Who's Hating on Mrs. Obama's Garden?

This is wonderful to see ~ fresh produce, community involvement, positive PR. What a shame that the MACA feels this is a threat to their bottom line. There is nothing that tastes as good as home grown fruits/vegetables just picked and prepared. MACA blames storage as the reason for tasteless produce. Whatever it is, I still choose to grow my own simply because it just plain tastes better.

The next logical step would be to create a composting area. Teach the local students the benefits of turning kitchen and garden debris into mulch to be used to naturally fertilize the vegetables for which they are guardians.

Chickens would provide another source of fertilizer for the garden and fresh eggs for the Obama's meals. Ok, done laughing? Anyway, why not set a standard? It wouldn't be the first time the White House has had chickens and a vegetable garden now, would it?

Cyndi

...a PR outfit for big agrochem. They do not exist to promote farming or farmers per se. CropLife associations around the world (including here, in South Africa) are well funded organisations that exist ultimately to promote the chemical products, genetically engineered seeds and services of companies like Bayer, DuPont, Syngenta, and Monsanto.

They are extremely good at inserting themselves into policymaking bodies and thinktanks as providers of 'neutral' agricultural advice, even though virtually all their funding comes from agrochemical giants. They avoid appearances of one-sidedness by not using strident language. They seldom mount high profile campaigns in defense of their interests, preferring instead to set up 'working groups' and 'community liason groups' to push their agenda while appearing to bridge divides between toxin-spraying farmers and environmentalists or farmworkers' rights groups.

Their normal strategy is to portray any problems with agrochemicals, for instance children growing breasts at extremely young ages here in South Africa, as the unexpected exceptions rather than commonsense outcomes of releasing vast amounts of known toxins into the environment. CropLife never admits that pesticides in general are possibly problematic: problems are due to individual 'uninformed' farmers 'misapplying' pesticides that would be harmless if 'responsibly used'. Etc.

Take a look at MACA's board of directors.

http://www.maca.org/officers/

That's all you need to know right there.

Adam Welz

Here's the answer: http://www.kingsleycommission.com/2009/04/according-to-la-vida-locavore-mid.html.

Dear beer-guzzling, Nascar-watchin' Boob:

Noone is saying we must do all these other things you mention. I do none of those. What's being offered is the idea to grow some food. You don't have to grow everything. How about just one or two plants, even in pots if you have no yard? To get us closer to where our food comes from, to increase our skills, to do something worthwhile that is positive. Even to get us away from wasting our lives in front of a tube by being outside to get some air.

The fact that so few of us have any clue how to garden is the real problem. The fact that many are so overwhelmed or apathetic, and need to numb out in front of mindless entertainment that does nothing supportive - that is the frightening state we are in. Boob, what if you lose that job? Having a plant or two won't fix your problems, but it's a start. Nascar provides you nothing but distraction. Every human should have gardening skills. We don't, and look where we are.

I don't know why I bother. Your type of person will never really hear this, because you are hooked into believing the Republican and religious rhetoric that is meant to connive the poor into helping the rich continue to get richer. This all happens on YOUR back, while you eke out a meager subsistence. Yes, the world is a-changing. Thankfully.

Instead of marrying a fruit, why don't you just go grow one?

First of all, I grew up in an era when "victory garden" was patriotic. My father had a garden in our yard or nearby all my life. To this day I measure the quality of vegetables that I buy against the quality that I am used to growing up and usually their is no comparison. I have a sister and brother-in-law who keep up the garden tradition and many relatives including a nephew.
At the same time I am grateful for the variety of fruits and vegetables from all over the world during all seasons that I cannot duplicate here in New England.
Yes it is hard work BUT big agriculture cannot compare to the home garden. My father died in 1976 and my sisters and I sold the house in 1996 after my mother passed away.
To this day, 33 years later, the former neighbors on my father's street still talk about my father's garden. I can only have one of his tomatoes in memory.
Mrs Obama is to be lauded for this effort.

Great logic, MACA. Next we'll have car manufacturers telling people how terrible it is to walk, since driving is so important to the economy. And we'll have video game manufacturers saying playing Little League is affecting our kids' ability to fit into their peer group. How do those MACA reps keep a straight face when they say their bs? I guess they value their paychecks more than they do being honest and moral.

A pro gardener friend of ours is helping us convert our yard (full of roses, vegetables, berries, and ornamental trees) into an organic garden. We wouldn't have known how to do it ourselves - the only info you get at most places like Home Depot is what pesticide to use when you see trouble. We had been using those so-called "Safer Sprays", and even with face-masks and gloves on, those chemicals were nasty. Now, we're just building up the health of the soil and plants with natural fertilizers and pruning/tilling, and - you know what - they've look BETTER this year than they have before, and we haven't sprayed a darn rose or vegetable.

We aren't planning on just living off our yard (not by a long shot), but why should we spray toxic chemicals in our own back yard when we don't need to?