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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:blue'>FYI – Wouldn’t it be great if our governor, legislators, mayors,
council persons, etc. across the state would do the same?!? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090311/lf_afp/lifestyleusobamagardeningoffbeat_20090311224345;_ylt=ApdkNlM5iT36kHnLjmSZI1L1_sEF">http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090311/lf_afp/lifestyleusobamagardeningoffbeat_20090311224345;_ylt=ApdkNlM5iT36kHnLjmSZI1L1_sEF</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>WASHINGTON (AFP) – Nearly 85,000 people
have signed an online petition calling for part of the <span
class=ecyshortcuts>White House lawn</span> to be turned into a vegetable patch,
the plan's germinator said Wednesday.<br>
"The idea is for the Obama family to plant an <span class=ecyshortcuts>organic
vegetable garden</span> on part of the White House lawn, with the cultivated
veggies going to the <span class=ecyshortcuts>White House</span> kitchen and
any overflow going to feed those in need," Roger Doiron, told AFP, adding
the idea had sprouted last year.<br>
If the Obamas were to plant a garden on the White House grounds, it would have
the "inspirational potential" to spawn millions of similar gardens,
not only in the United States but around the world, Doiron predicted.<br>
Backing for the idea has come from as far away as Kenya, where farmers asked if
they could sign the petition and make a financial contribution to the cause.<br>
The <span class=ecyshortcuts>town of Kingston</span> in New York state has been
inspired by Doiron's plan to put in a vegetable garden in front of their town
hall.<br>
In Flint, Michigan, city officials have approved "a three-acre garden
smack-dab in the middle of the municipal complex," said Doiron.<br>
There may be some backing for the plan from inside the White House.<br>
"We are in touch with policy staffers from Michelle Obama's office, and
while they are not committing to anything, they are asking very good questions
and are aware of the popular support the idea has," said Doiron.<br>
"They seem to be considering it."<br>
Doiron, an <span class=ecyshortcuts>organic gardening</span> advocate who last
year harvested fresh vegetables worth 2,000 dollars from his own patch in his <span
class=ecyshortcuts>suburban garden</span> in Maine, said precedent exists for
the plan.<br>
The White House last had an "edible landscape" in 1943, when <span
class=ecyshortcuts>first lady Eleanor Roosevelt</span> planted a <span
class=ecyshortcuts>Victory Garden</span>.<br>
"It was a time of war, it was at a time of <span class=ecyshortcuts>economic
crisis</span>, and it was at a time when Americans were looking to the White
House for leadership," he said of the Roosevelt allotment.<br>
"Sound familiar?" he added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Windows
Live™: Keep your life in sync. <a
href="http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_allup_1b_explore_032009"
target="_new">Check it out.</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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