Does The First Lady Have a Fave Burger Joint? Another Visit to Good Stuff Eatery...

Second Helpings
First Lady Michelle Obama visited Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill today, with daughters Malia and Sasha, and White House staffers. Spike's now officially the founding member of the Obama Second Helpings Club, because the First Lady and a gang of staff visited Spike's joint back in May. It was the premiere visit for the Obama daughters, however. (In pic: Good Stuff)

On the menu today: Natch, the President Obama Burger, which has horseradish mayo, red onion marmalade, crumbled blue cheese and bacon. Cheeseburgers were also ordered, as were some of Good Stuff's legendary milkshakes, including vanilla, chocolate, toasted marshmallow and the Milky Way malt (butterscotch, hot fudge, malt balls, custard and whipped cream).

As Ob Fo noted during Mrs. Obama's last Good Stuff visit, Spike is no stranger to the White House. He was one of the guest chefs who demonstrated healthy cooking in the Kids Kitchen at the 2009 Easter Egg Roll. He also told Ob Fo that he's been making "secret burgers" for President Obama since Janauary; the President has been known to send Secret Service dudes over for a cheeseburger when he can't get out of the (Oval) office. Spike said he always keeps a fresh head of broccoli in his cooler, because it's not regularly on the menu, and President Obama likes his burger with a side of steamed broccoli. (in pic: Spike with White House assitant chef and Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass)

Spike's transformed what is often regarded as unhealthy food--burgers and fries--into much healthier versions at Good Stuff, and it's become a very popular hangout for Hill staffers in its first year of operation. It's also a family-run operation; his parents and sister work there. Spike's philosophy:

"'Junk food' doesn't have to be unhealthy," Spike said. "I use seasonal produce, and I'm into sustainable agriculture as much as I can practice. We use multi grain buns, there's vegetables even in the meat burgers...we have fresh fruit salsas...." The recipe Spike demonstrated for the Kids Kitchen is indicative of this; read it here. Spike rose to fame as one of the chefs on Top Chef during Season 4, but that claim to fame might be replaced by the Obama association....

Good Stuff Eatery is at 303 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington Dc, 20003. Phone: 202-543-8222. Email: Info@goodstuffeatery.com. Spike has a blog about Good Stuff stuff here.

*Cartographies of Chowbama: An interactive Google map of where the Obamas have eaten is here.

*Related: Tim Carman of Washington City Paper chats with Spike about his next restaurant project, Zack's Taverna, here.

Does The First Lady Have A Favorite Cookbook?

The UK is gaga with the news that one of their own citizens is participating in the paradigm shift at the White House. Brit newspapers are referring to cookbook writer Sally Bee as "Miracle Mom," and thrilled that she's been invited "by her new number 1 fan Michelle Obama" to cook at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and tour the White House Kitchen Garden. (Bee, in pic)

Bee is a former model and mother of three, and author of Homecook: The Secret Ingredient, a cookbook that does healthy, affordable versions of traditional Brit recipes; it also includes celeb-contributed recipes (Simon Cowell, Emma Thompson...). Bee wrote the book after suffering three heart attacks in a single week in 2004, due to a congenital heart defect. Now 41, Bee is also a trained therapist, and a spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation. Her website reports that twelve copies of her book have arrived at the White House. Hmm, one for each Cabinet Secretary...?

A little bit of the awesome gushy coverage from The Daily Express:

...determined to stay alive for the sake of her children...[Bee] turned her life around and took on a new healthy-eating plan. She used her new diet – as the basis of her new cookbook. The book quickly caught the attention of Mrs Obama...And the wife of the world’s most powerful man, US President Barack Obama, was so keen to find out more she has now invited Sally...to come and cook with her in the White House.

Mrs. Obama is certainly interested in family cooking that's both healthy and affordable, and the way the Brit press manages to make it all sound like a thriller is *awesome*: It is a triumphant tale of survival against all the odds by a British mother-of-three that has inspired US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Bee's White House visit is reportedly scheduled for next March (above: The cover of Bee's book...)

*To order the book, visit Sally Bee's website, here.

