Success Stories - Chefs
First Lady Michelle Obama Recognizes the HealthierUS School Challenge Participants
Watch First Lady Michelle Obama's full remarks here.
Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the USDA blog.
Given that many children eat as many as two meals a day at school, it’s pretty clear that schools have a vital role to play if we’re going to combat the disturbing rise in childhood obesity we’ve seen in recent years. Just as clear is that schools participating in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge honored at the White House this week demonstrate the kind of deep commitment needed to create and maintain a healthy school environment. These schools are leaders that set an example for schools across the country.
The White House Kitchen Garden Fall Harvest and Grilled Garden Pizza
Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the White House blog.
First Lady Michelle Obama and White House Chefs join children from Bancroft and Tubman Elementary Schools to harvest vegetables during the third annual White House kitchen garden fall harvest Oct. 5, 2011. Mrs. Obama planted the White House kitchen garden to help connect kids with the food they eat – an essential component of her Let’s Move! initiative. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Today, First Lady Michelle Obama was joined by a big group of helpers for the third annual White House kitchen garden fall harvest. Students from Bancroft and Tubman Elementary Schools got their hands dirty picking produce from the garden and then had a chance to try some of the vegetables that they picked on grilled garden pizza.
Four Foot Chefs at the Governors Mansion
On October 3, Katie O'Malley, the First Lady of Maryland welcomed 20 chefs to the Governors Mansion in Annapolis. They ranged in age from 4 to 14 and were happy to take on the task of preparing Maryland grown produce into a special treat for the crowd who had gathered to celebrate ChopChop Maryland.
Chop Chop visits the White House Kitchen
The best way to get your kids interested in eating healthy food is get them involved in preparing healthy food. Our friends at Chop Chop magazine paid a visit to the White House kitchen recently where their kid chefs grilled our chefs about what they like to cook – and what they like to eat.
First Lady and American Indian Kids Plant White House Kitchen Garden
Last Friday, just a week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country, First Lady Mrs. Obama and American Indian kids spent the afternoon in the White House kitchen garden planting the “three sisters” crops (corns, beans, and squash). The kids also helped Mrs. Obama harvest crops in the garden, including lettuces, rhubarb, chard, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, turnips, broccoli and herbs – some of which will be used in Tuesday’s State Dinner in honor of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Cooking Up Change Visits the Nation’s Capital
What does school lunch look like when students are in charge? As high school culinary students recently reminded me, a student-designed lunch is fresh, healthy and full of flavor.
For the past year, I have served with Christie Vilsack as National Honorary Co-Chair of Cooking up Change, a competition presented by Healthy Schools Campaign that challenges aspiring chefs studying culinary arts in our nation’s high schools to create a school lunch that meets high nutrition standards, draws from ingredients commonly available to food service, and can be easily prepared in a school kitchen.
Bellingham Team Scores Big with Double Winners
Students at Bellingham (MA) Public Schools found the key to attracting some top individuals to their school for lunch: they asked a state senator, state representative, a food industry executive, the state Child Nutrition director and me to judge the school’s entries in the national Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. The school had much to be proud of because their terrific team created not one, but two semi-finalist recipes: “Tasty Tots” and “Mediterranean Quinoa Salad.”
Connecticut Students Say, “Si, Si” to Fiesta Wrap on the Menu
It’s only natural that when the team from Charter Oak International Academy came up with their entry in the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition it would have true international flavor. The West Hartford, CT school is a magnet school with a global focus, including Spanish language instruction. Their “Fiesta Wrap” stars quinoa and black beans accompanied by vegetables, lime juice, spices and reduced fat cheddar cheese with optional toppings such as fresh tomatoes, corn salsa or fiesta sauce.
New Mexico School Puts a Dash of Southwest in Recipe Competition
With a name like “Lentils of the Southwest aka Sweeney Cougar Power Lentils,” who says a healthy elementary school lunch can’t be exciting? On Wednesday, May 18th, students at Sweeney Elementary School in Santa Fe, N.M., served judges a spicy and delicious side-dish in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition.
