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| Michelle Obama's American Grown: the book, like the garden, too manicured | Michelle Obama's American Grown: the book, like the garden, too manicured |
| (10 months later) | |
| Too late for spring planting, but nicely timed for the campaign season comes Michelle Obama's new book: American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America. | Too late for spring planting, but nicely timed for the campaign season comes Michelle Obama's new book: American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America. |
| The book is embargoed until Tuesday, but the local bookstore happily sold me a copy last week – though the sting of the $30 cover price (plus tax) slightly took the edge off the thrill of getting the tome early. What did I get for my money? A highly-glossed, over-packaged book about planting good old American values, positioning the first lady as nourisher and nurturer as she heads off round the country in support of her husband. | The book is embargoed until Tuesday, but the local bookstore happily sold me a copy last week – though the sting of the $30 cover price (plus tax) slightly took the edge off the thrill of getting the tome early. What did I get for my money? A highly-glossed, over-packaged book about planting good old American values, positioning the first lady as nourisher and nurturer as she heads off round the country in support of her husband. |
| Flotus now is first gardener – albeit a meticulously well-groomed and polished one. I spent a considerable amount of time going through the book peering at shiny pictures of Michelle Obama's manicured fingernails trying to find some dirt under them. Try as I might, I couldn't spot a speck. | Flotus now is first gardener – albeit a meticulously well-groomed and polished one. I spent a considerable amount of time going through the book peering at shiny pictures of Michelle Obama's manicured fingernails trying to find some dirt under them. Try as I might, I couldn't spot a speck. |
| This book is gardening as photo-op; as such, it's a little stomach-churning. Says the blurb: | This book is gardening as photo-op; as such, it's a little stomach-churning. Says the blurb: |
| "Mrs Obama tells the story of the White House kitchen garden, celebrates the bounty of our nation, and reminds us all of what we can grow together." | "Mrs Obama tells the story of the White House kitchen garden, celebrates the bounty of our nation, and reminds us all of what we can grow together." |
| In that sense, it's an old-fashioned project with a tried and tested formula. It was in 1943, after all, that Eleanor Roosevelt planted her second world war victory garden at the White House in a move seen as a civil morale booster. Roosevelt's garden inspired 20m gardens to be planted around the country, eventually providing almost 40% of the nation's fresh vegetables. | In that sense, it's an old-fashioned project with a tried and tested formula. It was in 1943, after all, that Eleanor Roosevelt planted her second world war victory garden at the White House in a move seen as a civil morale booster. Roosevelt's garden inspired 20m gardens to be planted around the country, eventually providing almost 40% of the nation's fresh vegetables. |
| But Obama's garden was created to address not hunger, but obesity. In February 2010, she launched Let's Move!, a nationwide initiative to address the epidemic of childhood obesity. Her aim – like Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters – was to bring healthier food into schools and communities. She wants us, as she puts it, "to build a healthier future for our next generation". | But Obama's garden was created to address not hunger, but obesity. In February 2010, she launched Let's Move!, a nationwide initiative to address the epidemic of childhood obesity. Her aim – like Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters – was to bring healthier food into schools and communities. She wants us, as she puts it, "to build a healthier future for our next generation". |
| So this is a gardening book that looks "forward", in keeping with the Obama 2012 campaign slogan. It gives the first lady a solid platform from which to address the nation. | So this is a gardening book that looks "forward", in keeping with the Obama 2012 campaign slogan. It gives the first lady a solid platform from which to address the nation. |
| Yet, she places a shaky foot on that platform. Her record as ambassador for veggies is spotty, and however much she dresses her first lady ambivalence in a brightly-coloured cardigan and cinches it tightly round her waist, it shows. For example, it might be an idea next time she appears on The View as an advocate for healthy breakfast, not to say "my protein is bacon", or to describe her family as "bacon people". Along the same lines, she might tell her husband to skip the bit in their love story that goes: | Yet, she places a shaky foot on that platform. Her record as ambassador for veggies is spotty, and however much she dresses her first lady ambivalence in a brightly-coloured cardigan and cinches it tightly round her waist, it shows. For example, it might be an idea next time she appears on The View as an advocate for healthy breakfast, not to say "my protein is bacon", or to describe her family as "bacon people". Along the same lines, she might tell her husband to skip the bit in their love story that goes: |
"I took her to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, and that sealed the deal." | "I took her to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, and that sealed the deal." |
| It's easy to be cynical about this whole gardening/publishing/first lady campaign enterprise. What makes it harder to swallow, however, is Obama's obvious iffiness about it all. It's so transparent that it was parodied in last week's episode of Veep when Julia-Louis Dreyfus, as the female vice-president, is told about her next assignment. It prompts the following exchange: | It's easy to be cynical about this whole gardening/publishing/first lady campaign enterprise. What makes it harder to swallow, however, is Obama's obvious iffiness about it all. It's so transparent that it was parodied in last week's episode of Veep when Julia-Louis Dreyfus, as the female vice-president, is told about her next assignment. It prompts the following exchange: |
| "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You do not do this to me. Do not say that it is obesity. Do NOT say that to me." | "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You do not do this to me. Do not say that it is obesity. Do NOT say that to me." |
| "It is obesity. I'm sorry ma'am, but you have drawn the fat straw." | "It is obesity. I'm sorry ma'am, but you have drawn the fat straw." |
| "You want to know the secret to keeping weight off? Shut your fucking pie hole, how about that? It's not rocket science." | "You want to know the secret to keeping weight off? Shut your fucking pie hole, how about that? It's not rocket science." |
| If the book lacks soul, it's because the first lady's heart isn't in it: she doesn't adore being first spouse and that's sad. She's no cook, she has said. She "grows" food for chefs to cook for her to eat at the White House table, but what she really enjoys is a night out with the girls. You can sense her restlessness and see it in the book's pages, where the most animated pictures of her show her dancing, hula-hooping and running. | If the book lacks soul, it's because the first lady's heart isn't in it: she doesn't adore being first spouse and that's sad. She's no cook, she has said. She "grows" food for chefs to cook for her to eat at the White House table, but what she really enjoys is a night out with the girls. You can sense her restlessness and see it in the book's pages, where the most animated pictures of her show her dancing, hula-hooping and running. |
| Maybe, this first lady has a future that's more "forward" than her role in this book. I hope so. It's easy to forget her substantial background in community health affairs as you look at her posing rigidly in the backyard with her dog. There's little resemblance to the woman who spent years as the major breadwinner of her family, running the community programme at the University of Chicago hospitals. | Maybe, this first lady has a future that's more "forward" than her role in this book. I hope so. It's easy to forget her substantial background in community health affairs as you look at her posing rigidly in the backyard with her dog. There's little resemblance to the woman who spent years as the major breadwinner of her family, running the community programme at the University of Chicago hospitals. |
| It's a shame. With all that experience, we might have hoped for something a little grittier on the subject of health from a 21st-century first lady than this slick package. | It's a shame. With all that experience, we might have hoped for something a little grittier on the subject of health from a 21st-century first lady than this slick package. |
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