Healthier Schools
High-tech Solutions Can Help Fight Obesity
Active gaming (e.g., EA SPORTS Active, Wii Fit, etc.) is one way technology can encourage and promote physical activity and meet youth and adults wherever they are on the ability spectrum.
Does Hunger take a Summer Break?...Not in San Francisco
I recently visited the Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club to find out from the children what participating in USDA's Summer Food Service Program means to them. Year-round, afternoons at the Club means the children get to cook a healthy bean and kale soup, with fresh ingredients they grow in the Club’s Edible Schoolyard. It also means that on a cool winter day a few blocks away from the San Francisco Bay, children brave the weather to water and tend to their garden knowing the strawberries will soon be ready to eat. For Rena, the first strawberry that she ever ate came from the Edible Schoolyard, where she planted it. Now, of course, strawberries are her favorite food.
Salad Bars and Healthy Menus Sprout in San Antonio
A healthy lunch is becoming easier to find in San Antonio, Texas. School cafeterias across the city will soon be home to 220 salad bars, thanks to a new partnership with Let’s Move! and the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council.
California Chef Partners with Local Elementary School for Chefs Move to Schools Program
Earlier this fall, in conjunction with International Chefs Day, Chef Melinda Burrows had the opportunity to team with Fremont Elementary School in Alhambra, California, to help launch their Chefs Move to Schools program.
They did so in grand style. With three school assemblies focusing on harvests, the popular event centered around chef-led demonstrations featuring spaghetti squash, pumpkins, and other varieties of healthful foods.
Let's Bike!
Biking can be a fun and fitness-friendly way to travel, but only if you know how to ride. Thanks to lessons in bike riding, safety and repair, more than 2,500 young Bostonians can now pedal like pros.
Chef Helps Special Needs School Children Explore New Foods
Morning Star School for special needs children in Orlando, Fla., is enjoying a culinary experience they’ll never forget thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools” initiative and local Chef Jamie McFadden. To the student’s joy, McFadden visited the school and shared cooking projects that their team had just completed. Chef McFadden relayed that the children were a delight and engaged, as their time together focused on fresh fruits and vegetables, food safety, and sanitation practices. Thus far, the students have explored apples and pumpkins, and have learned about the history and origins of the foods they enjoy.
Chefs on the Move to Help Improve Child Nutrition
Last June, First Lady Michelle Obama along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a call to action for chefs across the nation to join the battle against childhood obesity. The program, called Chefs Move to Schools, helps to partner chefs with local schools in their communities as part of the Let’s Move! initiative. Since June, we have seen chefs and schools across the country form new friendships and develop delicious meals in an effort to improve nutrition.
Elmo Visits the White House Kitchen
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.
What They're Saying: President Obama Signs Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Into Law
Yesterday President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 into law -- a major step forward in our nation’s effort to provide all children with healthy food in schools. The Act authorizes funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs and increases access to healthy food for low-income children. Read what First Lady Michelle Obama, administration officials and Let’s Move! advocates are saying about our commitment to raise a healthier generation of kids:
The President & First Lady on Child Nutrition Bill: "The Basic Nutrition They Need to Learn and Grow and to Pursue Their Dreams"
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:
