President Obama has proclaimed this week as National School Lunch Week (and every subsequent 2nd week in October.)

*Full text of Proclamation below or here.

*To read more about White House Chef Sam Kass’ visit to a school cafeteria last week and more, see ObamaFoodorama’s post.

–

THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release

October 9, 2009

NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH WEEK, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Every young American deserves access to a wholesome, nutritious lunch. These meals prevent hunger and give our children the energy and nourishment they need to grow into healthy, productive adults. Since 1946, the National School Lunch Program has helped to protect the health and well-being of our children by providing them with balanced, low-cost or free lunches throughout the school year. This week, we renew our commitment to serving healthy meals that will prepare our next generation of leaders to learn and thrive.

The National School Lunch Program serves more than 31 million students every school day at over 100,000 schools across our Nation. These meals can be an important source of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, containing essential nutrients to meet the demands of a growing child. For many schoolchildren, itwill be their most nutritious meal — sometimes their only meal — of the day. This program can also teach children about the importance of good eating habits, which is vital to our Nation’s fight against childhood obesity. In the coming months, my Administration will continue our partnership with Federal, State, and local leaders to strengthen the National School Lunch Program. We must work together to remove barriers that prevent some eligible children from receiving meals, and update nutrition standards to reflect the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Academic success requires hard work and concentration. Students distracted by hunger cannot match the focus of their peers. Poorly nourished students are also more likely to become ill, and miss class more frequently. During National School Lunch Week, we honor all those who make the National School Lunch Program possible, including government and school officials, food service professionals, farmers, and parents. By ensuring that every child, regardless of background or family income, is properly fed at school, we secure a brighter future for each of them and for America.

The Congress, by joint resolution of October 9, 1962 (Public Law 87-780), as amended, has designated the week beginning on the second Sunday in October each year as “National School Lunch Week,” and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of October 11 through October 17, 2009, as National School Lunch Week. I call upon all Americans to join the dedicated individuals who administer the National School Lunch Program in appropriate activities that support the health and well-being of our Nation’s children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

* Photo from the campaign trail, May 2008.  Then Senator Barack Obama stopped for lunch at Luis’s Taqueria in Woodburn, Oregon.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and carrots will soon be growing on America’s favorite make-believe street.  Michelle Obama is taking her gardening skills to Sesame Street for the Season Premiere of the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street!

Here’s a preview of all the gardening action:

Last night, Mrs. Obama hosted the spouses of world leaders at Rosemont Farm, a working farm owned by Teresa Heinz Kerry.  Included on the menu were salad greens and apples from the farm, and ingredients from other Pennsylvania farms.

Honey from Charlie Brandts’ White House bee hive was gifted to all of the attendees.

* For more photos, visit the White House Blog.

* For more info on the dinner, visit Obama Foodorama’s post.

* And for more info on the honey gift, visit another intrepid Obama Foodorama post.

(Photo: First Lady Michelle Obama co-hosts a dinner party at the home of Teresa Heinz for the spouses of the G20 leaders in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson.)

First lady Michelle Obama inaugurated the new FRESHFARM Market by the White House yesterday.


At beginning of the remarks, she spoke of how the White House Kitchen Garden has exceeded her wildest expectations:

You know, when we decided to plant the White House garden, we thought it would be a great way to educate kids about eating more healthy. Right, kids? Vegetables? (Applause.) Yay for vegetables! But as it turned out, the garden has turned into so much more than we could have ever expected, and it’s a really fun thing to do as well. This has been one of the greatest things that I’ve done in my life so far. It’s just been a tremendous honor, and working with the kids in the D.C. community and hearing how they’ve learned and how they’re growing and how they’re sharing the information with their families just warms my heart and makes me hopeful for the future.

And it’s important to know that when I travel around the world, no matter where I’ve gone so far, the first thing world leaders, prime ministers, kings, queens ask me about is the White House garden. (Applause.) And then they ask about Bo. (Laughter.) Everybody, it’s the garden and Bo, or Bo and the garden, one or the other.

She spoke about her personal food journey, and encouraged everyone at the market and in the country to support their local farmers.

