Sarah Boesveld
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2009 6:23AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Apr. 10, 2009 1:29AM EDT
It's one politically charged garden.
First lady Michelle Obama and a class of local fifth graders broke ground on the first organic White House garden Friday. Her goal? Educating Americans about local food and encouraging healthy eating in a country plagued by a relentless obesity crisis. Not since Eleanor Roosevelt dug her Victory Garden during the Second World War has the White House lawn been home to such a green patch.
And like the 55 varieties of fruits and veggies to be grown there, reaction has been mixed.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis gushed about it on her Huffington Post blog, saying it's a reminder to eat fresh and local. The White House Organic Farm Project gathered more than 15,000 signatures since June signalling public support for the garden. The Obama Foodorama blog highlighted how historic it was to have a black woman shovel White House dirt, since the house was built primarily by slaves.
But while the first family is lauded for growing arugula and anise, beet fans are not impressed. They were up in arms last fall when President Barack Obama shared his aversion to the purple root, which might explain their absence on the South Lawn patch.
"Where's the beet?" lamented bloggers on Bay Area Bites. "First George Bush dissed broccoli; now Barack has put the kibosh on beets."
But they do give the prez a little credit.
"Frankly, beets don't need any help in that direction. Many otherwise rational, veg-loving folks still recoil from these little magenta orbs."
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