First Lady Michelle Obama, White House Chef Sam Kass and students from the Bancroft School planting the new White House Vegetable Garden.

Photo: Official White House

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After breaking ground on a garden bed in the South Lawn of the White House grounds on March 20, Michelle Obama got a hand from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a group of fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School did some serious planting Thursday.

The same school kids will return in fall to help with the harvest, and to learn to cook with the fresh organic veggies. In the meantime, White House staff -- and a colony of honey bees -- will tend to the garden.

As The Daily Green's own Beekeeper, Kim Flottum, previously reported, the new White House garden will be pollinated by colonies of two types of parasite-resistant honey bees. As colony collapse disorder continues to defy easy definition, scientists and beekeepers have nonetheless identified a variety of threats -- nutritional, parasitic and toxic -- that threaten the health of the nation's most important pollinator. (How important? They pollinate about one-third of U.S. crops, and add about $15 billion in value annually to farm value.)

Resistance to Varroa mites should help these bees thrive. The USDA developed these bees specifically to resist the mite. One type have a trait called "varroa-sensitive hygiene" which prompts the worker bees to detect and remove infested bees from the nest, eliminating the need for chemical help to control the mites. The second type of mite-resistant honey bees is based on a strain of honey bees from Russia which are naturally resistant not only to varroa mites, but also to tracheal mites, which infest the breathing tubes of the bees.

So the garden has many important lessons for the school children and the public at large: Honey bees are friendly and important, and as easy to care for as it is to grow your own garden.

"Growing your own fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to have healthy food," Vilsack said. "Working in a garden is a great way to stay physically active and maintain a healthy body. And, USDA is helping schools make sure that every student in America has a healthy and nutritious lunch to eat at school."

There's been a popular movement, led by Roger Doiron of Eat the View, to promote that kind of healthy local eating. Why now? Because the local food movement -- which has always prized tasty fresh and healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables -- is being bolstered by the recession. More and more Americans are planning gardens to save money.

Michelle Obama's garden will quickly become the most high-profile garden in the country, offering an unparalleled opportunity for education about the benefits and pleasures of growing your own food.

The garden decision follows Michelle Obama's positive statements about community gardening to USDA staff in late February, when she praised Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's People's Garden Project. Here's what she had to say about his plan to develop community gardens at USDA facilities in order to demonstrate sustainable gardening techniques:

"I was ... particularly pleased to hear that (Vilsack) is working on creating these wonderful gardens here at the USDA. ... and kicking off this effort to build these gardens all over the world in all of the facilities of the USDA, because I'm a big believer in community gardens, both because of their beauty and for their access to providing fresh fruits and vegetables to so many communities across this nation and the world."

For more on the Eat the View campaign, see founder Roger Doiron's nomination for one of The Daily Green's Heart of Green Awards!