The Table Is Set For a “Buy American” Message

The First Lady’s Luncheon is where flower and foliage growers look to revive its wilting industry

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff, second gentleman, (center) attend the Congressional Club’s First Lady’s Luncheon in 2022, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Certified American Grown member farms provided more than 14,000 stems of flowers and foliage to help decorate the 105^th Annual First Lady’s Luncheon, hosted by The Congressional Club. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)

The early morning, late summer fog still clings to wide open grassy areas along a quiet stretch of U.S. Highway 17. It’s where an oversized welcome sign to rural Pierson, Florida, flanked on each side with American flags, greets visitors right across from a local feed store. The sign, at the edge of the two-lane roadway, is the kind that sparks excitement (and relief) that this must be the place. 

“Fern Capital of the World,” it reads. And below that another accolade: “Hometown of Chipper Jones,” a local boy who made it big, real big. Major League Baseball kind of big, with a near 20-year …