Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow did not have a plan when they set out on a cross country trip in a funky school bus with a garden on the roof, but they did have a mission: Convince the next President of the United States to establish an organic farm at the White House.

Simon and Gustowarow met while working for the Peace Corps in the Philippines. Back in the United States after their tour of duty was completed, Simon heard Alice Waters, the famed proprietor of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, tell of her dream of seeing food grown on the White House lawn. Waters dream became Simon and Gustowarows mission, and they purchased a topsy turvy school bus once owned by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream, planted some greens on the roof, and set out to convince America of the need for an organic farm at the White House.

Their mission took them back and forth across the United States. Along the way they collected thousands of signatures on their petition for a White House organic farm.

Their mission calls to mind an interesting history of growing food at the White House. That history began with the first resident of the White House, gentleman farmer and President John Adams, who planted a garden at the newly opened government house. nother famous resident, Eleanor Roosevelt, went up against her husbands Department of Agriculture and planted a Victory Garden during World War II, thus encouraging the planting of millions of such gardens throughout the country.

Simon and Gustowarows mission in the topsy turvy bus leads us to ask

What do you want the new President to do for our food chain? (#620)