USDA Recalls Massive Amount of Ground Beef for Samonella Contamination...Strain of Salmonella is Reportedly Antibiotic Resistant

Arizona, California, Colorado & Utah received contaminated beef now involved in a Class 1 (you could die) Recall: The Food Safety and Inspection Service of USDA is recalling approximately 825,769 of ground beef from Beef Packers, Inc., a Fresno, Calif., establishment. The particular strain of Salmonella that has been identified by sampling the beef is antibiotic resistant, according to health officials, so...that's a big problem, and means anyone ill from the bug could potentially require a long hospital stay, and suffer permanent health problems. And while "Class 1 Recall" mean there's the potential for death from contaminated product, rather than, say, just the hurls & trots, the recall is still voluntary. No restaurant, market, etc. is required to turn in their product, or pull it from their shelves. This is an unfortunate policy leftover from previous administrations, and remains the case today despite big Obama admin movement in food safety, including new guidelines from President Obama's Food Safety Working Group, and the recent passage by the House of a landmark food safety bill. Production dates for the poison beef were between June 5 and June 23, so check your freezers...and look for the recalls of much more poundage in the next few weeks. Click here for all the info that's on USDA's website, including how to attempt to identify your beef. (Above: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Seblius at a stop on the Rural Tour; food safety in the US is a joint project between their departments)

The Food Safety and Inspection Service of USDA is still without an appointed leader, as Ob Fo has noted for the last few months; Secretary Vilsack has cited conflict of interest issues, among other things. It'd be good to have someone in charge at the FSIS, which oversees all meat, poultry and eggs...because the USDA is doing pretty swell in every other area.

Ob Fo On The Road With Joe: Biden's Billions For Batteries, And What It Means For The Ag Economy

The Vice President gives a speech about food and agriculture issues, without mentioning either....
Your intrepid blogger was in Detroit, Michigan today, at Vice President Joe Biden's Recovery event, which was held at NextEnergy, a nonprofit that works with businesses on research involving alternative and renewable energy. The Recovery extravaganza was held outdoors in a blisteringly hot parking lot, with absolutely no shade, but no one really noticed, because Mr. Biden was announcing a whopping $2.5 billion dollars in federal grants to develop next-generation electric vehicles and batteries. Michigan alone will receive more than $1 billion of this funding, which will be split among eleven different projects, including university research. The state is desperate for funding and jobs, and Mr. Biden got a couple of standing ovations during his remarks. The audience was about 300 strong, with tickets handed out on a first-come-first served basis. Big Three auto execs were present, and hybrid vehicles were on display. (Above: Vice President Biden in Detroit today)

Senior White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers spoke before Mr. Biden, as did Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, as well as Michigan Congressional Reps. John Conyers, Gary Peters, and John Dingell. Rep. Dingell's big victory last week in getting the House food safety bill passed is still fresh in the minds of food policy wonks, but there was no mention of it at today's event. But Rep. Dingell, who is 83, was just as spry today as he was during the food safety debates. He got a big laugh when he told Mr. Biden "You're very welcome in Michigan--especially when you're bringing money. Bring more!" (Rep. Dingell, above)

Mr. Biden alternated between being passionate and introspective during his own remarks, as he described the ways our national economy managed to fall into the toilet two years ago, and how this almost brought down the global economy. He noted that his childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania was also filled with economic ups and downs, because his father was an auto dealer. And Delaware, his current home state, has been effected dramatically by the plunge in the economy, too. "I get it," Mr. Biden said about the Michigan experience.

Mr. Biden was careful to blame the economic desperation on, er, the previous administration, as did Mr. Summers, but Mr. Biden also put the blame squarely on our manufacturing economy, for failing to pursue technological solutions for energy which are progressive, clean, renewable, and which would enable us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

"Internal combustion engines are fine," Mr. Biden said, rather pointedly to the bevy of hi-level car execs who were in attendance, "but batteries are the future!"

He then carefully explained the three-pronged approach that Recovery entails, which is the primary reason both he and President Obama were out in the field today (the President was in Elkhart, Indiana, also talking Recovery).

