September 2008 Newsletter
Dear Kitchen Gardener,
For
those of you who couldn't make it to our Kitchen Garden Day celebration
in Scarborough, Maine last month, the collage above gives you a little
taste of what was on the menu that day: fruits, veggies, and
wide full-mouthed grins. In case you're wondering
what mischief we were up to, we were goofing on
the McCain/Obama "carrot
picture" which has become the official image of our "Eat the View"
campaign to replant a garden on the White House lawn. The message to
the candidates is simple: we're eating the view out our windows and so should you.
The Maine gathering was one of several organized in different parts of the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. I have brought some pictures together in a slide show for those of you who want to travel vicariously to another place or hardiness zone.
The big news from KGI global headquarters (i.e. my desk) continues to be our "Eat the View" campaign. We've had bushels of press this summer and I'm going to ask you to do two simple, inexpensive things that will help propel the campaign and KGI to the next level:
1) Watch a 60 second video online
I've produced a shorter version
of our "This Lawn is Your Lawn" video and have entered
it into a
competition sponsored by Vimeo.com. They're looking for videos
that inspire the next President to take action on climate change.
Since 1/3 of the greenhouse gas emissions we create are related to the
way we produce and eat food, I think world leaders could use some
extra inspiration in that area. The finalists are being chosen on the
basis of number of views in a single day, so please watch the video
today - Friday, September 19th - and share the link! There are cash prizes which, if we were to win, would go to
support KGI. But even bigger is the "publicity prize." The top
three videos will be aired on national TV and will be sent to lawmakers
in Washington. It's a long shot for us, but worth a shot. You can
watch it by clicking the on the link above or the thumbnail picture of
me recovering from my front delawnification.
2) Make a small, symbolic donation to a large, symbolic campaign
As
some of you may have read in a previous message, we've put the White
House lawn up for sale in 1' x 1' parcels to raise awareness for our Eat
the View campaign and raise funds to keep KGI going and growing.
Yes, it's a weird idea, but crazy times call for crazy thinking.
Here's how it works. "Buyers" - regardless of their nationality - buy virtual pieces of the lawn at $10/ft2 and agree to donate their parcels back to the American people for the digging of a food garden in 2009. Proceeds from the virtual sale help KGI grow more gardens and gardeners around the world. Some of you might have questions as to whether we can really do this, why you would want to do this, what your purchase goes to support, how large a piece of lawn we'd like to sell and see converted into a garden, whether you can give a parcel as a gift in someone else's name, so ask away by clicking on the links above.
As I hope you would agree, KGI is a good cause. In the past year, we've helped groups in Africa, Asia, South America, and North America either to start or expand garden projects and have seen our network grow to over 7000 gardeners from 100 countries. Thousands of people use our free and advertising-free website every day to learn how to grow some of their own food and connect with others doing the same. Similarly, our "Eat the View" campaign has inspired thousands of people to believe that real change is in our hands, if we can manage to pull together and focus on what we have in common rather than that which separates us.
Long time subscribers to KGI's monthly newsletter know that we don't shake the money tree very hard or often. This is the one and only general funding appeal we are conducting this year, so please give what you can, even if it's just a symbolic contribution of $10 for a single 1' x 1' parcel. By participating, you're not only making a donation, but a statement and, if enough people join in, a real difference. Not bad for ten or twenty bucks.
There are three ways that you can buy your parcel(s): 1) Google Checkout 2) Facebook Causes 3) Personal check. Please click on the method that works best for you. Thanks for your support!
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Thanks for your support. KGI and our "Eat the View" campaign are not only good causes, but timely ones. With the world in the grips of intersecting food, fuel, financial and environmental crises, our work to make people and communities more food self-reliant has never been more important.
Roger Doiron
Compost-Pile-Turner-in-Chief, Kitchen Gardeners International
Seed Sower, "Eat the View" campaign