A Scarborough man who founded an international kitchen gardening association is planning a trip to Washington, D.C., after his idea to plant an organic garden at the White House won an online contest.

Roger Doiron, the founding director of Kitchen Gardners International – A Scarborough-based nonprofit organization connecting 10,000 gardeners worldwide – recently received the most votes in a Web contest to win the opportunity to present an idea for change to President Barack Obama.

Dorion’s organization forged a one-year campaign called Eat the View, pitching a vegetable garden through a White House initiative through ondayone.org that allowed citizens to recommend agendas to Obama tackling issues such as global warming, the weakening economy and the fight against terrorism.

Eat the View beat Pursuing the Global Common Good, an idea to make world peace the top priority of the nation’s foreign policy, 3,334-1,988.

Doiron said he hopes Obama’s staff will accept his organization’s idea to plant the garden on the White House lawn.

“We’re going to be delivering our petition of more than 10,000 signatures at some point within the next month,” Doiron said. “We are focused now on celebrating our victory and trying to build a platform for future work.”

The garden idea was one of nine finalists out of nearly 4,000 topics that people pitched through ondayone.org, which allowed citizens to advise Obama on how to deal with issues he will face when his presidency begins.

Other ideas competing included a commitment for global nuclear disarmament, fight for human rights, and fighting the roots of terrorism.

“It was a pretty convincing victory, and I think that speaks to the interest of trying to shorten the distance between field and fork,” Doiron said. “I think our proposal won because it seems like something that is very doable.”

Ondayone.org organizers intended for the contest winners to meet with Obama advisers during the inauguration ceremonies, but Doiron said it made more sense to pitch the idea later.

“It’s better to have this trip take place a little bit later once the dust has settled in D.C. and people have a better understanding as to who’s doing what within his staff.”

Eat the View was also part of another citizen initiative through Change.org, but decided to pull out of that contest. Change.org also allowed citizens to pitch ideas for change that would be presented to Obama’s staff.

“I was concerned that some of our supporters might not feel at home with some of the ideas that were proposed there,” Doiron said.

While the idea of planting a garden might seem less necessary as a tool to solve problems facing the country it is important for the fight against global warming, said Russell Libby, executive director of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

According to Libby, food travels on average 1,500 miles before most people eat it, resulting in one-third of all greenhouse emissions.

“Anything we do to grow food close to home has an impact on reducing our carbon foot print,” he said.

If accepted, the White House garden would be used to supply the White House kitchen with its vegetables and for donations to Washington, D.C., food pantries.

Gardens such as the one being proposed by Kitchen Gardeners International, also known as victory gardens, are nothing new to the White House, Doiron said.

President John Adams planted the first garden on the White House lawn in 1800. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson also had victory garden. In 1943, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a vegetable garden on the White House Lawn despite objections from the United States Department of Agriculture.

“We did this before because it made sense,” Doiron said. “It’s an example of bold leadership, and I think our campaign is really appealing to the Obamas.”

Both Doiron and Libby said the garden itself would have a negligible impact on the environment, but it could inspire people to plant their own vegetable gardens.

“We want people to see that they can do this too,” Libby said.

Doiron spent about $100 this year seeding his family’s vegetable garden. After six months, they are still eating food the garden produced, he said.

“We still have onions, garlic and frozen tomatoes,” he said. “It’s work that makes you feel good.”

Eat the View does not specify where on the 18-acre property the garden should be built, and doesn’t specify a size, Doiron said.

The Blaine House in Augusta has a victory garden, as do the capitals of New York and North Carolina, Doiron said.

“This idea is not just about a single garden,” Doiron said. “We want to get people thinking about new gardens that they can put in themselves at their own homes, at their schools or by simply converting some unused space into a community garden.”

Roger Doiron, founding director of a Scarborough-based nonprofit gardening group, is planning a trip to Washington, D.C., to present the group’s idea to plant an organic vegetable garden at the White House to President-elect Barack Obama.