A few days ago, I posted a diary about a grassroots push to change part of the White House lawn into an Organic Garden or Farm with Carrie Anne Little being chosen to be the White House Farmer.
Please check the previous diary here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Since that time there has been a huge out pouring of support and some decent media attention. Not only for Carrie Little, but for the whole concept and for all of the other people that are bringing attention to Organic Farming and Gardening.
More below...
Since the last diary, we have seen a Facebook group go up in support of Carrie Anne Little called: Friends of Carrie Anne Little for White House Farmer.
We have also seen a Facebook page go up in support of her organic farm called: Mother Earth Farm. There are some great pictures at this Facebook page, showing some of the work being done at Mother Earth Farms.
Today (Tue the 27th) Carrie Little was on two local radio stations, the first (which I have not heard) was on KOMO am1000 in Seattle, WA in the morning hours. The second was on Dave Ross's show on Kiro 710am / 97.3fm, in the 11am hour, also in Seattle, WA.
Listen here to Carrie Little's interview on Kiro with host Dave Ross. - She comes on at the 10 min mark. http://icestream.bonnint.net/...
Dave Ross also has a blog post up about Carrie Little called: Rip up the White House lawn
A nice piece was also written, by Ed Murrieta at South Sound Eats, about Carrie Little and all the good work she has done recently and over the years.
The stories of Eat The View, The White House Farmer and Carrie Little are slowly being picked up by local media and blogs across Western WA and elsewhere do a Google Search to see for yourself and then please help spread the word. With your help, we can make this a reality.
So I ask you once again, please help support these good causes and also don't forget to vote for Carrie Annie Little at http://whitehousefarmer.com
Learn a little more about Carrie Little here:
http://whitehousefarmer.com/...
A direct link to the vote page is here:
http://whitehousefarmer.com/...
Please pass it on.
UPDATE 2
The following article was sent to me. It was written by by Bruce Smith and was originally printed in the Eatonville Dispatch in WA state in Dec of 2007.
Bruce Smith was kind enough to give his permission to post his article.
...............
December 14, 2007
Mother Earth Farm grows produce for Eatonville and Graham Foodbanks
By Bruce Smith, Eatonville Dispatch
In a noteworthy blend of environmental stewardship and social activism, the fresh produce given to the nearly 1,000 families who use the food banks of Eatonville and Graham is grown locally at Mother Earth Farm in Orting. The farm, a non-descript eight-acre patch tucked behind Christmas tree farms and suburban developments along SR 162, nevertheless has become a gemstone of healthy agricultural practices capable of fantastic levels of food production.
In 2007, Mother Earth Farm delivered 170,000 pounds of fresh produce to 26 food banks in Pierce County, including the massive Graham-South Hill food bank and a smaller operation in Eatonville.
"Most of what we grow are green vegetables," said Carrie Little, manager of Mother Earth Farm. "Half are lettuces and salad greens, the other half are veggies for cooking, such as kales, cabbage and collard greens."
Mother Earth grows exclusively for the food banks of Pierce County, and provides virtually all of the fresh green produce in the system, thus playing a critical role in offering nutritional balance to the hungry.
Mother Earth Farm was born in 2000 through the efforts of the Emergency Food Network, the lead agency in delivering food to the needy in Pierce County, and Doreen Johnson, the former owner of the land and a long-time environmental activist. EFN now owns the land through an agreement with the Pierce County Conservation District, which procured the funds via federal salmon restoration funding.
Historically, area food banks have been relatively well-supplied with Washington’s top three crops: potatoes, onions and apples; and the acute need for fresh produce led Johnson and EFN to join forces. After creating the organizational structure needed to support large scale food production, they invited Little, a Hilltop community activist and promoter of urban agriculture, to run the farm. Their joint venture has been so successful the County has just offered them the use of another 20 acre parcel in Orting.
Many more volunteers and increased funding will be needed to run the newly expanded operations. Little sees expanding the scope of the operation to include road-side farm stands, and establishing Community Supported Agricultural grants whereby individuals can buy shares of the crop and get weekly deliveries of whatever is in season. This way, the farm can raise cash and more people can receive fresh organic produce.
Currently, Mother Earth Farm requires the services of 800 volunteers.
"My best workers are the crews who come from the women’s prison in Purdy," said Little. "They are out here every Monday through Thursday, working ten hour days."
Little offers her personal observation that the 45 inmates who cycle through the farm in the course of the growing season have recidivism rates much lower that the general inmate population.
"The real purpose of these farms is to connect people to their food," said Little. "Then they get better connected to the land, their lives and each other. We see these kinds of expanded positive effects with the women from Purdy. There are many more benefits here than just growing food."
Cross posted at: MyDD, ProgressiveBlue and SecuringAmerica