A Garden at the White House

The first day of Spring was last Friday, March 20th. It was also the day that First Lady Michelle Obama and a group of D.C. schoolchildren broke ground on the new (yet returning) White House vegetable garden or, as some have been calling it, 'America's Garden'.

I first heard mention of a garden at the White House in the Alice Waters biography 'Alice Waters And Chez Panisse' by Thomas McNamee. Apparently she and the Clintons were quite chummy -- Bill had eaten at Chez Panisse, Alice's Berkeley restaurant, a few times and was quite impressed. Based on their connection, she began a letter writing campaign trying to get the President to plant a vegetable and fruit garden on the White House lawn. Her efforts came to naught, the Bush administration came to power, and the idea sat fallow until the Obamas arrived.

My first reaction to the idea was that it was elitist and beneath the dignity of the White House, and the President, to have carrots and spinach poking out of the South Lawn. After all, less than 1oo miles away, there is surely local, organic produce that can be delivered to the White House within a few hours. But as I came to understand, the garden is not just food for the First Family; it’s a symbolic gesture, to show the rest of us that we too can be self-sustaining. And this is always a good thing, no matter what the current economic vicissitudes. Alice should be proud, her patience and doggedness finally paid off.

Gardens have a long history at the White House especially in the early days when they were planted to feed its occupants. The last vegetable garden planted at the White House was a Victory Garden that Eleanor Roosevelt planted in 1943 as part of the war effort. She planted it as an example to encourage the nation to plant their own Victory Gardens. The result worked prodigiously: In 1943 there were 20 million Victory Gardens in the country, and the produce they generated accounted for 1/3 of all vegetables eaten that year.

In my travels around the blogosphere I have read about a chef in Washington state who is turning her front yard into a garden in hopes that the neighbors will contribute to and take from it; and a man in Boulder, Colorado who convinced several neighbors that they should all plant gardens in their front yards and share the bounty. Those are two of many stories out there. There seems to be a ‘get-back-to-the-garden’ movement afoot with our new President leading the way.

Final comment: Alice wasn’t alone in persuading the Obamas to plant America’s Garden. Roger Doiron started his own campaign called Eat The View on February 6, 2008. He and his supporters had a big hand in making the First Garden happen. Michael Pollan writer of ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto’ and ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals’ put a call out for a White House Farmer in November 2008 by writing to President-elect Obama in a New York Times article. These are only a few. There are other heroes of the movement out there as well.

Happy Gardening!

The Local Report - Locali

3.7 miles, about 8 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

Another ‘local’ find is Locali Conscious Convenience – a sort of ‘green,’ organic convenience store, or, as they call themselves on their website, ‘your sustainable neighborhood market’. Several blog postings and articles already written have called it ‘a 7-11 for hippies’ and ‘a small-format, hybrid grocery and convenience store’. The reference to 7-11 was something that came to mind as Robert and I visited the store this past weekend. It felt like a ‘green’ 7-11. An idea that appeals. I immediately had visions of more of these stores on neighborhood corners around the country. I believe that is the intention of husband and wife owners, Greg Horos and Melissa Rosen.

Here is a description from Locali’s Facebook page: ‘Locali was constructed in an environmentally sound manner and serves local, organic, natural and most importantly, delicious food and beverages. The market seeks to make healthy eating and eco-friendly necessities easily accessible to those on the go. Roughly translated from Italian, locali means "community".

It’s a bold idea that I hope succeeds. The shop on Hollywood’s' Franklin Avenue is in a small strip mall, a block away from a Gelson’s grocery store. The tiny space is chock full of green, organic, sustainable items. Once inside the store the feeling I had was much like entering a 7-11 – that of sensory overload. But not in the way I experience a 7-11 which is a desire to get in and out as fast as possible. After we ordered sandwiches I perused the shelves. In the back a freezer contained pre-packaged, frozen, organic chicken and beef selections amongst other frozen grocery and food items – easy to grab on the drive home from work. Prepackaged sandwiches, salads, bottled drinks and other grab-and-go items sat in a refrigerated case along one wall. Other shelves held other convenience store standbys: energy efficient light bulbs, alternative shampoos and toothpastes, as well as energy-saver kits. Near the front window was a small collection of organic wine, beer and sake.