"People think Recovery is just about infrastructure," Mr. Biden said, "And we do have infrastructure projects...but it's far more than that." He said the first part has been Relief--with tax cuts and monetary benefits for workers. The second part is the actual recovery, when we "dig ourselves out of the hole," with projects that create jobs, such as weatherization and green roofing, etc. But Mr. Biden warned that although the economy does seem to be doing better, the Recession is not over, no matter what anyone thinks, and today's announcement is all about the part that will get us out of recession: Part three--Re-investment. By way of explaining how much further we have to go to get out of Recession, Mr. Biden said "Less bad is not good. Less bad is better but it's still not good''--a concept which seems to sound like a fairly typical Bidenism, but which was popularized over at econ blog The Big Picture. (Above, from left: Rep. Conyers, Rep. Dingell, Lawrence Summers, VP Biden, and Governor Granholm listen as Rep. Peters speaks)

Yet everyone in the crowd was nodding at Mr. Biden's explanation, because they understood exactly what Mr. Biden meant. So investing in new projects, according to Mr. Biden, is critical for ending the Recession, but these projects have to have new technology at their core, because this will create not only new jobs, but jobs that pay very well. Mr. Biden managed to work in a foodie referent when trying to describe how swell new-tech jobs can be for Michigan:

"We're talking 19,000--not jobs flipping burgers--we're talking 19,000 high-paying jobs with benefits!" Mr. Biden said.

Battery Power And The Ag Economy

But the Vice President's one line of foodie amusement was not really the reason your intrepid blogger was at Mr. Biden's event today. Although there was not another mention of food or agriculture issues, everything going on with Obama energy initiatives--and with the car industry--has a potential impact on our agriculture economy. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has become our Shadow Secretary of Energy, and the USDA has become the New Energy Department, as the admin explores biomass and corn ethanol as transitional fuels, which fall under Sec. Vilsack's domain. Though the administration's enchantment with corn ethanol seems to have died down in the last few months, it's still being pursued as a viable energy alternative, despite much evidence that it's neither sustainable environmentally nor economically (a rise in food prices has been connected to the use of corn for fuel rather than corn for food; growing corn for fuel uses a huge amount of water per crop acre, among other things). And, too, the US food economy is currently very dependent on foreign oil--because much of our food is transported around and across the nation by truck (your foreign oil food print, in action). In the future, this will be greatly reduced if food is transported by battery powered vehicle. And if we're making battery powered passenger and transport vehicles, how about battery powered tractors and tillers? The environmental impact of that kind of machinery is grave too. And there are plenty of other ag-sector uses for battery power, as well--such as for milking machines, pasteurizers, aquaculture and greenhouse operations, threshers, etc. Battery power development is an environmentally progressive use of federal funding, and a great partnership for moving towards a more sustainable ag economy.

After the event ended, the Vice President had a brief tour of the models of hybrid vehicles that were on display, and one of them was a hot red pick up truck (above). It looked to be just perfect for hauling, say, some cattle fencing or some bales of hay, or for taking some nice organic crops down to the local farmers' market. Battery power is swell for Michigan, and it could be swell for food and agriculture, too, even if Mr. Biden didn't mention it. Because after all, everything is connected....

*Photos by Obama Foodorama. Ob Fo tweeted the event; read it here.

Lots of Obama Birthday Cake--And of Course, Pie--At The White House Today...

44 turns 48...
President Obama's 48th birthday was celebrated in the Roosevelt Room at the White House this afternoon. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha were joined by more than thirty staffers in wishing the President many happy returns.

The President was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1961. This is, of course, his first White House birthday.

On the birthday menu: The multi-layer chocolate cake with the Presidential seal (above), and berry cheesecake. The President and First Lady have both gone on the record as saying White House Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses makes "dangerously good" pie, and the pie brigade was out in force. There were Huckleberry, Coconut Creme, Apple, Key Lime, and Peach pies. The President even refers to Chef Yosses as "the Crust Master."

Above: The President looks at a card made by daughter Sasha during one of his birthday celebrations at the White House, as the First Lady and Malia watch. The Birthday Pies are on the table behind the President. White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford is in the background, with The Crustmaster behind her.

Photos: Pete Souza/White House.

President Obama Gives Birthday Love--and Cupcakes--To Legendary White House Correspondent Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas is the oldest correspondent in the White House Press Corps, and today she turns 89, right alongside President Obama, who turns 48.

During today's press briefing, the President personally delivered birthday cupcakes to Ms. Thomas in the White House briefing room, a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" was sung, and he gave her a birthday kiss (above: the cupcake delivery; Press Secretary Robert Gibbs looks on, at right).

