(Question begins at 1hr6min30sec, food part begins at 1hr9min50sec.)
President Obama said today that he’d like to see a farmers’ market right outside the White House. He made this announcements to tens of thousands of folks in person and virtually during the Q&A at the National Health Care Forum held by Organizing for America.
TheWhoFarm visited the Dupont Circle and Penn Quarter FRESHFARM Markets both before and after Barack Obama was elected President. Farmers were extremely excited about the prospects of a President eating homegrown food because they knew it would bring positive attention to family farmers and farmers’ markets in the DC area. Not in their wildest dreams did they imagine a President suggesting a farmers’ market right outside the White House. And not only that, President Obama eloquently explained the benefits to local folks and farmers, in both the health benefits and in boosting the local economy.
No word yet whether any of the White House bounty would be available for sale at the farmers’ market.
The Q&A transcript below:
Q Thank you. Hello, Mr. President. I’m Katina Rojas Joy. I was a convention delegate.
THE PRESIDENT: Good to see you.
Q Prince George’s County, Maryland. I have a two-part question. One is choice — the choice that we make to eat the foods that we eat and the lifestyle that we choose to engage in. And the second part — your family is very fit. What do you and the First Lady and the girls do to encourage physical fitness, and what can we — not the government, not private corporations — do to encourage activity in the public school system and in young people?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, this—this is a great question. Look, if—this is an interesting statistic. If we went back to the obesity rates that existed back in the 1980s, the Medicare system over several years could save as much as a trillion dollars. I mean, that’s—that’s how much our obesity rate has made a difference in terms of diabetes and heart failure and all sorts of preventable diseases.
And so what we want to do is to first of all, in health-care reform, in the legislation, encourage prevention and wellness programs by saying that any health-care plan out there has to provide for free checkups, prevention and wellness care. That’s got to be part of your deal, part of your package. And that way nobody’s got an excuse not to go in and get a checkup.
Now, even if we do all that—and there are a lot of—there are a lot of businesses out there that, on their own, are already providing incentives to their employees. Safeway, for example, is a company that has given financial incentives to employees to make sure that they are taking care of theirselves (sic) and getting regular checkups and mammograms and colonoscopies and so forth. And it has saved them a lot of money in terms of their premiums.
So there’s a—there’s a financial incentive for a lot of businesses to get in the business of prevention and wellness.
But you’re absolutely right that, even if we’ve got legislation, even if companies are encouraging it, part of what we also have to do, though, is teach our children, early, the importance of health. And that’s—that means that all of us have to, in our communities, in our places of worship, in our school systems, encourage nutrition programs, provide young people outdoor activities that give them exercise.
And Michelle and I always talk about the fact when—when we were kids, during the summer, you know, basically, mom just said, “See ya!” after breakfast. You were gone. (Laughter.) You might run in, get some lunch, go back out, and you wouldn’t be back till dinner. And that whole time, all you’re doing is moving.
Now, unfortunately, times have changed. Sometimes, safety concerns prevent kids from doing that. Sometimes, there are a lot of kids just don’t have a playground. Little leagues may be, you know, diminished. That means that, you know, we as adults in the community may have to provide more and more outlets for young people to get the kind of exercise that they need.
When it comes to food, one of the things that we are doing is working with school districts. And the child nutrition legislation is going to be coming up. We provide an awful lot of school lunches out there and—and reimburse local school districts for school-lunch programs. Let’s figure out how can we get some fresh fruits and vegetables in the mix. Because sometimes you go into schools and—you know what the menu is, you know? It’s French fries, Tater Tots, hot dogs, pizza and—now, that’s what kids—let’s face it, that’s what kids want to eat, anyway (Laughter.) So it’s not just the schools’ fault.
“A” - that’s what kids may want to eat. “B” - it turns out that that food’s a lot cheaper, because of the distributions that we’ve set up. And so what we’ve got to do is to change how we think about, for example, getting local farmers connected to school districts, because that would benefit the farmers, delivering fresh produce, but right now they just don’t have the distribution mechanisms set up.
So, you know, Michelle set up that garden in the White House?
One of the things that we’re trying to do now is to figure out, can we get a little farmers’ market—outside of the White House—I’m not going to have all of you all just tromping around inside—(laughter)—but right outside the White House—(laughter)—so that—so that we can—and—and—and that is a win-win situation.
It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue-maker for local farmers in the area. And—and that—those kinds of connections can be made all throughout the country, and—and has to be part of how we think about health.
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There’s always room for more good, fresh food, so in the meantime, those in DC can grow their own and/or check the FRESHFARM Markets schedule and head out for a most enjoyable and sociable shopping experience.
For a breakdown of Obama’s announcement and the far-reaching implications, see Obama Foodorama’s post.
Follow Katina Rojas Joy, the woman who asked President Obama the great question on Twitter @krojasjoy.
Follow TheWhoFarm on Twitter @TheWhoFarm.
Thank Michelle Obama for her incredible garden here.
Photos of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., looking at and purchasing peaches during a stop at Stahl’s Farm Market in Ravenna, Ohio, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008. Courtesy AP/Alex Brandon