After her remarks, she made some purchases herself from The Farm at Sunnyside, a certified organic farm in Rappahannock County, Virgina.  Casey of TheWhoFarm now farms there, and had a hand in growing the very vegetables that Mrs. Obama purchased: two bunches of Tuscan kale, two pints cherry tomatoes, four Asian pears, one pint “patriotic” potatoes (red, blue and German butterball), and a half pint of hot peppers.

* For a nuanced report on the remarks and the market, see Obama Foodorama’s post.

* The entirety of Mrs. Obama’s remarks are here.

* AP Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta.

* Video courtesy of AP and Chewswise.

* Official White House Photo (w/ Casey) by Samantha Appleton.

Today, the White House released a brand new video about The White House Kitchen Garden, featuring interviews with First Lady Michelle Obama and White House Chef Sam Kass.

As Mrs. Obama explains, “The garden is really an important introduction to what I hope will be a new way that our country thinks about food. So that’s the story of the garden, and it’s been an amazing success if I do say so myself.”

Watch the video, and then please thank Michelle Obama for her incredible garden here.

By the way, in a previous White House video, President Obama reads aloud a letter from a home gardener, at the 4 minutes and 30 second mark:

Photo: Children from Bancroft Elementary School listen to First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack before helping plant the White House Vegetable Garden April 9, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton.)

Videos source: The White House Blog

(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.

–

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

For the past few weeks, an absurd panic has been brewing with regards to the lead levels at the White House Kitchen Garden.

The original soil tests indicated a lead level of 93ppm (parts per million) safe by US EPA standards.  When those tests were reported in the media, some outlets threw a fit.

Since planting the garden, the White House has worked to remediate the soil on site, using lime, green sand and crab meal as well as organic matter in the form of compost.  Now, the soil has been retested, the lead levels are now at 14ppm, similar to lead levels in uninhabited areas.

Obama Foodorama has the full story here.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service has a list of soil testing laboratories.

If you have questions about Lead in your soil, contact the EPA’s Lead Hotline.

Photos by Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

TOP: Bill Yosses, left, executive pastry chef, and Mr. Kass surveyed the bounty, including tomatoes.

BOTTOM: The White House gardening team has reduced the lead levels in the kitchen garden on the South Lawn by fortifying the soil. Sam Kass, far left, White House food initiative coordinator, checked the crops this week.

Michael Pollan first called for an edible landscape at the White House way back in 1991, during the Bush I era.

Imagine an 18-acre victory garden on the grounds of the White House, managed according to the highest organic principles. This garden, which need not contain any broccoli, would stand as a paradigm of environmental responsibility.
The White House has enough land to become self-sufficient in food — a model of Jeffersonian independence and thrift. Alternatively, a White House garden could help supply food for Washington’s poor. Depending which party is in power, a few elephants or donkeys should be maintained for the purpose of fertilization.

Earlier this week, he was interviewed on Fresh Air, mainly about his new piece in The New York Times Magazine, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch: How American cooking became a spectator sport, and what we lost along the way.

At the end of the interview, guest host Dave Davies and Michael Pollan had this exchange :

DAVIES: You know, last October, you wrote a piece in the Times Magazine called “Farmer in Chief,” which was an open letter to the next president - the election was still going on then. And you essentially argued that changing the way we grow and process food was critical to energy policy and, thus, a matter of national security - you know, the way we grow and process food at an industrial scale and transport it thousands of miles drains energy, pollutes the environment and harms our health. And you said that it’s really important for the next president to take a lead in changing things. How would you rate President Obama on the challenge of rebuilding the food culture?

Mr. POLLAN: Well, I think Obama’s taken some very encouraging steps. I think that Obama has shown that he recognized the links between the way we grow food and feed ourselves and the health-care crisis on the one side and the climate-change and energy crisis on the other.

So I’m encouraged by some of the rhetoric. I’m encouraged by some of the appointments. There are some progressive people in the USDA, the Department of Agriculture. And there has been the new agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, has spoken in, you know, very encouraging terms about the importance of local food systems, the importance of farmers’ markets, the importance of organic food.

So all that is very encouraging, I think. But, you know, frankly, the most important thing that’s happened has been the garden that Michelle Obama planted, which has had a galvanizing effect around the world.