After the President left, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs commented dryly that Ms. Thomas was not pre-informed of the President's birthday visit, a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that the White House has been accused recently of telling reporters when they will be called on during press conferences.

Now a columnist for Hearst, Ms. Thompas has had an incredibly storied career as a member of the White House Press Corps. She's a path-breaking figure in DC journalism and fought for the right of women reporters to cover Washington stories on an equal basis with male reporters.

When she began covering President Kennedy, women were not allowed on the main floor of Washington’s National Press Club during major speeches by policymakers.

And it was during the Kennedy years that Ms. Thomas created a WH tradition; she'd end press conferences by saying "Thank you, Mr. President." She was the first woman ever admitted to the Gridiron Club, the invite-only press club that hosts a presidential dinner each year (President Obama took a miss on the event this year; it was the first time in decades a president had missed the dinner during his first year in office).

The very first time your intrepid blogger ever entered the White House press room, Ms. Thomas was snoozing in a chair, in the middle of the day, despite the fact that the White House was hosting a major event. But that nap had nothing to do with Ms. Thomas's age: She was surrounded by other, decades-younger pool reporters, who were doing the same thing. Pool reporters essentially live at the White House when they're on duty, and there are long gaps in the action.

*Check out Ob Fo's President Obama Birthday Cupcakes here.

*Photos: Reuters/pool

Free Obama Burgers In DC To Celebrate President's Birthday

Washington's Z Burger, which gained a lil' bit of notoriety last week when former President Bill Clinton stopped in to grab a burger, debuted its new Obama burger today in honor of the President's birthday, and was handing them out free at lunch time. The new Z Obama Burger replicates the President's burger order whenever he's gone out on a burger run: It's a double burger with American cheese, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and mustard. Z owner Peter Tabbibian told Washington Whispers that there were "probably a thousand" people lined up waiting for the burger before lunch. A slice of birthday cake was tossed in with each free, burger, too, because y'know, 44 only turns 48 once (though Z didn't make Obama burger birthday cupcakes, as your intrepid blogger did). The President was invited...but he didn't show. He was busy eating birthday pie at the White House.

McCartney's Song Dedication To The First Lady: Did He Mean Meat-Chelle, Ma Belle....?

Singer Paul McCartney dedicated the obvious song to First Lady Michelle Obama when he performed in DC at FedEx Field on Saturday. Mrs. Obama wasn't at the concert, however; she was at Camp David, pre-celebrating President Obama's 48th birthday, which is today. But your intrepid blogger is wondering if Sir Paul wasn't actually buttering up Mrs. Obama with his song dedication, in order to get her to join the Meat Free Monday campaign? The former Beatle is the celeb face of the campaign in the UK.

Here in the US, the campaign is known as Meatless Mondays, and both campaigns are as much about health as they are about reducing the impact of climate change, as well as reducing agroecology problems such as water pollution from Agri-industry. The campaigns encourage eaters to give up meat one day each week, because going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. The US campaign is led by The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, but has lots of celeb advocates here, too. And there are lots of activists and foodies in on it; cookbook author Kim O'Donnel, who recently left the Washington Post for True/Slant and Culinate, is one of the leading food writers who's been offering readers Meatless Monday recipes for years (click the link above, to get to O'Donnel's site).

In advance of McCartney's concert, PETA sent President Obama a letter [PDF] asking him to join the meatless campaign. PETA has one more reason to give up meat--and McCartney is associated with PETA, but that's almost beside the point. They're interested in change, too. In May, Dr. Robert Lawrence, Director of Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, also called on President Obama to re-institute Meatless Mondays. This is not an unprecedented move for a president; in wartime, presidents have asked the same of citizens, in order to preserve food resources for troops. We've got a different kind of war going on today, if you want to regard climate issues and human health issues in those terms...

Could Meatless Monday ever be something the White House officially gets behind, in the interest promoting a multiplicity of issues, such as health care reform, reducing preventable chronic disease--particulalry obesity--and reducing climate change? Who knows...but we are in the beginning of a major paradigm shift in food and Ag issues, aren't we? Very progressive things are going on at the White House lately...but on the other hand, meat is one of the biggest sectors of our Ag economy...and our overall economy, in general is, well, you know....pseudo-recessionary.

