A farmer for the White House

Everyone is giving President Obama advice -- whether he's asked for it or not. Previously we've reported on the campaign to plant a kitchen garden at the White House. Now there's one to hire a "White House farmer" to manage a garden and orchard on the grounds. Voting ends tomorrow.

The White House Farmer site  is a follow-up to Michael Pollan's open letter to the president-elect in October calling for the appointment of a Farmer in Chief. The sustainable food guru notes in his article in The New York Times Magazine that through a combination of circumstances, food issues will demand the new president's attention during his time in office.

After reading the article, the Brockmans, who describe themselves as a farm family in central Illinois, decided to put up the White House Farmer website.

Of course, it has no standing with the White House whatsoever. The Brockmans admit that after the voting ends tomorrow, "the top three vote-getters will be submitted to our new president." And it's not clear whether all of the nominees would accept the so-far nonexistent job if it were created and offered to them.

But the idea is getting tons of press and publicity -- 110 articles on Google News as of Friday morning, Jan. 30.  And Facebook pages have been set up to support some nominees.

The time seems right for the White House to make some nod to the local food movement, organic gardening, and growing your own food. Whether this is it, remains to be seen.

But you'll be impressed by reading the qualifications of those nominated. If you'd like to make your voice heard by voting, click here. 

(NOTE: To go to the Monitor's main gardening page -- which contains articles and blog posts on many topics -- click here.)