going on.  We explained, and they were nice, but told us politely that if we couldn’t get towed by dark, we ought to call a taxi service and find ourselves a motel.  In other words, they were not into the idea of us sleeping in TheWhoFarmMobile outside the Senator’s ranch.  Finally, we found a company willing to come give it the old college try.

While we waited, we sliced open the sweet watermelon we’d picked up at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market.

And within an hour, Lucky arrived.  The motto on the side of his truck read “We meet the nicest people by accident.”

He knew what he was doing, and within ten minutes, he had TheWhoFarmMobile raised up and told Casey to steer in neutral.

And up the hill we climbed, Arizona’s senior Senator’s farm and ranch further and further in the distance.

Lucky told us that he would normally charge a fair penny for his services, but that since he liked the concept of an organic farm on the lawn of The White House, he’d give us a nice break.  All in all, a cool $90 for the bailout.

And then it was on to Sedona.  We arrived under the cover of night, and were treated to a delicious meal at Bliss Cafe, where most of the produce is sourced from the adjacent garden.  Imagine that!

No photos of the remarkably delicious and nourishing food, see nor photos of the kitchen tour, medications but these pictures are EASILY worth a thousand words!

Casey, Daniel, and Alice outside TheWhoFarmMobile on Shattuck

Alice Waters tours TheWhoFarmMobile.

(For those of you who don’t know, Alice Waters, and her acceptance speech at 2008 Global Environmental Citizen Awards dinner from Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, were the initial, primary, and ongoing inspiration for TheWhoFarm.)

-The unveiling of the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture at SF City Hall.  Alice Waters mentions the need for the next President to eat from his own garden.

–The Greenhorns Pirate Seed Swap in the Mission.

-The Soap Box at SF Victory Garden and petition launch…fresh strawberries for all.

-Michael Pollan, dentist author of Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire visits TheWhoFarmMobile to discuss prospective First Farmers.  Gus Schumacher, former undersecretary of the USDA and Chef Michel Nishan, board the bus.  Gus Schumacher proposes that Michel Nishan cook at The White House.  Not a bad idea!

-Purple graffiti tagging on TheWhoFarmMobile in the Mission.  (Some nerve, kids!)

-Slow Food Rocks.  Uli Bella from Ozomatli signs the petition.  Some kids from Mill Valley Middle School leave notes all over the bus.  A great view from the roof for Gnarls Barkley.  TheWhoFarm takes the stage to announce our petition.  Anna Lappé takes the stage and calls TheWhoFarmers her new heroes.  Whoa!  Lauren Bush from Feed Projects signs the petition as well.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom signs TheWhoFarm Petition.

-The Taste Pavillion at Fort Mason.  Wine and chutney make a delightful pair.  SF Victory Garden Mayor Gavin Newsom and his wife sign the petition.

-The Eat-In at Dolores Park.  Two hundred fifty young folks interested in good, healthy food share a pot luck meal put together by Slow Food Nation and Outstanding in the Field.  Michael Dimock of Roots of Change, Josh  Viertel of Slow Food USA, and Tim Galarneau of Real Food Challenge sign the petition.  TheWhoFarm finally talks to Alice Waters, she signs the petition, signs her new book, The Edible Schoolyard, “to TheWhoFarmers, with love, admiration, and hope!”  And she invites us to Chez Panisse for lunch!  We return to TheWhoFarmMobile to find the owner of the driveway we’d blocked inviting us to his backyard to see his beehives and chickens!

-Washington Post picks up our story, and features an interested poll quite relevant to TheWhoFarm: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2008/09/white_house_garden_yay_or_nay.html

TheWhoFarm’s SF Victory Garden Soap Box Speech

YouTube excerpt (courtesy Slow Food Nation)

Good afternoon Slow Food Nation! My name is Daniel Bowman Simon. I am the international ambassador for the good thing at The White House Organic Farm Project also known as TheWhoFarm.

I don’t need to tell you about the challenges we face in our short and long term future. And I don’t need to remind you that a good, tadalafil nutritious breakfast is essential to a productive day.

I hope you all agree that if the “leader of the free world” is to properly address the challenges we face collectively, salve he is going to need to be eating a good, nutritious breakfast every day, and lead our nation by example.

So, let me suggest, that the way to ensure our next Commander-in-Chief starts the day right, that we have a president who eats right to think straight, is to plant an organic farm right there, on the lawn of The White House.

Now, this is not just any ordinary suggestion. You see, in February, I was fortunate enough to hear Alice Waters speak in New York City, as she accepted her 2008 Global Environmental Citizen Award from The Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment.