*Pic from Daily News/Getty

Climate Change Activists Have Birthday Gift For President Obama

There's always some kind of protest going on in front of the White House, and today, in honor of President's Obama's 48th birthday, climate change activists gathered on the sidewalk in front of the North Lawn with a special cake, balloons, and a symbolic gift for the President.

The activists carried a huge plane ticket to Copenhagen, Denmark, where December's UN Climate Change Negotiations will be held. Their fancy presidential birthday cake was made of danish pastries, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun, despite their serious subject....

Last month, when the President visited Europe for the G8, activists also used food to symbolically protest climate change. Read all about that one, here.

Happy Birthday, President Obama!

President Obama turns 48 today...many happy returns!
Your intrepid blogger thought a nice hamburger cupcake would be a swell way to celebrate the President's first birthday in the White House, given his high-profile burger runs...but then again, a nice tomato cupcake might fit better with both health care reform and the First Lady's food agenda, hmm?

The President isn't taking the day off, of course. This morning, he'll meet with Senior Advisers, then have lunch with the Senate Democratic Caucus, where health care reform, the economy, and cash for clunkers will be discussed, according to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. In the afternoon, President Obama will meet with Vice President Joe Biden, and perhaps they'll discuss tomorrow's trips--the President will travel to Elkhart, Indiana and the VP will be visiting Detroit, Michigan. Gibbs also announced, however, that the local Chuck E. Cheese has been booked...really. Not making that up....

The President's birthday horoscope:
Try your best to chill out -- even if it means walking away from a good thing -- and look for new solutions. It may take quite a while, but your innate flexibility means you can get it done!

What could this horoscope possibly be referring to? An upcoming August deadline, perhaps?

*Presidential foodie art by Obama Foodorama

Paradigm Shift at The White House: The First Lady's Food Agenda At 200 Days

An unprecedented East Wing focus on food issues is accompanied by pushback from the volatile Leadites, Mrs. Obama's own version of the Birthers. It's not going to stop the paradigm shift in food issues that has the White House Kitchen Garden at its root...
Later this week, we mark President Obama's 200th day in office, and there's been big movement for all kinds of food and agriculture issues within the administration. But perhaps the biggest shift in food policy is what's gone on in the East Wing of the White House, because although First Lady Michelle Obama's White House Kitchen Garden is just 136 days old, it's one of the most critical projects that's occurred.

On May 5, during a visit with DC school kids, Mrs. Obama was asked by one of the kids what had surprised her most about moving into the White House. The First Lady responded that she was thrilled to discover that "I can plant a garden, something as small as planting a garden, and the whole world will pay attention." Mrs. Obama was absolutely right; but in that moment no one really understood how very much attention the garden was going to receive. The White House Kitchen Garden was the beginning of an unprecedented paradigm shift in our national conversation on children's nutrition and health, on food and agriculture, on the role of cooking and nutrition education; and it's a signpost for the Obama administration's approach to these issues. Never before have we had a First Lady with a food policy agenda, and never before have we had an assistant White House chef--Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass--who has assumed a public role in nutrition and health education, and in creating that food policy agenda. And never before have we had a First Lady who actually has a "food policy team." (Above: Sam Kass)

In less than 200 days, the garden has not only been a wonderful, bounteous source of fresh produce for the White House kitchen--and for Miriam's Kitchen, a DC soup kitchen--but it really has become a national--and international-- "teachable moment." Mrs. Obama has been credited with inspiring every kind of edible garden here in America, from home to urban to school to Senior to hospital gardens, as well as Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack's People's Garden. The First Lady is being credited with a boost to seed sales and garden tools; she's even being credited with a growing national movement in canning. The First Lady is also credited with inspiring a bevy of State First Ladies to plant edible gardens, as well as inspiring some very high profile gardeners abroad--such as HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and most recently, Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Prince Charles wanted to discuss the White House Kitchen Garden when Mrs. Obama first visited the UK, and during Mrs. Obama's recent visit to Russia, the citizenry were far more interested in her role as Gardener In Chief than they were in her latest outfit. And this summer, Mrs. Obama has been the lovely public face of United We Serve, which has community garden projects--and food bank assistance--as part of the Summer of Service initiatives.

