Michelle's Garden is Tainted

[OCNaturalDoc]

"New homes are full of questions and possibilities. What color to paint the walls? How to arrange the furniture? What to plant in the garden? The Obama family must have asked a lot of those same questions when they moved into the White House. However, the first lady's dreams of growing an organic vegetable garden have been dragged down by a previous resident that refuses to leave: sludge.
Various sources within the Buzz are reporting that Michelle Obama's "organic" garden has been besieged by icky goo in the ground. As a result, the veggies aren't quite what the first lady had in mind. According to Daily Finance, the National Park Service tested the soil in the vegetable patch and found "highly elevated levels of lead" due to sewage used as fertilizer.

So the question is: Who to blame? While dumping sewage into the ground sounds like a crime worthy of Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons," the actual perpetrators were none other than the Clintons. Yep, back when Bill and Hillary were living it up in the White House, their gardening team used "sewage sludge for fertilizer." The fiends!

Sounds gross, but it's actually fairly common. However, it does mean that the highly touted "organic garden" will never "attain organic status." The certification process doesn't allow "the use of sludge as a fertilizer substitute." And there's another problem: If Malia and Sasha weren't into eating their veggies before, it's going to be that much harder to get 'em to eat 'em now."

Source: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92869?fp=1

Here's a clip from Arlo Guthrie's PBS show to lighten the mood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QTj45cTB4U&feature=related
I would have posted Pete Seeger's vid, but Arlo's resolution was better.....and he's hilarious! Remember "Alice's Restaurant"?

Since the subject of Michelle Obama's organic garden came up the other day while we discussing her staff, (http://teebeedee.ning.com/profiles/blogs/recession-depression-what), I felt obligated to post today's news report. It's too bad the organic garden' soil is tainted. USDA organic certification standards won't allow for planting organic, but she can continue to plant and harvest conventionally grown produce because sludge is part of what they use to fertilize what's in your grocery store (unless it's organically grown). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification
The thing that chaps my behind is that they're blaming the Clinton's! Ummm...how about a valid soil inspection PRIOR to planting? If Michelle didn't have a handle on this, you'd think one of her 20+ highly paid personal employees and assistants-to-the-assistants could have circumvented this unfortunate event since the "responsible parties" missed this crucial detail.

The problem arose due to irresponsibility...or lack of education. Michelle's sympathizers will say, "Oh, she didn't know". Exactly. So, call an expert. It's not like this country is hurting for people who specialize in organic gardening...and I'm willing to bet, one of those experts would have loved to have had the opportunity to ensure it was done correctly and may have even needed the work. Michelle could have basked in the glory of her wholesome beets and cucumbers...and her daughters would have been able to enjoy freshly picked produce and talk about it all day long at school. Imagine what those kids are thinking now? One report said they didn't like vegetables in the first place.

The thing is, no one expected Michelle to know all about organic farming/planting/growing, but when educating children, it's important to have your ducks in a row. Come prepared. Know your subject. Be the example. Part of educating children is teaching them to call on experts for help and guidance with subjects that are not 'our area' of expertise. It makes learning more interesting, too. Remember school assemblies and the guest speaker came in and spoke? It gave us a break from the classroom routine.

This is a great opportunity for Michelle to spearhead an organic victory garden initiative in Washington DC neighborhoods, and have it ripple out to other urban communities. I know NYC and Boston already have victory gardens. So grow more. It might take the sting (stink) out of the story and would make a wonderful statement to the people and be a wonderful example for her girls....and have those minions earn their keep (that we're playing for).