In her acceptance speech, she spoke of two urgent dreams…that every American school have an edible schoolyard, and that the President once again dine from his or her own garden. These dreams resonated with everyone in the room, and I personally became obsessed with helping Alice realize her dreams.

And in many fruitful conversations that followed, it became clear to me that the means to ensuring that we, the people, have that organic farm on the lawn of the White House, no matter who is elected, is to launch a grass-roots, non-partisan petition-based campaign, to respectfully request that The White House Organic Farm (aka TheWhoFarm) be planted on the grounds of The White House, our nation’s First home, the home we, the people, the taxpayers, share collectively together.

Now, just like any good dish, there needs to be a good recipe for TheWhoFarm.

And so today, in unity with Slow Food Nation and with the San Francisco Victory Garden in our sights with the an incredible illustrative example, TheWhoFarm is finally launching a petition, complete with the recipe for success.

To the 44th President of the United States of America:

We, the people, respectfully request that an organic farm be planted on the grounds of The White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC.

The White House Organic Farm (aka TheWhoFarm) will be a model for healthy, economical and sustainable living everywhere. It will serve as an educational tool and economic aid, and as a means to provide food security in the Nation’s Capitol. It will reconnect the Office of the Presidency to the self-sufficient agricultural roots of America’s Founding Fathers.

The White House Organic Farm Recipe

Article I: The Farmers
Public school children and Americans with disabilities will work The White House Organic Farm, setting an example for the world of hands-on learning and fostering an independent, do-it-yourself work ethic.

Article II: The Eaters
The White House Organic Farm’s harvest will provide fresh food for the President, the President’s family, and the President’s distinguished guests. Just as importantly, it will also supply healthy food to public school lunch programs and food pantries in Washington, DC.

Article III: The Delivery
Food from The White House Organic Farm will be delivered to local public schools and food pantries by volunteers on foot and by bicycle, at a net-zero cost to U.S. taxpayers.

Article IV: The Seeds
The White House organic farmers will plant a diverse mix of heirloom seeds passed down from Thomas Jefferson’s farm at Monticello and seeds donated by American farmers and gardeners, to celebrate both the rich agricultural traditions of the Office of the President and the passions of everyday Americans for working her fertile and bountiful land.

Article V: The Soil
The White House Organic Farm will use healthy topsoil, nourished by compost supplements from yard and food waste from all three branches of the federal government; from The White House, from The United States Capitol, and from The United States Supreme Court.

So, how does that sound, Slow Food Nation?

Are you all ready to visit www.TheWhoFarm.org to sign the petition?

So here’s our plan from now until our next president takes office:
TheWhoFarm is traveling across the highways and back roads of America to schools, churches, festivals, and farms, on TheWhoFarmMobile, parked right over there, an upside down double-decker school bus with a very experimental organic farm on the roof, to bring our message loud and clear.

Before I let you know how you can do more than just sign the petition to help realize the dreams of Alice Waters and TheWhoFarm, I’m going to briefly hand the mic over to Casey Gustowarow, one of my best friends and favorite farmers, who I met in the Peace Corps, and who is celebrating his 27th birthday today!

He is the person responsible for planting TheWhoFarmMobile, driving TheWhoFarmMobile, and perhaps most importantly, cooking delicious meals for the passengers on TheWhoFarmMobile.

…

Thank you Casey.

To make sure that TheWhoFarm is planted as soon as our next President moves into The White House, we need everyone here to sign the petition, tell your neighbors, and friends.

Please, send letters to the editors of your local papers, and to our national media, alerting them to TheWhoFarm! And please let us know if there are places we MUST visit, people we must reach out to, etc etc. And at the risk of needing to apologize to our Slow Food Nation hosts, please feel free to throw us a couple of beans, to help us feed the tank of TheWhoFarmMobile, and to feed our own hungry bellies….as we sow the seeds of what might just become the most visible and influential Community Supported Agriculture project this world has ever seen.

Let me just end with by quoting a couple of folks who ate from the land at The White House.

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson, wrote in a letter to his friend John Jay, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.”

And last but not least, a woman who led by example, who inspired my own grandmother and the nation-at-large to plant victory gardens during World War II, First Lady and an honorary WhoFamer herself, Eleanor Roosevelt, who promised that “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Thank you again to Alice Waters for dreaming aloud, and for planting the seeds of TheWhoFarm.
Thank you Alice Waters!
Viva TheWhoFarm!
God Bless Slow Food Nation!
And God Bless America!