White House Kitchen Garden

According to the New York Times, the Obamas are planting a kitchen garden on the south lawn of the White House, the first vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt's during WWII.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

“My hope,” the first lady said in an interview in her East Wing office, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”

[...]

Whether there would be a White House garden had become more than a matter of landscaping. The question had taken on political and environmental symbolism, with the Obamas lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally, and organically, can lead to more healthful eating and reduce reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer.

I'm insanely jealous of the garden plan (pasted below): 1,000 square feet, 55 varieties of vegetables, plus herbs, berries, and two bee hives. Sigh.

Props to Eat the View for helping make this happen.