I’m loving that this site — White House Farmer — has been established to help answer the call of Michael Pollen, who urged then-President-elect Barack Obama to appoint a First Farmer.
The idea would be that this sustainable-loving, eco-friendly, progressive idealist would plow a few acres on the White House lawn and show the world how it can and should be done.
There are 49 nominees so far for First Farmer, including some of my heroes: Will Allen, of Growing Power; Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farms; and John Peterson, of Angelic Organics.
I’d be more than happy to throw my support behind any one of these fine farmers.
But I’m going to make my own nomination:
Terry Himelick and the crew of Victory Acres in Upland, Ind.
The Himelick Farm, est. in 1893, has been around for six generations and has turned into a successful CSA. But this is no ordinary CSA. In addition to organic herbs, veggies, flowers and pasture-fed meats, it serves a much broader purpose and more Holy mission on its 114 acres.
Victory Acres is part of Victory Inner-city Ministries, a not-for-profit with the aim of providing healthy work and healthy food for inner-city Indianapolis residents.
I’m not just biased because my family works on the farm and gets a share of bounty.
I am truly in awe of the work and agri-experimentation I see being done there.
In the photo I attached, the folks from Victory Acres are working on a well driller that can be used in third-world countries to provide clean water to entire villages.
So…my vote definitely goes to Victory Acres.
A special thanks to the folks who alerted me to the site. I received notes today from the most likely and unlikely sources.
Update: I submitted my nomination, but it’ll take 24-48 hours, if it’s accepted, before it appears on the site.
Virtual Farmgirl 