Thank Family Farmers Michelle and Barack for Vegetarian State Dinner

As the Thank a Farmer® marketing campaign gets play on the usual industrial ag propaganda sites, I notice no grateful mention of the efforts of new urban farmers Michelle and Barack Obama, who've been returning land to productivity in a tough Washington DC neighborhood. The Obamas' microfarm has been feeding schoolkids and sparking a surge in interest in gardening and the kind of do-it-yourself spirit that would make our forebears proud.

And now, the Obamas' arugula is helping promote world peace. Michelle's garden greens were on the menu at the first White House vegetarian state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister and respecter of cows Manmohan Singh. The menu included arugula and herbs from the South Lawn, as well as pears poached in honey from the White House beehive. (But no whirled peas... just chick peas. More glittering state dinner details at Obama Foodorama.) As the New York Times reports, the dinner was a lovely outdoor affair emphasizing some of the Obamas' "favorite themes, including bipartisanship, diversity and a focus on healthy meals."

Healthy meals. Vegetarian menu. Somewhere the Farm Bureau propaganda machine is revving up to belch some more smoke.

Thank you, small farmers and gardeners, for working for health and local self-sufficiency.