Posted by Marissa Duswalt, Truman-Albright Fellow, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on July 29, 2011
Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), a faith-based disaster relief and development organization, celebrated theinauguration of its Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, July 21, at An Nur School in Lanham, Maryland. The ceremony also marked the IRUSA’s support of Let’s Move Faith and Communities, First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to engage faith-based and secular non-profit organizations in feeding kids over the summer when school is out.
Posted by Jennifer Seymour, CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity on July 26, 2011
A salad bar in every school. That’s a tall order when you are responsible for 53 schools and none of them have salad bars. But, inspired by Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S), Cincinnati Public Schools Food Service Director, Jessica Shelly, took on the challenge and secured funding from six different organizations to purchase salad bars for all 53 Cincinnati Schools. Starting this fall, all 34,000 Cincinnati Public School students will have access to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every day at their school’s salad bar.
Posted by Nikki Sutton on July 26, 2011
Cross Posted from WhiteHouse.Gov
Watch First Lady Michelle Obama's full remarks here.
Today, First Lady Michelle Obama announced nationwide commitments from major food retailers to open or expand over 1,500 stores to help provide healthy, affordable food to millions of people in areas that do not currently have easy access to fresh, nutritious food. Across the country, 23.5 million Americans – including 6.5 million children – live in underserved communities that do not have readily available fresh foods for reasonable prices.
Posted by Nikki Sutton on July 26, 2011
This morning, First Lady Michelle Obama made the following statement on McDonald's Announcement:
Posted by Ezra Mechaber on July 22, 2011
White House executive chef Cris Comerford stopped by NBC's The Today Show to share a few stories, as well as some healthy recipes. After preparing State Dinners and big luncheons, Cris was given one of her most challenging assignments yet: cooking healthy food for 5th graders, and making sure they liked it.
The recipes she shares are easy and quick, but best of all – they’re also healthy. Check out the video and then try out the recipe below!
Posted by Nikki Sutton on July 20, 2011
There are 23.5 million Americans – including 6.5 million children – who live in rural and urban areas across the country that lack stores likely to sell affordable and nutritious foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables. These areas are called food deserts and earlier this year, USDA launched an interactive tool that lets you find these locations on a map.
Posted by Jessica Wahl, Youth Programs Specialist, Department of the Interior on July 20, 2011
Robert, an 18 year-old from Nova, Michigan, is a youth health advocate who is focused on creating a healthier future for youth in his community. After living through his grandmother’s struggles with diabetes, Robert felt compelled to enable others to live healthier lives through education, awareness, and advocacy. He has improved his school’s cafeteria, created a health committee that never existed at his school before, helped to start and fund two gardens in his school district, and hosted a public forum on youth health. He also taught health sessions at his local library, organized a heart health awareness day at school where he educated his peers at school about the importance of staying healthy, and organized a basketball tournament to raise money for heart disease research.
Posted by Marissa Duswalt, Truman Albright Fellow, and Max Finberg, Director, USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on July 18, 2011
For families in Phoenix, Arizona, buying groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and putting needed nutrition assistance on the kitchen table just got a little easiter. Thanks to Reverend Eve Nuñez, a new SNAP access location opened earlier this spring to assist Phoenix’s Hispanic community apply for SNAP. Through the Help 4 Kidz organization and Love International Church, more than 700 families have already gotten help in putting food on the table.
Posted by Brandi Sweet, Program Analyst, and Eric North, School Safety Specialist, Bureau of Indian Education on July 18, 2011
Each year thousands of educators unite from around the country to attend the Bureau of Indian Education’s (BIE) Summer Institute, the BIE’s largest annual training event, to work on improving American Indian/Alaska Native student education. This year was no exception: approximately 2,400 participants attended the annual event in Reno, Nevada from June 20-24, 2011. But something was a little different this year than in years past. So what was different? In the past, the event focused completely on targeting core academic areas. This year, the BIE, decided to get serious about getting healthy in Indian Country by supporting the First Lady’s Let’s Move! in Indian Country and encouraging educators to take a stand on helping to reduce childhood obesity within a generation by sponsoring several Let’s Move! in Indian Country inspired events.
Posted by Marissa Duswalt, Truman Albright Fellow, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on July 15, 2011
As part of Let’s Move!, First Lady Michelle Obama has challenged community and faith leaders to combat hunger. One of her goals for Let’s Move Faith and Communities is to encourage these trusted leaders to start 1,000 Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sites where kids can gather for a healthy meal when school is out. As faith and community leaders know, however, getting meals to hungry children is much easier said than done. That’s why the Texas Hunger Initiative (THI) joined Let’s Move Faith and Communities: to help folks serve meals to the one in four children in Texas who don’t get enough to eat every summer.
