American Grown
The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America
1 of 1 copy available
Early in her tenure as First Lady, despite being a novice gardener, Michelle Obama planted a kitchen garden on the White House’s South Lawn. To her delight, she watched as fresh vegetables, fruit, and herbs sprouted from the ground. Soon the White House Kitchen Garden inspired a new conversation all across the country about the food we feed our families and the impact it has on the nutrition and well-being of our children.
In American Grown, Mrs. Obama invites you inside the White House Kitchen Garden, from the first planting to the satisfaction of the seasonal harvest. She reveals her early worries and struggles—would the new plants even grow?—and her joy as lettuce, corn, tomatoes, collards and kale, sweet potatoes and rhubarb flourished in the freshly tilled soil. She shares the stories of other gardens that have moved and inspired her on her journey across the nation. And she offers what she learned about planting your own backyard, school, or community garden.
American Grown features:
• a behind-the-scenes look at every season of the garden’s growth
• unique recipes created by White House chefs
• a fascinating history of community gardens in the United States
From a modern-day vegetable truck that brings fresh produce to underserved communities in Chicago, to Houston office workers who make the sidewalk bloom, to a New York City school that created a scented garden for the visually impaired, to a garden in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that devotes its entire harvest to those less fortunate, American Grown isn’t just the story of a single garden. It’s a celebration of the bounty of our nation and a reminder of what we can all grow together.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
May 29, 2012 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780449808597
- File size: 119349 KB
- Duration: 04:08:38
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Michelle Obama's familiar warm voice is the first one listeners hear in this family-friendly story of the White House kitchen garden. It's part history lesson, part tie-in to the First Lady's ÒLet's Move!Ó initiative, and it includes everything from behind-the-scenes anecdotes about life in the White House to instructions for starting a vegetable garden at home. Testimonials from contributors such as local farmer Jim Crawford and beekeeper Charlie Brandts are appealing and sincere, and hearing a fifth-grader read his essay about his day at the garden will make listeners' hearts grow three sizes. The abridgment mostly works--listeners won't know what they're missing--but it's a shame none of the photographs from the hardcover edition were included. The true value of AMERICAN GROWN, though, is the springboard it provides for conversations with kids about where our food comes from. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine -
July 9, 2012
In her well-intentioned first book, First Lady Obama presents the semi-organized tale of the White House Kitchen Garden. Shortly after her husband assumed office, Obama and a class of fifth-graders broke ground on the first food-producing garden since Eleanor Roosevelt's WWII-era "victory garden." Here, Obama details the evolution of the current 1,100 square foot patch, and expands her story to touch on community gardens, farmers' markets, the importance of the availability of fresh foods, and her "Let's Move!" initiative to fight childhood obesity. Organized according to the four seasons, Obama concludes each chapter with timely recipes, including spinach pie, a corn soup to go with freshly harvested summer veggies, linguine with a savory mushroom bacon sauce, and white chocolate-cherry-carrot cookies for a sweet wintry treat. In addition to these "highlights," 40 pages of season-specific recipes are included. Though narrative structure is not Obama's forte (she frequently pauses mid-story to offer tips for home gardeners and advice on how to build a better lunch), this is nevertheless an eye-catching and engaging book. Those looking for a linear story will likely be frustrated, but folks interested in fresh, local food; Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign; and life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will find plenty to enjoy here. Photos.
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