VegBox Recipes Blog

Well, what a night THAT was.

I couldn’t help it, I just had to stay up and watch the election results roll in.And while I watched and waited, I tried to work. I skipped back and forth between the usual array of food and eco websites and the online coverage of the votes coming in. Faster and faster I surfed, this way and that, until, mysteriously, the world of VegBox and the world of the US Presidential election had rather unexpectedly become one…

What am I talking about? I’m talking about “The White House Organic Farm Project”. In a nutshell, two major organisations (Eat the View and The White House Organic Farm Project) are running simultaneous campaigns urging the First Family to ‘be the change they want to see’ by using five acres of White House lawn for an organic fruit and vegetable garden!

Now, of all the revolutions we might expect from this particular new President, this may seem at first glance to be a frivolous one to flag on the day after US citizens voted with such passion. And yet, scratch beneath the surface, and it has substance. In his open letter to the next President in last month’s New York Times, Michael Pollen (author, columnist and activist) spoke of energy independence, climate change and the health care crisis and urged attention on the US food system. “You can’t deal with any of those three problems without dealing with the food system” was the point he was making.

And so today, Michael Pollen, the Eat the View campaign, and the White House Organic Farm Project are all hoping that President Obama will be appointing a “Farmer in Chief”, and that Barack and the family will soon enough be photographed not strolling on the lawn, but sleeves up, wellies on, picking their own… It’s not an entirely new idea, of course. According to Michael Pollen’s research, by the end of the Second World War, more than 20 million of Eleanor Roosevelt’s “Victory” Home Gardens were supplying 40 percent of produce consumed by the American people. Maybe a similar initiative today can help all of us living on what Obama describes as “a planet in peril” to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuels and help address the problems of climate change. As well as improving our own personal nutrition and helping ease the current strain on our household budgets.

So, rather unsurprisingly I’m sure, my household will be most voiciferously supporting the campaign. In fact (and yes, I know I know – but it  was 4am…) I used the online petition as an opportunity to send the new Commander In Chief some very seasonal congratulations, and assure him of a constant stream of VegBox Recipes to help his farming and kitchen staff make the best use of the veg they’ll soon be growing : )

Which got me to thinking … if they were there now, ready to bring in the daily harvest, what recipe might I offer them for their first supper at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW?

After some reflection, I doubt they could do any better than a wholesome and hearty root vegetable chilli non carne, to replenish their personal energy reserves and to provide them with strength for the road ahead.

Bon appetit, Family Obama!

What seasonal recipe would YOU have sent?