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At the Obama Center, You've Got to Get Yourself Back to the Garden
- Bob Benenson
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Fruit and Vegetable Garden is Named for Eleanor Roosevelt
Certainly, the biggest draw for the recently opened Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side is the towering, architecturally significant Presidential Library building.
There are other attractions as well. The Forum building right next to the museum has event spaces — I attended their "Food and the American Story" panel discussion and tasting event there on August 22 — a brand-new branch of the Chicago Public Library, a picnic area with grills, and the beautiful green spaces and lagoons of Jackson Park.
But for readers of Local Food Forum, the other can't-miss during your visit is the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, located on the roof of the Library's building.
The garden ties back historically to Eleanor Roosevelt's time as First Lady during the presidency of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Food shortages during World War II prompted the Roosevelts to encourage Americans to grow food in "victory gardens," and 20 million of these gardens were planted — including one on the White House grounds.
And it harks back more recently to the administration of President Barack Obama, as First Lady Michelle Obama led the effort to create a vegetable garden at the White House.
As described on the Obama Presidential Center website:
"The Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, inspired by Mrs. Obama’s commitment to health and wellness, is an opportunity to inspire people to learn more about growing and making our own food–a process that nourishes our soul, empowers people to care for themselves and others. This garden and garden classroom serves as a warm and welcoming environment for people to explore gardening, food, and cooking as a pathway to self and community improvement."
The Windy City Harvest urban agriculture division of Chicago Botanic Garden manages the raised growing beds at the garden. The organization also partners with Chicago non-profit Urban Growers Collective on workshops and garden programming.
While tickets are required to visit the Obama Presidential Museum (and they are in high demand), the rooftop garden and the rest of the grounds are open to the public every day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Enjoy these photos that I took during my August 22 visit to the campus. I highly recommend a visit.
Also, I recommend that you read our recap of the insightful "Food and the American Story" event that took place on August 22 at the Obama Presidential Center.
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