Michelle Obama - Organic Victory Garden
Mrs Obama started work on the kitchen garden with a gang of schoolchildren last month.
Her decision to make the new White House vegetable garden entirely organic has angered America's powerful agribusiness lobby who are urging the First Lady to consider the use of appropriate "crop protection products".
No sooner had the garden been announced than a letter addressed to Mrs. Barack Obama arrived at the East Wing from an organization that represents companies selling chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The Mid America CropLife Association, an agribusiness media group, urged the first lady to give conventional agriculture equal time. Referring to chemicals the group euphemistically called “crop protection products,” the letter said not only are such nonorganic techniques necessary, but their safety is also “supported by sound scientific research and innovation.”
“I think the Obama garden should come with a warning label,” he continued. “It’s irresponsible to tell people that you should have to eat organic and locally grown food. Not everyone can afford that. That’s a serious public health concern.”
His reasoning: “People are going to eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Cancer rates will go up. Obesity rates will go up. I think if we decide to eat only locally grown food, we’re going to have a lot of starvation.” Starvation and obesity simultaneously.
Interestingly studies into population groups from poor and deprived areas have actually found malnourishment and obesity in the same families eating the same diet. The children showing clear signs of under nutrition whilst the parents eating the same diet showing clear signs of obesity and insulin resistance. So the processed, carbohydrate dominant diet pushed on us by agribusiness has already been found to deliver the net result of starvation and obesity within the same communities and families! It seems a large stretch of the imagination to believe that locally produced, organic food will end up with such a result. This is business looking after business interests, its as simple as that.
If every house in England had a small plot to grow their own food from, not only would it be a cheaper life-style but healthier too! They would only need to visit local farmers for dairy, meat, grains, and similar foods the good old fashioned way. They would also have direct control of part of their own food source instead of being so dependent on supermarkets.
So when did the Obama's decide organic food was for them? Michelle was quoted as saying the following: “You know,” she said, “in my household, over the last year we have just shifted to organic for this very reason. I mean, I saw just a moment in my nine-year-old’s life—we have a good pediatrician, who is very focused on childhood obesity, and there was a period where he was, like, ‘Mmm, she’s tipping the scale.’ So we started looking through our cabinets. . . . You know, you’ve got fast food on Saturday, a couple days a week you don’t get home. The leftovers, good, not the third day! . . . So that whole notion of cooking on Sunday is out. . . . And the notion of trying to think about a lunch every day! . . . So you grab the Lunchables, right? And the fruit-juice-box thing, and we think—we think—that’s juice. And you start reading the labels and you realize there’s high-fructose corn syrup in everything we’re eating. Every jelly, every juice. Everything that’s in a bottle or a package is like poison in a way that most people don’t even know… Now we’re keeping, like, a bowl of fresh fruit in the house.”
In England we have Prince Charles as an ambassador for Organic food and farming. He has his own brand the "Duchy" label and has been quite sucessful. He withdrew all of his product range from Tesco and has given full exclusivity to Waitrose, which as we mentioned before in our supermarket review blog, Waitrose has the highest reputation for quality and ethical food fo all UK supermarkets. The queen only eats organic food and we have been told by a source close to us that she also enjoys milk fresh from their herd of cows. Yes, thats fresh "Unpasteruised (RAW) Milk".
The White House garden will also become a safe haven for honeybees. We congratulate Michelle for being brave enough to make and state the change and lead by example. The health of her family will prove to nations that local organic produce is the only way to ensure good health and vitality as well as avoiding the obesity epidemics worldwide. Well done Michelle!
