New administration supports local and organic agriculture

UPDATE

Sam Kass, who has been cooking for the Obama family for several years, is moving to the White to continue feeding them healthy organic food. He will be working with chef Cristeta Comerford, who is the head chef, apparently.

This is according to a NYTimes blog entry Obamas Bring Their Chicago Chef to the White House

Mr. Kass's appointment signals changes at the White House that should please chefs like Alice Waters, who have lobbied the Obamas to set an example for the rest of the country by emphasizing food that is healthy, local and sustainable. It further suggests that a vegetable garden on the White House grounds, another of Ms. Waters' dreams, could be on the horizon.

This is seen as good news for local, wholesome, organic food. The orginal post follows and gives some background on President Obama's vision for food.

In her Health.com article, Julie Upton, RD, talks about how the Obama family, and the President himself may help both the health of our country and the local and organic agriculture movement. She writes in
4 Ways Barack Obama Can Change the Way Our Country Eats that

Both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have expressed their desire to support legislation in favor of local and organic agriculture. Obama frequently mentions his appreciation of reform-minded food writer Michael Pollan, reports the New York Times, and wife Michelle has said she tries to buy organic when she can.

She joins other writers who are supporting that healthier food can be inspired from the top down. Michael Pollan clearly puts forth a way that we can change what we do, how we eat, even how we see ourselves. Michael Pollen proposed a "Farmer in Chief" in his New York Times blog The Food Issue: Farmer in Chief, discusses how we got to where we are with our food supply.

Others are advocating a portion of the grounds of the White House be turned into an organic garden.

Back in December, (December 23, 2008) Kim Severson listed what many people want to see happen in the new year in her article Is a New Food Policy on Obama’s List?

This is not simple wishful thinking. For the first time in nearly 40 years, we have a President with a rural agenda and policy. Read it. It is not all you may hope for, but it is radically different from anything we have seen in since Nixon. Plank after planK clearly spells out the Obama Administration's policies, such as this:

Encourage Organic and Local Agriculture: Help organic farmers afford to certify their crops and reform crop insurance to not penalize organic farmers. Promote regional food systems.

Those few of us who are in the forefront of healthy eating need to support and push this agenda. While you may find parts in it that are not perfect, support of all of it is essential to making sure that we have a place from which make adjustments. As Kim Severson said as she concluded her article,

“It’s like the hat manufacturers being furious because J. F. K. didn’t wear a hat, and suddenly everyone in America stopped wearing hats,” she said. “It’s that simple.”

Afterword: If you read these articles, look at the comments. There you will read the opponents of President Obama and his policies. Please consider writing comments in support of the articles (if you truly can make them) because the negativity to such ideas seems very strong and often stated.