michelle obama

Announcing the Winners of Our School Lunch Challenge

Friends, the time has come. We laughed. We cried. (Okay, mostly we cried.) We shared great stories and strong feelings. We ate lunch with our kids and lived to tell engaging stories about the terrific lunch ladies (and cook managers) in our schools; our country's restrictions, policies, and prices; and how much ranch dressing you can put on a piece of pizza.

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An Open Letter to Our Children: We're Sorry About School Lunch

I recently had the chance to sit down with a handful of sixth graders at Sanford Middle School in Minneapolis. The students had been complaining that the lunches they were being served tasted bad and made them feel sick, and their teacher asked me to come answer questions, provide context, and make suggestions.

For an hour, these thoughtful students and I discussed healthy food choices, growing a garden, being pressed for time (a 12 year old girl told me she didn't have time to put an apple in her backpack in the morning), eating on a budget, and how to affect change. I've been thinking about the discussion ever since.

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What are You Thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Obama's Chef Sam Kass: "We have a lot of major challenges, the origin of which is food."

The following excerpt is from “A White House Chef Who Wears Two Hats,” published this week in the New York Times. It offers a profile of the Obama family’s personal chef, Sam Kass, who serves up policy advice along with his own style of local, organic cooking. Read how a 29-year-old with a history degree and looks that earned him a slot on People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People list is now one of the most influential advocates for a better, more sustainable food system.

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Michael Pollan's "Farmer in Chief" is Well Worth Revisiting

On my friend and neighbor Kathy's advice, I just re-read Michael Pollan's outstanding letter to our nation's "Farmer in Chief," first published in the NY Times on the eve of Barack Obama's election. It's a wonderful letter, all 9 pages of it, a true embarrassment of riches. Pollan's letter starts with a summary of where we're at currently in terms of food, health, and the environment.

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The First Garden

Just after the ground was broken on the White House's new, organic garden, the Washington Post quoted obama-gardenMichelle Obama as follows:

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