At the main counter you can order off a menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner items including seasonal, organic tamales from La Guera Tamalera, and Haute Dogs on Multigrain Buns – grass-fed beef hotdogs from Let’s Be Frank. Other convenience store-style items include low glycemic sno-cones; slushies made from agave sweetened, ginger infused, fruit juice; fair trade, organic coffee from The Coffee Cellar; as well as natural and locally made bakery items. They will also make menu items vegan and gluten-free. The sandwich menu states that their deli meats come from Applegate Farms and are antibiotic, hormone, gluten and casein free.

When our sandwiches were done – a Franklin Phenomenon (turkey, Monterey jack, spinach, tomato, red onion, and chipotle sauce served hot on pretzel bread) for me ($8.95) and a Peaceful Warrior (turkey, red onion, arugula, red pepper, mango chutney, curry spread on pretzel bread) for Robert ($8.95) – I grabbed a bag of Boulder Canyon Kettle Cooked Potato Chips ($1.29) and went to the grab-and-go case for a bottle of water. I have to admit that I was flummoxed by the offerings. I didn’t see any plastic in the case. I had to ask the person at the counter where the water was and he pointed to a row of glass bottles. I sheepishly grabbed a bottle of Mountain Valley Spring Water – a lovely green, glass bottle ($1.59). I quickly realized that I needed to break my plastic habit while fully appreciating that there were no plastic bottles for sale. Green and sustainable just like they claim.

As I absorbed all of this I found myself wishing there was a Locali on a corner near my Atwater Village condo – if there was I’d be in it all the time. And just think how much thinner and healthier the citizens of our country might be if there was one Locali for every 7-11 type convenience store already in existence across the country. One can dream.

www.localiyours.com

Follow on Twitter: locali

Locali
5825 Franklin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-466-1360

The Local Report - Delilah Bakery

5.1 miles, about 10 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

A few weeks back Robert, in his travels on the Internet, saw a write up about cupcakes in the Los Angeles Times. In the piece it mentioned Delilah Bakery located in Echo Park – very near to us. So Robert and I along with our friend Vladimir ventured over to check it out – cupcakes being the draw. Delilah Bakery is located on Echo Park Ave. where it becomes a canyon, before leading up and over a hill towards the 2 and 5 freeways. It’s a charming if slightly Bohemian neighborhood full of creative types; artists, writers, actors. Several years back a friend and I went to a gallery crawl on the block down from Delilah. The few art galleries along the block stayed open one night, offering wine, cheese and art for sale. We roamed between the galleries, drinking wine and admiring (or not) the art. A fun evening in a funky neighborhood.

Delilah offers all manner of baked goods including cupcakes, cakes, pies, cookies, bars, muffins and bread. The storefront is small and feels like a bakery more than a café although they do offer a selection of lunch items – fresh-made sandwiches, salads, quiches, homemade potato chips. There are tables outside on the sidewalk and adjacent small brick patio where you can sit and enjoy the offerings. Standing at the counter you readily see the commercial ovens, mixers and other paraphernalia of a professional bakery.

We ordered sandwiches, coffees and two cupcakes and sat outside in the sun to eat them. I was impressed with the way they made a regular coffee. It wasn't already brewed sitting in one of those large holding tanks that most coffee places use. The young woman behind the counter made each cup fresh by putting a coffee filter into a basket, adding fresh grounds and running boiling water through them. It made for a very different tasting coffee. The way coffee should taste. The way it tastes at home when properly made. Not too hot nor bitter the way Starbuck's coffee always tastes. The sandwiches, made on Delilah bread, were simple but tasty. The cupcakes – one German chocolate and one red velvet were the perfect ending to our meal.

As the Los Angeles Times piece mentions, the bakery sells to other establishments such as Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Silver Lake. They also offer catering. The shop’s website implies that the owner, Genevieve Ostrander, is from the South. That might explain Bundt cakes with names like Coca Cola Cake and 7-Up Cake; as well as cupcakes like Chocolate with Jack Daniel’s Frosting, and the Pecan Bourbon, and Pumpkin Bourbon pies.

Whatever the influence may be, she has a good thing going. Next time I plan to try the Chocolate with Smore Frosting cupcakes and maybe a piece of the Tollhouse Cookie pie.

Delilah Bakery
1665 Echo Park Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-975-9400

www.delilahbakery.com

Photo Credit: Vladimir Ballesteros-Moreno