''American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America'' is a book by
First Lady of the United States
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
published in 2012. The book promotes healthy eating and documents the
White House Kitchen Garden through the seasons. The garden, planted in 2009 on the White House's
South Lawn
The South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., is directly south of the house and is bordered on the east by East Executive Drive and the Treasury Building, on the west by West Executive Drive and the Old Executive Office Building, and ...
, promoted the first lady's
Let's Move!
Let's Move! is a public health campaign in the United States led by First Lady Michelle Obama. The campaign aimed to reduce childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in children.
The initiative had the initially stated goal of "so ...
initiative to end childhood obesity. Journalist Lyric Winik assisted Obama in the writing of ''American Grown''. Proceeds from the book were donated to the
National Park Foundation
The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the National Park Service (NPS) and its national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 with a charge to "further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scienti ...
.
Contents
''American Grown'' is divided into four sections (one for each season) and includes color photographs of vegetables, as well as recipes, instructions for making a
compost
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...
bin, and stories about
community gardens in the United States.
The book delves into the history of gardens at the White House, including First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
's
victory garden
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I ...
and
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
's attempts to grow a four-foot-long cucumber.
Obama describes how the Kitchen Garden's Jefferson beds include a quote from the former president that is also a guiding principle for the garden: "the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another; and instead of one harvest, a continued one throughout the year."
''American Grown'' blends the first lady's personal gardening experiences with stories from the White House Kitchen Garden. Obama writes about the time in her life when she had "no idea that tomatoes didn’t come in green plastic trays, covered by cellophane, and that they could be any color other than pale red." The portion of the book devoted to the White House
beehive
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...
describes how an apple tree in the Children's Garden produced fruit for the first time in 25 years after the introduction of bees. Through her research for the book, Obama discovered that her maternal grandmother tended a community victory garden in Chicago.
Reception
A review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called Obama's book "charming and thought-provoking." Writer
Dominique Browning
Dominique Browning is an American writer and editor. From 1995 to 2007 she was the editor-in-chief of the Conde Nast shelter publication ''House & Garden''. Prior to ''House & Garden'' she worked at ''Savvy'', ''American Photographer'', ''Esqui ...
also said that the garden calls the country's attention to the connection between food quality and health.
Notes
References
*
External links
Excerpt: 'American Grown' by First Lady Michelle Obama
2012 non-fiction books
Books by Michelle Obama
Crown Publishing Group books
Gardening books
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