The remarks Mrs. Obama has made with the garden as a backdrop--in critical speeches in which she discussed the relationship between health care reform, reducing chronic diseases from obesity, the role of processed and fast foods, the need for better nutrition and health for children of all races and economic levels--have expanded our national conversations on the subject, which were started by the seemingly simple act of planting the garden. The First Lady's remarks have been bolstered by interviews given to the media, too, and these new conversations about health and nutrition and the way we eat are now occurring across the board, among private citizens, among community groups, among policy makers, and all over the media. The President, too, has weighed in on the need for changes in our eating habits, and for food policy reform.

The Paradigm Shift Expands
Equally important, the paradigm shift started by the planting of the garden has expanded, as Mrs. Obama and Kass, along with the rest of the East Wing food policy team, including senior advisers Melody Barnes and Jocelyn Frye, have built out the agenda to include the vitally important role of teaching cooking to children and their parents, to promote nutrition awareness and help create lifestyle balance. Mrs. Obama's food policy team has also been working with other top-level Administration officials to deal with food issues for military families, and focusing on the upcoming reauthorization of the Federal child nutrition programs. The garden has been the most visible part of this wide-ranging food policy platform; much of what has gone on with the First Lady's food agenda occurs in closed meetings, although the press does receive alerts. And more interviews are being given about what goes on, as the food policy develops.

The Garden Harvest Picnic, when Mrs. Obama, Kass, and the Bancroft Elementary School kids harvested a huge amount of crops from the garden, then cooked a celebratory meal with the crops, was actually the third part of the cooking is critical project, which will become a far larger part of the First Lady's nutrition and health platform over the next 100 days (as early as February 23, a month before the garden was planted, Mrs. Obama already had culinary students in the White House kitchen; and at the Easter Egg Roll, thousands of kids and parents watched the White House chefs--and a bevy of high profile celeb guest chefs--give cooking demonstrations). The White House is well aware of the many different studies that have identified a relationship between cooking at home and lower rates of obesity (such as this one), of the relationship of academic achievement to better nutrition, of the relationship of food access to better health for all, and all the different ways these issues need to be addressed, on a federal level, on a community level, on a personal level. This summer, child volunteers and visitors, other than the Bancroft kids, have continued to fill the White House, to cook in the kitchen and work in the garden and learn about health and nutrition. Just last week, Kass met with children at DC's Key Academy for a summer program that covered this same ground (in photo, above). Kass is also working on a recipe project to further solidify this part of the paradigm shift. Last Friday, Mrs. Obama suggested cooking dinner as a way of showing community support for military families. Food and food policy, nutrition and health are being highlighted in an interconnected, cross-platform way, in many of the public appearances the First Lady makes. It's a dramatic paradigm shift, and it's stunning.

The Garden as Cultural Touchstone
Naturally, because the White House Kitchen Garden is the part of the First Lady's food policy agenda that's the most visible, it's gotten the most attention in the culture and in the media. Whether referenced in a positive or negative way, the garden seems to be a daily object of fascination. There are so many stories in the media, now, unrelated to facts about the White House Kitchen Garden--that it's difficult to track. For instance, at the Boston Globe, a story in the travel section about following the rich history of rice cultivation in South Carolina "naturally" mentions Mrs. Obama, and her garden. Bloomberg recently suggested everyone visit New York Botanical Garden's edible project, just because the First Lady has imbued gardening with patriotism--not because the project was inspired by Mrs. Obama. Over at The Atlantic, the garden was the opening salvo in a story about the passage of last week's House food safety bill...even though the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. And in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a story about a garden planted in the back of a flat bed truck opens with a reference to Mrs. Obama's garden--even though the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other: "Michelle Obama may have a garden on the White House lawn, but film makers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney of Brooklyn have a garden in their truck."

The fact that the garden is now a touchstone in the culture, a magical object that's a point of universal reference, speaks to our need for change, and to our readiness for a new paradigm. But at the same time, the garden has also become the subject of negative fascination. There's that relentless myth of lead contamination in the garden, which like a fungus refuses to die, and which is newly coursing around the internets.

