Announcing: Michelle Obama’s Gardening Book!
Good news! Our First Lady is now a garden writer, having penned what will no doubt be a popular book that answers all our questions about her kitchen garden (we're hoping) while encouraging readers to grow food, eat well and get moving. It'll be available from Crown Publishers in April of 2012, which happens to be a opportune time for this popular First Lady to begin a book tour. (Opportune politically, of course. And I mention that not cynically but admiringly.)
Here are some details from Crown's press release:
The book, Mrs. Obama’s first, will be issued simultaneously in print and digital editions. The print edition will be a gorgeously illustrated four-color hardcover that includes stunning photographs of the White House garden and Mrs. Obama throughout the seasons, as well as other community and school gardens from around the country. Mrs. Obama accepted no advance for the book and will donate all net or after-tax author proceeds to a charity or charities to be named later. Random House, Inc. will also make a donation to an appropriate charity to be named later.
Topics covered, selected from the press release:
- How increased access to healthy, affordable food can promote better eating habits and improve health of families and communities across America
- How Sasha and Malia were catalysts for change in The First Family's eating behavior
- Ideas and resources for readers to get involved in the movement to create community, school, and urban gardens, support local farmers’ markets, and make small lifestyle changes to achieve big health results.
Sounds great, but gardenwriting and blogging insiders are dying to know what garden writer helped write the book. We assume there was one, right?
Now for the curious, some background links – because here on GardenRant and elsewhere I've been covering the White House Garden like the paid reporter I'm definitely not:
- I agreed with Roger Doiron that it's Time to Green the View. (Dec '08)
- Here's my answer to the campaign to nominate the "White House Farmer", in which I go decidedly local (Feb '09).
- After the official announcement of the White House Kitchen Garden I reported on "Three Smarts things about the White House Veg Garden," of which hiring Sam Kass was one. (March '09)
- Enjoy a video tour of the garden with Sam Kass. (June '09)
- Here you see the gardens at the Bancroft Elementary School and meet the garden coordinator there. Bancroft fifth-graders are the First Lady's (now famous) garden assistants.
- Finally it was announced – the Real White House Gardener – and it's Jim Adams. (Nov '09)
- I made my pitch for going beyond just a kitchen garden and Greening the White House Grounds. (Dec '09). I predict we'll hear news about the whole 18 acres becoming more sustainable sometime in 2012.
- In White House Gardens I report on visiting the famous site in October of '10.
- On my own blog I reported on my visit in spring. (Apr '11)
I assume she had help, too, but it looks like the book will do good – on many fronts. That is good, too.
“Yeah!” to gardening at the Executive level. This is fabulous publicity for eating better and getting exercise at the same time. Dept. of Agriculture take note: our hard working farmers need more, more, more respect and top billing. Their health and ours depend on it. What better way to improve our farming practices than to put a very pretty lady holding luscious-looking veggies on the cover of a book? Susan, a big thank you for all the work you do to energize the gardening hoards.
Unfrigginbelievable. One term gardener as well as one term president
THE TROLL
Why yes, it would be so much better to have a moron like Perry in office and then we could just drill, drill, drill right there on the White House grounds and achieve energy independence once and for all.
Thanks Susan for getting the word out! I’ve said right along that gardening was good exercise! What better way to combine exercising ( the country seems to be overflowing with over-weight people), and eating healthy (by growing your own) I hope she promotes “organic” gardening. Going Green is another popular issue!
Now I love her even more!