The sales of organic foods have slowed in the last year, after almost ten years of at least 20% growth. The economy has cooled even some of the hottest markets, including organics, but with 6% growth in 2008, the organic industry remains strong and resilient. A terrific ecopreneurial opportunity exists for people interested in helping others set up, maintain and harvest organic gardens. And the industry is about to get a big shot in the arm from the Obama Administration.
Or at least, we hope it is. Michael Pollan, sustainable food activist and author of several books, advocated for turning part of the White House lawn into an organic garden. If you google “Obama Organic Garden”, you’ll see the overwhelmingly positive response from the blogosphere. While the Obamas have not commented on the possibilities, I’d wager they’re considering it. Their daughters attend a private school which uses organic ingredients in their food, unbleached napkins made from recycled paper, and the like, so you bet it’s on Mama Obama’s mind what their family consumes.
Amanda Fuller and Justin Mog, two Peace Corps volunteers who did their service in Paraguay, are credited with spawning the idea of a Hope Garden in a letter written to then President-Elect Obama. They, of course, were also applying for the job of full-time organic gardeners on the White House grounds.
Could organic gardening be used as an ecopreneurial opportunity? You bet. While not everyone with organic gardening skills can work on an estate such as the White House as a full-timer, there are many homeowners in the U.S. with space and desire for gardens, and not enough time or know-how to operate them themselves. Setting up and maintaining organic gardens can be a very fun and lucrative business.
So about that shot in the arm? What does the example from the White House mean? John F. Kennedy is largely credited with changing the way American men wear hats: he refused to wear one, despite pressure from hat manufacturers, according to legend. So could President Obama spawn a whole new industry of organic gardening startups? I guess we can ‘hope’ so.
Scott Cooney is the author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and hopes that the green economy will simply become known as…the economy.
Photo credit Meredith James on Flickr Creative Commons.
About Scott Cooney
Hi Scott,
I enjoyed your post and agree that there is a great opportunity for gardening professionals, (and those who want to enter it) to set up edible gardens for people. I’ve been doing it for years in Los Angeles and the demand is growing.
I’m a landscape designer as well as a gardening coach and find that my clients are very interested in learning about growing vegetables. Most of them are not gardening to “save money” though they appreciate it, they garden for therapy and for their culinary pursuits.
Maybe the Obama’s will give us an extra shot? I hope so. Gardening is still considered “work” to many people and that is what keeps some away from the yard.
We can hope!
Shirley
Интересно, а почему так редко блог обновляете?
Any tips for me as I am thinking about doing a weblog such as this?