The President Has Birthers; The First Lady Has Leadites Who Play Toxic Telephone. The White House Responds Again....
In the last two weeks, the lead myth has returned with a vengeance, in stories with inflammatory headlines such as Michelle Obama's Toxic Veggie Nightmare. This, despite the fact that lead as a toxic issue in the garden has been debunked by major soil scientists, in interviews with your intrepid blogger that appeared here and on Huffington Post. We apparently live in a world that's devoid of fact checkers, because everyone who's newly writing about the "lead threat" is referencing the non-fact checked June 17 Mother Jones story about "sewage sludge lacing the White House veggie garden," which started the leadstravaganza (and these stories are appearing internationally, too; for instance in the UK's The Guardian). Mother Jones didn't check their facts about what lead levels actually mean in food gardens, and they didn't check their facts about when sewage sludge--in the form of fertilizer--may have been spread on the White House lawn (their dates are wrong, as is their assertion about the practice). And despite talking to one of the same soil scientists that Ob Fo interviewed to debunk the toxic myth, Mother Jones refused to correct their story. But why bother to correct the record? It's not as if Mother Jones is engaged in a project of journalism, or interested in facts. The new wave of Leadites are also referencing Andrew Kimbrell's Huffington Post nonsense, which also referenced the same Mother Jones piece--after the Mother Jones piece had already been debunked. It's all an extraordinary case of toxic internet telephone.

Jeff Stier is the individual who kicked off this new, latest wave of idiocy, on July 23, with Is the White House Organic Garden Toxic to Kids?, which appeared on the Forbes website. Stier is the same fellow who was very publicly and hilariously smacked down on Jon Stewart's Daily Show when he tried to claim that the White House Kitchen Garden was a public health hazard, "falling somewhere on the threat scale between five-year-olds who smoke and fourteen-year-olds who have unprotected anal sex" (no, not making that up). Stier emerged from the Daily Show video outing looking like a jerk, but that hasn't stopped him from getting in on the gardening action some more. In his latest piece in Forbes, Stier points to the fictional lead contamination of the garden to try to make a case for industrial chemicals such as Bisphenol A and pthalates, because the world is already polluted. Nope, not making that one up, either.

It's interesting to note that a lot of the yelling about the White House Kitchen Garden being contaminated is coming from people who should ostensibly be thrilled that the White House has such a high profile edible garden--people who claim an interest in sustainable agriculture, smaller and family farming, in children's nutrition and school lunches, in agroecology, in healthy eating and growing your own, etc. Greeny sites like Treehugger and Ecorazzi are going at the garden bashing. In this second round of lead myth stories, once again it's the same kind of people who are busily promoting the contamination myth the most, and who are the most invested in ignoring the facts about what lead levels actually mean, in the context of food gardening. And of course it's all tied in with self-promotion, too, or promoting one's own agenda; Andrew Kimbrell is the most high-profile of these culprits, but there are lots of people like this fellow yelling about lead, because he's trying to sell his own organic compost product. Nice. But the glee from the Leftist Foodies, masquerading as pity for the First Lady's "ruined" garden, is disconcerting: When First Lady Michelle Obama planted an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn....she hoped to...set an example of healthy eating...But Michelle's organic dream has been dashed by a nasty toxic legacy lurking in the soils....

Meantime, the White House has newly issued a statement about lead in the garden, again. Semonti Mustaphi, one of the spokespeople for the First Lady, just e-mailed Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times, with more reassurance that the White House Kitchen Garden is not producing toxic crops, and is not poisoning those who either work in the garden or eat from it. Happily, Ms. Sweet's post about this e mail is headlined White House Kitchen Garden is Completely Safe, and it's up today on AOL. This will go a long way towards further debunking the toxic myth. Unfortunately, the myth isn't going to vanish. Right now, lead in the Kitchen Garden is the equivalent of the Birthers issue for Mrs. Obama. The President's American birth has been verified again and again, but the Birthers won't believe it. The Leadites won't believe anything that's said about the garden, either.

