USDA Unveils the People’s Garden
Yesterday the new Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced an initiative to create a community garden at each USDA facility worldwide. Vilsack is calling these gardens “The People’s Gardens” in honor of Abraham Lincoln who had referred to the USDA as “The People’s Department”.
Vilsack stated that these gardens will promote “green concepts” like low-water usage landscaping and using native plants. The first People’s Garden is being built on the grounds of the USDA headquarters. A stretch of pavement is going to be dug up in order for the garden to be built, which Vilsack pointed to as a way of “restoring the land back to its natural condition…”
This seems like a very significant shift in the USDA’s approach to land use, conservation and, in particular, embracing green and sustainable agriculture technologies. We at People’s Grocery are quite flattered by the choice of using “People’s” in the name. But this announcement makes no mention of the issue of food insecurity among millions of Americans or how the People’s Gardens will help address this issue, as People Grocery is trying to do. But perhaps this new initiative is a sign of positive changes to come in the USDA.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Is there a way for you to ask this question directly to the Secretary of Agriculture or better yet the Chief himself?
I’m certainly interested in knowing if there are any plans to address the issue you raise about food insecurities in our country.
Please report back to the rest of us if you find a way to get this matter addressed by Secretary Vilsack or President Obama.
I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Hello,
I am a part of a local chapter of an international organization called Architecture For Humanity. Please visit our web site www.architectureforhumanity.org, our own chapter web site I’m sure will be up and running soon, but this will give you a better idea of what the organization is about.
Anyway, the local chapter is still in its infancy stage, but we are pursuing potential projects which we could provide some of our design expertise. I had heard through the grapevine that your organization might be interested in working with us. Just thought that I could start the dialogue, why not sooner than later. Hope to hear from you, and keep up the good work. I just live over in the emeryville area, so I’ve heard about the work that you guys do just south of us. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to join one of your working parties, but I can see it happening soon.
Michael Huang
michael.huang@huanmic.com
941.538.1540
March 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Greetings Brahm,
I agree with your position on this food security matter. however, your response, ” We at Peoples Grocery are quite flattered by the choice of using People’s in the name,” appears to imply that you made up the name People’s Grocery. I ask that you educate your students, the community you serve, where the name really comes from. A brief reference for their curriculum would be from Ida B. Wells , who described in 1892, a Peoples Grocery, owned by African Americans Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart, was taking a substantial amount of business away from the grocery store owned by white residents of the town. One night, while Wells was out of town, an attack broke out ending in three white men being shot and injured. A two sided story emerged: One stating the African Americans raped a local white women and one, less heard story, of unjust acts on the black men by the whites. Without trial, Moss, McDowell, and Stewart, were brutally murdered based on the accusations of the white residents of Memphis. Ida B. Wells was appalled by the accusations because she was friends with the three men who were lynched and knew they would not rape a woman. The three men were wrongfully killed that night as they were taken from jail by a mob of white men who proceeded to take them to an open field.”
I do hope Secretary Vilsack and President Obama are using” Peoples” garden to symbolize the need for all people to, as you all say, grow “healthy food for everyone.”
Kind regards,
David Roach
Mo’ Better Food
F
March 16th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Eden was a garden not a farm. This is our garden of eden one section at a time.
Whether or not Vilsack is making up for wrong doings with Monsanto he is still responsible for the death of thousands of lives………..We must continue to use your voice and hands to plant seeds in our community.
Thank you for your participation. Meleah
March 16th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Hey David. I definitely wasn’t suggesting that we somehow invented the term “People’s”. There are lots of business, organizations and collectives that have the word People’s in their name. Here in the East Bay we have the People’s Cafe, The People’s Federal Credit Union, People’s Bazaar. And there are about 10 different People’s Groceries and People’s Food Coops located throughout the country. The word People’s belongs to… the people of course. We’re just happy to see Vilsack tapping into the spirit that embodies these various efforts.
You’re right about the People’s Grocery in Memphis that Ida B. Wells wrote about. They were definitely the o.g. People’s Grocery. We’ve been sharing that story with people since 2003. In fact, the story was read at our first fundraiser event held at Taylor Memorial Church in 2003. I wrote a blog post about that story back in December 2006. Check it out: http://peoplesgrocery.org/brahm/peoples-grocery/the-peoples-grocery-company-legacy