Yesterday, a Salon article reflected upon the White House garden, its harvest, and Obama’s progress in food policy. While on the campaign trail, Obama talked tough on food. (In a presidential race focused on issues including national healthcare, the war in Iraq and nuclear proliferation, talking about food policy at all is noteworthy.) However, given the pressing nature of many of the issues facing Obama, as well as the slew of recent political developments, it seems that food policy reform has fallen by the wayside. As the article states:

Obama had paid slightly more attention to food policy on the campaign trail than most other recent presidential nominees, pledging to help support small independent farmers, not massive corporate agribusinesses. Six months later, though, the garden is probably the most significant step the administration has taken toward the broad goals the campaign laid out last year.

However, the White House Garden may be more than just an empty symbol of a yet-to-be-fulfilled campaign promise. Of course, on a fundamental level, the garden has already netted positive improvements in DC by outputting over 225 pounds of produce for the White House kitchen and a local food bank. Further, by creating the White House garden, the Obamas (Michelle Obama has been the real leader in this effort) have focused national attention on the importance of local and organic produce. Just by introducing these issues into the American media and political arenas, the garden is serving to raise US awareness of healthy eating practices.

The White House garden movement has spread beyond DC. Municipal officials in several cities have planted gardens of their own on government property, and according to some, seed sales have increased since the garden was announced. The next step in Obama’s food policy is to focus on the reauthorization of the federal Child Nutrition Programs. However, now that these issues are on the table, the path is cleared for Obama to take bold strides in improving America’s food (along with America’s health and environment!).

Update: Thanks to commenter “merry”, I’ve updated the article to reflect that the White House garden is not truly “organic”; creating an organic garden according to the legal definition would require an in-depth certification process over the course of at least 3 years. However, the crops in the White House garden have been raised without fertilizer or herbicides, with a commitment to sustainable production. Perhaps by the end of Obama’s first term, the White House will sport a legally organic garden