The Happy News
With any paradigm shift, there's always pushback. There's always a period in time as the culture assimilates new information, and gets used to big change, when there's much opposition. In the first 200 days of the Obama era, we've gone through some massive upheavals, and the Birther movement is symbolic of an entrenched opposition that's looking for anything to undermine forward movement. The same thing is clearly going on with the First Lady's food agenda, though on a far more smaller scale. But the President's going to continue to be the President, no matter what the Birthers say, and Mrs. Obama's going to continue to garden, and to further shift our paradigm on food and nutrition and health consciousness, no matter what the Leadites say. The Birthers and the Leadites may well be around as background noise for the rest of the Obama Era, but neither will stop the forward movement. They'll be annoying interstices, and make for excellent inflammatory headlines...but at the end of the day, both are ineffective. We're in a transformative moment across the culture, and no amount of crazy yelling is going to change that. The paradigm shifts can't be undone, whether it's health care reform or changes in our national approach to food and nutrition. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Kass help the Bancroft kids with their own school garden)

*Photos: Mrs. Obama photos by Smantha Appleton/White House; Sam Kass photo by Obama Foodorama; Kass at Key event courtesy of Mimeo

Supporting Our Troops: The Michelle Obama Military Family Menu...With Recipes

Thanking Military Families...with dinner
On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, to welcome home the Navy crews of the USNS Comfort and USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. Since January, Mrs. Obama has made the needs of our service men and women one of her top priorities. She's visited troops, done USO community service, invited military families to the White House, and she's even met with top Admin officials about changing policies to help military families. (Above: Mrs. Obama adressing the sailors in Norfolk)

The welcome home ceremony in Norfolk focused on military families, too, whom Mrs. Obama referred to as "quiet heroes." While standing on a stage with her hair being whipped by the wind, with a huge aircraft carrier docked nearby, Mrs. Obama spoke movingly about the history of our military. She cited a recent poll by Blue Star Families, a bipartisan, non-profit military support organization, that's "a new model for civic engagement," and focused on being "the bridge between military families, the shapers of policy affecting military life, and the nation." Their poll found that most military families believe that their neighbors simply don't understand the overwhelming challenges they face when a parent or spouse is deployed. The group hopes to change this perception, and to narrow the gap between non-military and military citizens, as does Mrs. Obama.

"Providing our military and their families with the support that they deserve requires more than good government, it requires active citizens," Mrs. Obama said. "...I've made it a personal priority to ask all Americans to join the cause of supporting our military families...let us make a pledge right here today to honor their service by doing more to serve them in our own communities. Let's do simple things, like offer to help with a carpool...like bringing over dinner...be a neighbor, be a friend."

Mrs. Obama ended her remarks by vowing to "use every ounce of my power in this position to highlight the sacrifices that you make and to rally our country around you. And it won't stop today."
Afterward, Mrs. Obama greeted the seamen and their families, and met with members of Blue Star Families (in photo: Mrs. Obama with Vivian Greentree, a Blue Star member; she's holding a picture of her husband, who is currently deployed in Iraq).

It's fantastic that Mrs. Obama is calling such much-needed attention to military families, and of course your intrepid blogger loves the suggestion of making dinner. If you would like to connect with military families in your own community, check out Blue Star Families, or call the public information office at your local military installation, and see how you can get involved. And if you're going to make dinner for a military family, why not have some fun? You can use the Michelle Obama Military Menu. All the recipes were either created by the Obamas, or have been recently served at the White House. They're all fairly easy to do, and are "embroideries" on the kind of American comfort foods that have fairly wide appeal. You can mix and match among the recipes listed to create a meal with an entree, a side, and a dessert. Or if you're being really ambitious, you can include a soup course. It's just ten different recipes, but you can make a bunch of different combinations for meals, obviously. Or, y'know, just make a nice cobbler and deliver it with your thanks...you get the idea. But find a military family to support--and get cookin'.

The Michelle Obama Military Family Menu

Entrees:
*The Obama Family Chili recipe
*Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass's Harvest Picnic Baked Chicken
*White House Guest Chef Art Smith's Chicken and Dumpling Soup
*White House Guest Chef Jose Andres's Gazapacho and Tuna Salad
*White House Guest Chef Spike Mendelsohn's Turkey Burgers

Sides:
*White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford's No-Cream Creamed Spinach
*White House Guest Chef Alan Wong's Wasabi Potato Salad

Desserts:
*Mrs. Obama's Apple Cobbler
*White House Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosse's Huckleberry Cobbler

*Photo of Mrs. Obama's Cobbler, above, by Lisa, who runs the excellent blog The Cutting Edge of Ordinary. She made the cobbler after finding the recipe here at Obama Foodorama, and loved it.

*Read the full text of the First Lady's remarks here. Join Blue Star Families here. Follow them on Twitter: @BlueStarFamily or click here.

*Photos of Mrs. Obama by Steve Helber/AP.

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