Dig for Victory

Dear Michelle Obama,

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud your decision to start a White House vegetable garden. Not since the time of Eleanor Roosevelt's World War II Victory Garden has there been so much focus on growing your own in America, and you are setting a very fine example for the American people.

Unfortunately you have had to dig in the face of considerable opposition from American agribusiness interests, who would prefer you to support the use of their chemical pesticides and fertilisers rather than undermine the market for their unwholesome food by pressing forward with your organic agenda. But you appreciate what is important – the need for America to lead the way in developing a sustainable future, but also to meet its present needs for healthy food for everyone.

In these early days of the 21st century, America faces considerable issues – as do all industrialised nations – in climate change, peak oil, environmental degradation and rising obesity levels. Far from putting your head in the sand and pretending we can evade all these problems by continuing to grow our economies, you have faced them head on by starting your own vegetable patch.

Anyone who grows their own vegetables organically has a source of nutritious food, grown without the environmental impacts of chemical products, excess packaging and long distance transportation. You have gone even further, by involving local school children (and your own daughters) in your project. These children will have the opportunity (long denied to many) of eating fresh and local food, and developing the skills they will need to keep themselves fed in an uncertain future. They will learn about healthy food the easy way, and have the tools they need to avoid a future of obesity and its related health problems.

I hope that your garden will inspire others to start similar projects elsewhere, and that every child in America  - even those from the most deprived neighbourhoods – will have the chance to get their hands dirty and to enjoy the fresh food that has for too long been missing from their diets.

I feel that you have made every effort to be a role model to the nation, despite the fact that the press is generally more interested in what you are wearing than what you are doing. I hope that you are able to continue to brush off these superficial observations and continue on the journey you have started – supporting local and organic food projects across the country and helping them to rebuild America's communities.

In short, you have made an excellent start, and the gardeners of the world applaud you and wish you bountiful harvests.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Cooper
The Alternative Kitchen Garden
England, UK