First lady touts green initiatives in USDA visit

First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Agriculture Department headquarters on Wednesday to thank employees for their service and present USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack with a seedling from a White House tree to be planted in a new "People's Garden" to be built in front of the building.

The garden is part of a community gardens project that Vilsack is planning at USDA facilities around the world to encourage more sustainable landscaping.

The First Lady's visit is part of a series of appearances she is making at federal agencies. She has already visited the Education, Housing and Urban Development and Interior departments and is planning to go to the Transportation Department on Friday, a press aide said.

Mrs. Obama appeared at the department's Jefferson Auditorium dressed in a pin-striped pants suit. She noted that she had become familiar with Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa, on the campaign trail. "When you run for president you get to know Iowa," she joked. The first presidential caucuses traditionally are held in the state.

Mrs. Obama touted clean energy technology initiatives in the recently enacted economic stimulus plan, many of which will be run by USDA.

Standing and sitting behind Mrs. Obama were 18 USDA employees, each of whom had worked for the federal government for more than 30 years. Mrs. Obama told assembled employees that the president and the other political appointees can accomplish their goals "only because of the work you do."

Mrs. Obama presented Vilsack with a seedling from a magnolia tree that President Andrew Jackson planted on the south portico of the White House in honor of his wife, Rachel. Vilsack said he would plant the seedling in the People's Garden at USDA that he dedicated on Feb. 12, the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln.

When USDA was established most Americans lived on farms, and the agency always has been known as "the people's department."

At the Feb. 12 ceremony, Vilsack said USDA would eliminate 1,250 square feet of unnecessary paved surface at headquarters and return the landscape to grass.

"It is essential for the federal government to lead the way in enhancing and conserving our land and water resources," Vilsack said at the ceremony. He said the community garden project would showcase green concepts, such as landscaping and building designs aimed at reducing water runoff.

The new garden in front of the USDA headquarters will add 612 square feet of planted space to an existing garden. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is in charge of developing the new garden.