There’s now a garden in Buckingham Palace. People are planting gardens all over America. You can’t find seeds in garden centers, there’s such a run on gardening. I think that’s a very encouraging thing. I don’t think it is merely symbolic. And by the way, I think it’s very deliberate on the part of the Obamas. I think they understand that before you can begin to change this food system, you need to raise consciousness about it because for a lot of people, the food system works just fine.

There’s plenty of cheap and abundant food. The fact that it makes people sick, the fact that it takes an enormous toll on the environment, on animals, on workers, isn’t really clear to everybody so that there’s a kind of raising of consciousness that needs to happen. And I think that Michelle Obama is playing a very important role in that. And then you can follow, one hopes, with a different kind of farm bill that would encourage the kind of fresh, local food that Michelle Obama has been extolling.

So, you know, I’m encouraged. I don’t see any evidence that they’re willing to take on agribusiness in any significant way yet. I think what’s more likely to happen is that this administration will take steps to educate people on the value of real food and cooking and that they will also do things to promote local food economies.

Whether they will also go after the large food companies, it may happen in the anti-trust realm. It might happen with the farm bill, but there is, you know, some huge obstacles to real reform at that level, beginning with the agriculture committees in Congress.

-Michael Pollan’s next book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma Young Readers Edition, hits bookstores in October.
-For more on the Buckingham Palace vegetable garden, see Obama Foodorama’s post, The ‘First Lady Factor’ In Action? A New Organic Vegetable Garden At Buckingham Palace.
-If the new Pollan article puts you in a cooking mood, perhaps as a service to military families, see Obama Foodorama’s post, Supporting Our Troops: The Michelle Obama Military Family Menu…With Recipes.

Oldschool photo of Michael Pollan gardening with his son Issac courtesy San Francisco Chronicle photo by Penni Gladstone.

The Obama administration is making good on their promise to open up the White House to their neighbors. The latest group to enjoy the People’s House is Brainfood, a non-profit youth development organization in Washington, DC. Using food as a tool, Brainfood builds life skills and promotes healthy living in a fun and safe environment.

According to the Brainfood website:

Over the past 2 weeks Brainfood participants and staff visited the White House and got a chance to learn from the White House chefs while helping prepare food for the Congressional Luau, Staff Picnic, and 4th of July picnic.

Using the kitchen skills they learned in Brainfood’s after-school program, 17 teenagers spent five days assisting White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford, Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and Assistant Pastry Chef Susie Morrison and their staffs as they prepared food for several hundred White House guests. Eager to demonstrate their culinary talents, the Brainfood youths prepped burgers, shucked corn, glazed ribs, and prepared desserts and garnishes.

Jane Black of the Washington Post tagged along with Brainfood and filed this report, which includes a planting update and a sneak preview of what Sam Kass, White House Food Initiative Coordinator is planning next:

Kass also treated the students with a trip to the garden. (On the way, they saw the Obamas’ dog, Bo.) Kass pointed out the lettuces and cabbage grown from seeds he’d procured from Monticello. He explained that the White House beehives are strapped down; otherwise the presidential helicopter would blow them over when it lands. Before heading back to the kitchen, they planted Sungold and Brandywine tomatoes.

The tour was a variation of the kind the White House plans to offer twice weekly to visiting school groups. Kass is developing a curriculum that aims to teach young students about how vegetables grow in the garden and how they can grow their own.

Photos:  Top photo: Sam Kass, far left, shucks corn with members of Brainfood; Andre Monroe, 17, Stephanie Blyskal, volunteer, and Carina Gervacio, program coordinator. By Melina Mara, The Washington Post.   Bottom three photos courtesy Brainfood, including Sam Kass at the “biocycler.“

The White House has posted a gorgeous photo that speaks for itself, especially at full resolution…so blow it up! This caption is helpful, but perhaps in need of a correction, according to some of the Flickr comments:

Charlie Brandts, a White House carpenter as well as beekeeper, collects the first batch of honey from the beehives on the South Lawn of the White House, June 10, 2009. (Official White House Photographer Lawrence Jackson)

In case you missed it, a few weeks ago White House Assistant Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass gave Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard a tour of the White House Kitchen Garden and Bee Hive.

As expected, Obama Foodorama has more on the bees:  A Bee-youtiful Thing: The First Honey Harvest From The White House Bee Hive.

More of Lawrence Jackson’s pre-Obama stunning images are here.