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  • From: SArjuna@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] PLEASE vote for White House Farmer! A WONDERFUL project.
  • Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:44:36 EST

This is such a wonderful idea. If the White House puts in a visible garden,
countless people will be inspired to put a garden in their own yard.
Please support this project by voting at the site mentioned below, and by
sharing
this information with others. Note the 31st deadline.

Personally, I voted for Clare Strader. There are more well-known people
nominated, but their moving to D.C. would leave a hole where they are in
their
own communities now. Clare has the needed experience and understanding, but
has not yet put down roots. Let her put in some roots at the White House!

First here is a letter from the director of Community GroundWorks at Troy
Gardens, Wisconsin, followed by a press release.

Shivani Arjuna

Currently, our Troy Community Farms farmer, Claire Strader, has been
nominated for White House Farmer. I would appreciate it if you would please
go to <http://whitehousefarmer.com/> and cast
your vote for her. The top three vote getters will be forwarded to President
Obama for consideration. Voting ends Jan. 31. A news release follows below.

Part of our goal with this is to help position our organization to be a
co-convener on the national level to actually get an organic farm replacing
five acres of the White House lawn. We think that this along with bringing
back solar panels to the White House are important steps in educating the
public about the importance of acting in the face of imminent oil depletion.

If you are so inclined, your help would be most appreciated. Please help
spread the word, and cast your vote for our farmer, Claire Strader, at
http://www.whitehousefarmer.com.

Thanks.
Bob Gragson, Executive Director
Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens
Madison, Wisconsin
~~~~~~~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison Farmer Nominated for White House Farmer

Claire Strader, farmer at Troy Community Farm in Madison, Wisconsin, is one
of 20 farmers in the U.S. vying to be the first White House Farmer. Voting
continues at <http://www.whitehousefarmer.com> www.whitehousefarmer.com
through Jan. 31. In an October New York Times article, Michael Pollan called
for the creation of a White House Farmer position and suggested turning five
acres of land on the White House grounds into an organic fruit and vegetable
garden.

Madison, WI - January 22, 2009 -- Claire Strader, farmer at Troy Community
Farm in Madison, Wisconsin, has been nominated by Community GroundWorks at
Troy Gardens for the position of "White House Farmer." All 20 nominees are
listed on <http://www.whitehousefarmer.com> www.whitehousefarmer.com.
Voting began on Inauguration Day, January 20 and ends January 31. The Top 3
vote recipients will have their names forwarded to President Obama for
consideration to be the first White House Farmer.

"Claire Strader is just the woman to turn five acres of the
White House lawn into the nation's premier urban farm," said Community
GroundWorks Executive Director Bob Gragson. "Claire has worked in
small-scale organic agriculture for 15 years, including her eight years with
us here at Troy Community Farm, where she turned a five-acre parcel of weedy
urban landscape into a highly productive and beautiful organically-certified
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable farm," he continued.

"Claire not only produces food for our CSA, market, and
wholesale operations on our nonprofit's small urban farm, she also educates
college students, high-school youth, and adult volunteers through our farm's
internship programs," Gragson said. "Claire is an accomplished farmer and
educator who could feed the first family and others in the DC community
well, while serving as a brilliant role model for future farmers all over
this country," he concluded.

In an October New York Times article, Michael Pollan called
for the creation of a White House Farmer position and suggested turning five
acres of land on the White House grounds into an organic fruit and vegetable
garden. Pollan is author of the Omnivore's Dilemma which was named one of
the 10 best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post.

According to Pollan's idea, the White House Farmer would be
charged with transforming "five prime south-facing acres of the White House
lawn and plant[ing] in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden,"
the produce from which would be used by the White House Chef and given to
area food banks.

The WhiteHouseFarmer.com website was conceived by The
Brockmans, a family farm in Illinois.

Troy Community Farm in Madison, Wisconsin, is part of
Community GroundWorks, a non-profit that also runs a five-acre community
garden, programs in restored natural areas, and kids' gardening programs on
26 acres of open land on Madison's Northside. Community GroundWorks at Troy
Gardens feeds people and teaches people to feed themselves. Claire's work
with this organization connects her with other growers and educators who
have the skills and ambition to help people eat locally and grow locally.

For more information about Community GroundWorks, visit
their website at <http://www.troygardens.org> www.troygardens.org or call
(608) 240-0409.

About Community GroundWorks

Community GroundWorks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,
provides food security opportunity and education in an urban setting and
promotes local food production as an alternative to energy intensive
agri-business. Located on 26 acres in Madison, Wisconsin, it operates Troy
Community Farm and CSA, the city's first organic and urban farm; one of the
largest community gardens in the city, Troy Community Gardens; a Kids'
Gardening Program for elementary children; a Farm & Field Program for high
school students; a college internship program; and a natural areas
restoration program.

The organization has recently received several prestigious
awards and honors including the Virginia M. Kline Award for Excellence in
Community-Based Restoration, Outstanding Achievements in Youth Monitoring
from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Steve Jones Award
from The Capital Times Kids Fund for its Kids' Gardening Program, and was
selected as a U.S. delegation to the Slow Food International Conference in
Turin, Italy, in 2008.

For more information:

Bob Gragson, Executive Director
Community GroundWorks, Inc.
Phone: 608-240-0409
Web: www.troygardens.org








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  • [permaculture] PLEASE vote for White House Farmer! A WONDERFUL project., SArjuna, 01/24/2009

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