White House vegetable garden

The first White House garden was planted in 1800, by the second president of the United States John Adams and first lady Abigail Adams. Adams and his wife grew their own fresh fruits and vegetables to feed their family, rather than buying produce at the local market. Jefferson also picked the location of the flower garden that was planted. In 1825, Adams was the first president to plant ornamental trees on the White House lawns. World War I and II victory gardens The onset of World War I brought the start of food rationing to the White House. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson brought sheep to graze and fertilize the lawns. During World War II, in 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a victory garden on the White House grounds. The victory garden movement started because of food shortages caused by the war. Millions of victory gardens were planted across America during that period of time, producing about 40 percent of America's vegetables. Resistance to vegetable gardens In the 1970s and 1990s, peacetime vegetable gardens were proposed but did not materialize. Jimmy Carter, who was a Georgia farmer and a gardener, talked about how gardening was an important aspect of America's future in his campaign, but declined calls in 1978 to plant a vegetable garden at the White House. Another unsuccessful attempt was made by President Bill Clinton, who was denied by the White House, saying it was not in keeping with the formal nature of the White House grounds. The Clintons later resorted to planting a small vegetable garden on the roof of the building, where produce was grown and used for cooking. ==Michelle Obama's vegetable garden==

The Obamas planted an L-shaped vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House on March 20, 2009, by the mansion's tennis courts visible from E Street. The vegetables grown included arugula (rocket), cilantro (coriander), tomatillo, hot peppers, spinach, chard, collards, black kale, berries and lettuce, 25 heirloom seeds and 10 herbs such as anise hyssop and Thai basil, and former presidents' favorite produce plants, such as Thomas Jefferson's preferred "Brown Dutch and Tennis Ball lettuce, Prickly Seed spinach and Savoy cabbage". Beets were not grown because President Obama did not like them. The contributing gardeners responsible for the early stages of the garden included the first lady herself, White House horticulturist Dale Haney, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a team of chefs, and fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington. Mrs. Obama, who had no prior experience in gardening, was motivated to start a garden to get more fruits and vegetables for the diets of her daughters Malia and Sasha, which would sometimes consist of dining out three times a week with occasional sandwiches for dinner, as well as to encourage Americans to increase healthy food choices, and educate children about the benefits of locally grown produce. The fertilizers used in the plot were made with "White House compost, crab meal from the Chesapeake Bay, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs." This idea was further satirized on The Daily Show by Jon Stewart, on which Jeff Stier of the pro-industry American Council of Science and Health stated that it was irresponsible to eat organic, locally grown food because not everyone could afford it. Continuation under Melania Trump and Jill Biden After Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Barack Obama publicly worried about Michelle's garden being dug up, and conservative pundit Ann Coulter suggested it become a putting green. However, First Lady Melania Trump continued to maintain the garden, personally working on it with members of the Boys and Girls Club in 2017, and using vegetables from it for her first state dinner in 2018. The garden lived on into the Biden administration in 2021, when First Lady Jill Biden sent vegetables from it to Michelle Obama. ==References==