The Hill, 2008 - Hoover Library - McDaniel College

insights__celebrating
the "aha!" in learning
A Capital Idea That Just
Might Take Root
BY KIM ASCH
"If we can grow food on the roof of a bus
going 60 mph down the highway, then the
president can do it in his backyard."
That's Casey Cusrowarow '02 talking from the
souped-up school bus that has become home to him
and his Peace Corps pal, Daniel Bowman Simon.
Since August they've zig-zagged across the country,
logging thousands of miles while growing broccoli,
salad greens, beets and other vegetables on their rooftop
garden. At each stop, they visit schools, food
pantries, farmers' markets and festivals to sow the
seeds of a grassroots movement, dubbed The Who-
Farm, or The White House Organic Farm Project.
"The Who Farm is a nonpartisan, petition-based initiative
to respectfully request that our 44th president
oversee the planting an organic farm on the grounds
of
of the White House," Gustowarow says by phone during
a stop in Austin, Texas, five weeks before election
day. "We're trying to inspire our next leader, be it a
Democrat or a Republican, to lead by example when it
comes to changing the way this country eats."
And change is required, Gustowarow says. The current
system exacts too heavy a toll on the environment,
dependence on pesticides and fertilizers for
with its
production and on fossil fuel for distribution. Rising
childhood-obesity rates indicate an abundance of
cheap calories, not necessarily nutritious foods.
but
And incidents of contamination pose even more immediate
threats to the nation's health.
"Local organic farming is a critical element to sustainable
healthy living, food security, youth education
and climate-change mitigation," he concludes. "The
White House Organic Farm will reconnect the office of
the presidency to the self-sufficient agricultural roots
of America's founding fathers."
There is precedent for their request, Gustowarow
points out. When John Adams took up residence in the
White House in 1800, one of his first additions was a
vegetable garden. Eleanor Roosevelt in 1943 helped
start a Victory Garden movement to reduce the pressure
o~.the public food supply during World War II.
I~ addition to the White House garden, nearly 20 milhan
Americans planted gardens in their own backyar~s
and on the rooftops of apartment buildings, produ~mg
up to 40 percent of all the vegetables consumed
nationally.
Gustowarow, a biology major, says he would like to
see similar momentum for The WhoFarm project. He
has worked in coastal resource management as a Peace
Corps volunteer in the Philippines and on the Ivy
~rand Organic Farm in Maryland. He's also taught part
time at McDaniel and led a Jan Term course in the
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The
Hill