The headquarters of the White House Organic Farm Project is a yellow school bus. It has a second school bus — turned upside down — on its roof that’s filled with dirt and is growing food. This odd bus is criss-crossing the country in the hope of inspiring the next president to turn the White House lawn into a vegetable garden. Here’s the thinking behind the project, the brainchild of Daniel Bowman Simon, 28, and Casey Gustowarow, 27:
If we can show the president that we can grow some good food anywhere and everywhere against all odds — 60 miles-an-hour wind gusts along the highway; changing climate zones — one day we’re in the desert, one day we’re in the mountains — why not try it again at the White House too?
Again? That’s right, again.
Turns out during World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt turned the White House lawn into a victory garden and inspired 20 million Americans to do the same on their own land. Forty percent of the food needed during the war was grown in backyards of American homes.
Then it was patriotic to do this. Why couldn’t it be patriotic again?
That’s the key motivating question at the heart of the video and the campaign. If you want to sign a petition, click here. And if you want to cast a vote in favor of this idea in the change.org online competition for the top 10 ideas for the next president, click here. Right now, the idea is #23.
