Eat Healthy
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Asks Gathering of 4-H Youth to Commit to Public Service, Reach Out to At-Risk Peers
“I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service and my Health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.” This is the pledge that 300 4-H youth and volunteers gave on Monday when the 2011 National 4-H Conference kicked off in Bethesda, Md. Youth and adults from 47 states and territories, as well a delegation from Canada, took part in an event that has happened in the Washington area since the 1920s, when 4-Hers slept in tents on the Washington Mall in front of the USDA headquarters. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, is the parent organization to 4-H National Headquarters. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke to 4-Hers about community service, valuing education, and embracing positive health and nutrition habits.
Auburn Students Help Their Community Commit to Fit
In Auburn, Washington, more than 30 percent of Auburn adults are obese, and the area is home to the highest levels of adult obesity in the Seattle-King County area. But Auburn High School students have embarked an effort to change that. The school’s campaign, titled COMMIT TO FIT, encourages healthy behaviors and rewards participants for smart choices.
Spring 2011 Kitchen Garden Planting video
Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama, along with school children from DC-area schools Bancroft Elementary and Harriet Tubman Elementary, planted the kitchen garden. Now in its third year, this planting season the garden included spinach, peas, lettuce, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries and other vegetables and herbs.
Delaware Kid Chefs Learn Prepare Tasty, Nutritious, and Budget-Friendly Meals
About a year ago Beverly Jackey, the community nutritionist for the Food Bank of Delaware, came up with a unique way of teaching kids to eat healthy. Jackey believed that children are more willing to try nutritious new foods when they are involved in preparing them. So Jackey and the Food Bank created a program called KID CHEF, which stands for Cooking Healthy Easy Food.
New Food and Beverage Guidelines for HHS and GSA
During this administration, there has been a special emphasis put on physical fitness and healthy eating. In fact, last month the First Lady celebrated the first anniversary of Let’s Move! Other administration initiatives like the Presidents Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition have motivated parents and children alike to “get moving,” and make healthier choices. We believe it’s important that the federal government set an example for the initiatives we are encouraging others to follow. To that end, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been actively supporting programs across the Department to help Americans get healthy, stay well and thrive.
Stopping Hunger and Improving Nutrition When School is Out
In February of last year, I spoke at the National Press Club and outlined a vision and path for improving the health and well-being of kids across the nation by enhancing our nutrition assistance programs. I made a commitment that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would continue to help bridge the nutrition gap when school is out because our efforts to combat hunger and improve nutrition cannot end when the school bell rings on the last day of the school week or year.
Inspiration Found in Let’s Move! Detroit
The middle of March in the upper Midwest is not ordinarily a time to have much of a conversation about fresh fruits and vegetables, but the people I met in Detroit this morning are far from ordinary. Let’s Move! Detroit’s community partner Green Ribbon Collaborative, invited me to stop by the Eastern Market, one of the oldest urban farmers’ markets in the country, to learn how their unique partnership is making fresh produce a more appealing option for busy families.
Blue Springs, Missouri Joins the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative
At the request of Mayor Carson Ross, the Blue Springs, Missouri City Council unanimously passed a resolution of commitment on March 7 supporting the Let’s Move! initiative. Blue Springs will tackle preventing childhood obesity from multiple angles, focusing on involvement of diverse segments in the community, collaboration, and measurable results. Many community partners, such as the school district, local hospital, YMCA, and the fire department have signed letters of commitment to the initiative.
Cooking and Shopping Made Easier and Healthier for Blind Americans
In its first year, Let’s Move! taught us to pay attention to what we eat. We’ve learned that choosing a bowl of whole-grain cereal with non-fat milk over cheesy biscuits and bacon is a great way to kick off a healthy, energized day. We’ve realized that many times we are offered portions that are bigger than necessary, and we’ve tested delicious, perfectly-proportioned recipes to make at home. And, with the release of 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans last month, we were reminded that consuming less sodium, fats, added sugars and refined grains is essential to a healthy lifestyle. But, for millions of blind or visually impaired Americans, reading the nutrition information and cooking directions printed on the boxes, cans, jars, bottles and bags at the grocery store has been all but impossible---at least it was before the launch of directionsforme last month.
Chef Inspired, Kid Approved
I had the distinct pleasure to join the White House Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiative Sam Kass, to participate in a unique Chefs Move to Schools event at Edgewater High School Auditorium, Orlando, Fla., in celebration of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.
