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.

How is Twitter helping to provide clean water to developing countries?

Still fuzzy on what Twitter is? If you can express it in 140 characters, you’re ready to “tweet” yourself into the micro-blogging community some 750 thousand strong.

One thing you may find difficult to express in 140 characters, however, is the dire need for clean water in countries outside our own.  Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation cause 80% of all the sickness and disease worldwide.  So how does a seemingly trivial web gadget help this planetary plight?

On February 12th, over 100 cities will be hosting Twestivals, bringing together Twitter communities to raise money and awareness for the non-profit organization called charity:water.  All donations will directly fund costly yet vital clean water bearing systems.

Because of the power Twitter has to connect, mobilize, and inform people, these Twestivals have turned a quirky phenomenon into a force for global change.

Join the Twestival in your city by clicking on the following links:

Anaheim Asheville Atlanta Augusta Austin Baltimore Baton Rouge Boca Raton Boston Calgary Charlotte Charlottesville Chicago Cleveland College Station TX Columbia MO Columbus OH Dallas Denver Des Moines Detroit Durham Edmonton Fargo Galveston Halifax Hampton Roads VA Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Ithaca Iowa City Kansas City Kelowna Lafayette Lakewood Las Vegas Los Angeles Madison Memphis Mexico City Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Moncton Montclair Monterrey Montreal Nashville New Orleans New York Ottawa Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Raleigh Richmond VA     Rochester San Diego San Francisco San Jose Santa Barbara Savannah Seattle Somers CT South Padre Springfield Tampa Toronto Traverse City Vancouver Washington Wichita Wilmington International Cities and South America

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.

Hey Americans!

Thought it would be helpful to direct your attention to this little letter put together by some freaked out Canadians about an industrial catastrophe that will nullify Quebec’s carbon reduction efforts.

As stated, if Enbridge is allowed to implement the “Trailbreaker Plan”, increase production and supply this pipeline that ends at the marinas of Portland, Maine, the emissions and massive holes in the ground will leave a tangible and indelible scar on the planet; it will distort and disfigure life as we know it.  This is real.

Submit your attention as a concerned neighbor and read about the players and the plans below.

Good Guys:

Equiterre

Environmental Defense

Forest Ethics

Bad Guys:

Enbridge (Trailbreaker Overview)

Photo by Arkaiyen.