FOOD INDEPENDENCE DAY CHALLENGE

In the latest Kitchen Gardeners International newsletter, Roger D. is initiating another innovative challenge, after the success of the Eat the View campaign which succeeded in getting the Obamas to start an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn.....

..... I am happy to announce our next little campaign: "Food Independence Day." .....   This coming July 4th holiday, we're asking America's 50 governors and first families to declare their food independence by sourcing the ingredients of their holiday meals as locally, deliciously and sustainably as possible.   To spur them on, we've set up a petition (here for Facebook users and here for everyone else) where you can add your own John Hancock. We've also got a shiny new widget which you can add to your blog or social network or e-mail to your e-mail contacts (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, aol, etc.)  As with our Eat the View campaign, the success of this effort will depend on the number of people we can rally to the cause, so please shout it from the rooftops.

Mindful of avoiding a US-centric view of the world,  I'd like to invite our gardening friends from other countries to embrace the idea of Food Independence Day in their own ways and according to their own timetable. Below are some of the countries celebrating their own independence day holidays between now and the end of July.

May 15: Paraguay
May 20: East Timor
May 25: Jordan, Montenegro
May 26: Guyana
June 12: Philippines
June 17: Iceland
June 25: Mozambique
June 26: Madagascar
June 30: Democratic Republic of the Congo
July 1: Berundi, Rwanda
July 3: Belarus
July 5: Algeria, Cape Verde Islands, Venezuela
July 7: Solomon Islands
July 6: Malawi
July 9: Argentina
July 12: São Tomé and Príncipe
July 21: Belgium
July 28: Peru
July 30: Vanuatu

While the dates and places are different, the struggle for independence, political and edible, is universal, so let's join one another in solidarity and savor our independence this spring and summer!

Roger Doiron

PS: Do you have a comment on Food Independence Day, this newsletter, or anything else? You can do so on my profile page. That's what our social network is for!