The Obamas are about to plant a veggie patch at the Whitehouse. It’s not a new idea – Eleanor Roosevelt helped lead the way during the Second World War. But it is a great example of fast change – change that could create a more sustainable world.

Within a couple of years from the start of the war, by 1942 to 43, these home gardens were producing about thirty to forty percent of the US’s veggies – not bad for backyard patches…