Having launched a drive against child obesity in 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated the early signs of progress this week and told a White House audience, “I intend to keep working on this issue for the rest of my life.” Mrs Obama called for a permanent improvement in U.S. diets at a ceremony intended to make the White House kitchen garden, her first project, a lasting fixture at the executive mansion.
“Healthy eating is starting to become the new norm for our kids,” said the First Lady. “This healthy eating stuff is here to stay.”
Some 17 percent of American children are obese, a rate that has stabilized since 2003-04; prevalence of obesity among children ages 2-5 years is 8 percent, down by more than five points in the past decade, says the CDC.
The kitchen garden “started a national conversation” about Americans’ health that evolved into the Let’s Move initiative on childhood obesity, says the White House. The garden was expanded to 2,800 square feet ahead of the dedication ceremony with the addition of an arbor, a wider walkway and a “gathering area” with benches and a table in the center of the garden. “I am hopeful that future first families will cherish this garden like we have,” said Mrs. Obama.
The First Lady said the campaign for healthier food and more physical activity for children “has truly become a movement, and it certainly won’t end when I leave the White House because we have a long way to go to solve this problem.” She provided no details of her plans to remain active on the issue.
Food author Michael Pollan, in a New York Times Magazine story that describes the food movement as a feeble rival to “Big Food,” says, “A case can be made that Michelle Obama, with little more at her command than the power of persuasion and her personal example, achieved more on food issues than the rest of the administration.” She was a force behind the reforms in the 2010 school nutrition bill, prodded food companies to produce healthier food, and her Let’s Move campaign “has focused the public’s consciousness about the importance of food to our health and well-being, which has laid the groundwork for more far-reaching reform in the future,” says Pollan.
Usually, when the Obama administration “seriously poked at Big Food, they were quickly out-lobbied and out-gunned,” says Pollan. The food movement is not a political force, though it may drive change in the marketplace, he concludes.
As for the future of the kitchen garden, Politico said, “The White House has already made arrangements with the National Park Service for the future upkeep of the garden, which has served as the backdrop of meetings with world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It has even managed to secure a private $2.5 million funding stream for maintenance to defray the cost to taxpayers.”
Landscape historian Marta McDowell told Politico, “If it (the garden) were taken out, it would truly be just a political statement.”
To watch a video of the White House kitchen garden dedication, click here.
For information from the National Park Service about the garden, click here.