The fascination over who will be the Obamas’ pick for White House chef or personal barber or the lucky dog picked to keep Sasha and Malia company can be cynically cast aside as an outgrowth of our culture’s celebrity obsession.
I mean, who really cares?
Well, the choices for these minor roles in the lives of the First Family say something about who they are and what they value.
Take, for instance, their pick for chef. The Obamas actually kept on the White House executive chef. But filling a vacancy on the staff is Sam Kass, a private chef who cooked for the Obamas in Chicago. Besides bringing to the White House an intimate knowledge of what the Obamas like to eat, Kass brings attention to HIS values…healthy, fresh food from local sources. So says the New York Times and a number of other news orgs and bloggers, etc.
Buzz matters.
I suppose this is why I’m so excited that nearly 56,000 votes were cast in a grass-roots lobbying effort at White House Farmer to get the Obamas to pick a First Farmer.
As much as I’ve read about the locavore movement and small, sustainable farm operations, I have never heard of the top three vote-getters:
1. Claire Strader, Troy Community Farm, Madison, WI
2. Carrie Anne Little, Mother Earth Farm, Puyallup, WA
3. Margaret Lloyd, Home Farming, Davis, CA
They’re on my radar now.
If the Obamas take this call seriously, these and many other Farm Heroes, will be on the world’s radar, getting the attention they richly deserve.
Virtual Farmgirl 