Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. This fantastic post from La Vida Locavore reprints a letter written by the Mid America CropLife Association (and their educational program CropLife Ambassador Network, or CLAN (thanks @darrinwoods)) that not so subtly reminds The Obamas about the role conventional (ie. non-organic) food production has played in the development of our country. The obvious read between the lines is: don’t grow organic, putting chemicals on your food is the better choice.
The best part is that after sending the letter to the White House, it was circulated around via email with the following note attached:
Did you hear the news? The White House is planning to have an “organic” garden on the grounds to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for the Obama’s and their guests. While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made Janet Braun, CropLife Ambassador Coordinator and I [Bonnie McCarvel] shudder. As a result, we sent a letter encouraging them to consider using crop protection products and to recognize the importance of agriculture to the entire U.S. economy….
Shudder? SHUDDER?!? Can’t you just imagine it now…Janet and Bonnie out shopping at their local farmers market…
Bonnie: Ooooh, these heirloom tomatoes look delicious.
Janet: Excuse me sir - have these tomatoes been grown with the help of crop protection products?
Vendor: Why no ma’am, everything we grow…
[Bonnie and Janet shudder violently and hurry off towards another produce stand]
Also, the “air quotes” around the term organic was particularly confusing. I suspect you used it to “drive your point across”, however the air quotes imply that the garden won’t actually be organic. If that is the case, you have no reason to write the letter in the first place. And trust me, you’ll wish you hadn’t. As of this writing, it had been retweeted more than a dozen times since the post was written (about an hour ago). If you don’t know what retweeted means, I’ll cut right to the significance: the story has already been broadcast to roughly 14,000 people.
Read the entire letter here, courtesy of La Vida Locavore.
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Between Michelle growing an organic garden and refusing to put High Fructose Corn Syrup into her children’s bodies, she is soon going to find herself as USDA public enemy number 1.
FYI, Janet Braun’s email address is janet@maca.org, if you would like to share your thoughts with her re: her letter to “Mrs” Barack Obama”.