michelle obama

On a cool mid November morning in Dallas, first graders at Stonewall Jackson Elementary rushed through their 20,000 square foot garden to harvest the vegetables they’ve been monitoring with anticipation.  On this day, they were getting a chance to taste their bounty, along with prominent local Chef John Tesar and USDA Food and Nutrition Service staff.

Cross-posted from the Let's Move! Blog:

As schools across the country entered the holiday break, we sent out a friendly reminder that the Recipes for Healthy Kids Competition is coming to a close December 30 at 5:00 p.m.  But it is not too late for teams across the country to get their winning recipes in and make a difference in the lives of millions of kids.

It was a pleasure to learn about Dr. D’Aun Carrell’s career-long commitment to children’s nutrition.  Even more so to discover her involvement with Chefs Move to Schools, part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s www.LetsMove.gov campaign to help solve the problem of childhood obesity.  The initiative was a natural fit, as she’s been matching local St. Louis chefs with schools since 1992.

Dr. Carrell’s path to the kitchen began at age three, when she learned to cook with her grandmother for the ranch hands of her Texas upbringing.  She brings those early cooking experiences full-circle in her nutrition and cooking lessons for kindergarten through grade 6 children in her curriculum.  Carrell is also active with the American Culinary Federation’s Chef & Child Foundation, for which she serves as the chair of the St. Louis chapter.

I was privileged to go to the State of Mississippi on Dec. 9, for a HealthierUS School Challenge event.  Actually, I was there for three events and 11 schools received either USDA’s Gold of Distinction Awards or Gold Awards.  One of the six schools that was recognized for the Gold of Distinction Award was Purvis High School in Purvis, Miss.  This school is actually the first high school in the country to win this award and counting the other five Gold of Distinction award winners; these six schools are the first in Mississippi to be recognized for this particular award.

Earlier today, I joined Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and other top USDA officials here at the Agriculture Department for the Second USDA Tribal Leaders Listening Session.  The leaders are in Washington for tomorrow’s White House Conference, called by President Obama because he is very serious about the need for the federal government to honor and respect our trust responsibilities to Native communities.

During an invocation at the start of today’s event, Dr. Ted Mala, physician and director of tribal relations at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage said that the USDA “takes care of our weakest people, rural people, who cannot be here today…give them strength.”

Cross-posted from the White House Blog:

On Monday, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law.  This legislation is an important step forward toward ensuring that no child goes to school hungry and that all children have access to healthy, nutritious foods at school.

Earlier this week, Elmo visited Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass in the White House kitchen to talk about the importance of healthy and delicious school meals. Check out the video below.

Cross posted from the White House blog:

As one of her chief responsibilities and greatest passions, the First lady has dedicated herself to helping our children grow up healthy and reversing the alarming childhood obesity trend -- so the President's signing of the the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act this morning at a local DC school was particularly meaningful for her:

The health of our Nation has always been a top priority for the President, First Lady, Secretary Vilsack and everyone in the administration. That is why I am thrilled President Obama today signed into law the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The historic bill ensures our children have  the nutritional foundation to reach their greatest potential.

As Deputy Administrator for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), I was honored to join our partner, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), community leaders, families and a representative from the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative at a press briefing to promote promising practices and policies that can help turn the tide on child hunger and obesity and improve access to nutritious foods for Hispanic children and their families.  The press briefing took place the day after USDA’s release of the 2009 Household Food Security Report in the United States.   NCLR’s press conference was an effort to draw attention to the fastest growing and youngest population across the United States who have difficulty putting healthy meals on the table, due to inadequate access to nutritious food.  Hispanic children are among those at greatest risk for overweight and obesity and, at the same time, are the most likely to be living with hunger.  Both obesity and hunger have serious implications for children’s health and well-being -- all of which are  priorities of the Obama administration.

There was plenty of warmth and goodwill keeping a bitterly cold Washington morning at bay as I joined the folks at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, at today’s rollout of their Food for Thought: Eating Well on a Budget, multi-media outreach initiative.  The educational outreach materials are designed to help support families with children between the ages of two and eight, by nurturing their overall development through good nutrition to create positive outcomes that will last a lifetime.  The campaign is aimed at the nearly one in four American children–seventeen million, based on our own USDA Food Security Report estimates–who don’t get the food that meets basic nutritional needs due to difficult economic or social conditions.  There couldn’t be a more appropriate time, given our current economic circumstances, or a more fitting place to have the discussion than on Sesame Street, the best known street in the world, with Elmo and friends, some of the best known characters in America.