Grassroots movements converge on Washington to urge the Obamas to appoint the nation’s First Farmer.

It wasn’t difficult for the first family to decide on a personal chef – Sam Kass has been preparing them local and organic meals since their Chicago days.  But now that the Obama’s every morsel is up for discussion, some feel that the food eaten by the President should come from his own land.

In response, three separate organizations have sprung up, all calling for one thing:  Turn the White House lawn into farmland.

The first, called the White House Organic Farm Project is touring it’s “topsy-turvy” bus around the nation teaching the code of the green thumb.

Another group called “Eat the View,” with its 1,600+ members are all buying up virtual plots of the First Lawn as donations.

Lastly, a local Illinois farm family created WhiteHouseFarmer.com and attracted over 100 nominees for the position of First Farmer.  Out of 56,000 votes, three emerged and have been recommended directly to the President.

Get involved and visit these sites:

The WHO Farm Project

Eat the View

White House Farmer

Photo by Monroedb1.

This just in from WhiteHouseFarmer.com:

Thank you for your outpouring of support for a White House Farmer – we received nearly 56,000 votes from all across the country in just 10 days!

This amazing grassroots effort has sent a huge wave of awareness across the nation.  You have spoken loud and clear — not only to encourage the new administration to make Michael Pollan’s call for a White House Farmer a reality — but also for the larger cause that we are working toward with our farms and with our forks, delicious food grown sustainably by farmers in our communities.

We offer our congratulations to all the nominees, and to farmers across the nation who steward the land and grow good food.  You are all winners, and we are grateful for the work you do.

The top three vote-getters in this poll were:

1. Claire Strader, Troy Community Farm, Madison, WI

2. Carrie Anne Little, Mother Earth Farm, Puyallup, WA

3. Margaret Lloyd, Home Farming, Davis, CA

Congratulations, Margaret!

Scroll down for more of Margaret’s fight to farm the White House lawn.

I just got off the phone with a brilliant young woman named Margaret Lloyd.  She’s a grad student at UC Davis going for her Masters in International Agricultural Development and Plant Pathology.

Why is she so significant at this very moment?

Today, January 31st, is the FINAL DAY of her campaign to become the official White House Farmer! Margaret is one of over 100 nominees selected to till, sow, and harvest 5 prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn at the start of this year’s growing season.

Here’s Margaret in her own words:

Q: How’s the campaign going?

A:

Q: How did you become a nominee?  What kinds of things on campus have you been doing?

A:

Q: Obviously you have farming experience but have you ever had 5 acres all to yourself?  What kinds of crops do you intend to grow?

A:

Q: Do you think you’ll be able to fuel the farm with the crops you grow?

A:

Q: What other challenges are you facing going into this?

A:

Q: What do you have to say to the world in support of your campaign?

A:

Our guest has been Margaret Lloyd, grad student of International Agriculture and Plant Pathology at UC Davis and nominee for White House Farmer.

There’s only a couple hours left to vote so log onto WhiteHouseFarmer.com and vote for Margaret!