Never in a thousand years did I think volunteering in schools would land me at the White House. It has certainly be an exciting couple of weeks for children’s nutrition. Michelle Obama launched a new program called, “Chefs Move to Schools” at the White House on Friday, June 4th. I was fortunate enough to be invited through Share Our Strength (SOS). It was an incredible honor to attend such a momentous event! Chefs are typically happy working behind-the-scenes so it was pretty awesome to see a crowd of humble chefs in their “whites” milling around the South Lawn of the White House.
We started the morning off with a breakfast hosted by SOS. The speakers included Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass. We then walked over to the White House where we proceeded through three checkpoints. We toured Michelle Obama’s organic garden before being seated to hear Chef Sam Kass and First Lady Michelle Obama speak on behalf of children.
I didn’t think I could admire Michelle Obama any more than I already did – but, WOW, I discovered that I could! She is not only advocating for kids health and opening the eyes of bureaucrats and calling out food corporations – she is also so dang COOL! The videos I shot of her are kind of shaky so here is a link to the “official” video. One of the best days ever. Read on to see what YOU can do to help improve the health of our nation’s kids.
To see more photos of my White House journey, visit my Facebook page.
On June 10th, Food Research Action Center (FRAC) organized a Lobby Day in Washington DC to advocate for the Child Reauthorization Act (CNR). This legislation is extremely important right now. It covers critical programs like School Lunch, Summer and Weekend Feeding Programs, and Women, Infant, and Children (WIC). CNR is only up for re-signing every four or five years. If the Senate does not sign it soon, it will expire on September 30th and we’ll have to wait even longer to improve school lunches, increase funding for Farm to School, and fund all kinds of other programs that will help children receive access to food.
Farm to School/Community Food Security Coalition were kind enough to bring me down for Lobby Day last week. Chefs from around the country took time out of their busy schedule to fly to DC and lobby for the kids. I’m still very new to lobbying but I’ve already noticed how resigned many of the staffers (the people who work for members of Congress) appear in our meetings. After we started one particular meeting, where one staffer looked like she was ready to take a nap, two chefs walked in wearing their white chef coats, Bill Telepan (Telepan) and Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto and Top Chef Masters). You should have seen the staffer perk up! Suddenly, she was sharing stories about how her family shops at farm stands and what they like to cook together. This is why no matter what, my work will always involve sharing my love of cooking in some way or another. It’s the great common denominator, a tradition that every single human being on the planet shares. Now, if only we could get warring nations to cook a meal together….
It doesn’t surprise me that chefs are now championing children’s nutrition. Chefs are typically very energetic people who have one thing in common: they love nourishing others. Many of them have been working with children in the schools long before it became popular this past year. When Congressman George Miller announced his new bill for $8 billion for CNR (versus Blanche’s meager $4.5 billion) at a press conference on June 10th, it was chefs standing behind him. The troops supporting their leader standing strong in uniforms of chefs coats.
I know everyone is going a mile a minute these days but this is IMPORTANT. The healthier our kids, the healthier our nation. Please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and call or email your representative - it’s very easy to email from the Healthy School Campaign website. Click here to EMAIL or click here to PHONE your representative. Thank you for supporting our kids!
To see more photos of Lobby Day, visit my Facebook page.
“If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men.” –Maria Montessori
