More than just veggies will be popping up in first lady Michelle Obama's White House garden on Wednesday. Fuzzy friends from "Sesame Street" will be at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to promote the first lady's “Let's Move” campaign and encourage marketing nutritious food to kids.
Elmo and Rosita from the popular PBS children's show will join school children from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. for an announcement about marketing healthier food for youth, the White House announced Monday. The Produce Marketing Association and the Partnership for a Healthier America will be part of the event.
First lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden pose with characters Rosita and Elmo during a visit to "Sesame Street" in April 2011 to tape public service announcements asking Americans to support military families. (AP)
It's a response to the first lady's call for industry leaders and stakeholders to invest more in marketing healthy and spend less on marketing unhealthy food. The announcement comes at the same time as the annual fall harvest at the White House “kitchen garden.”
The students will be from schools that have already acted on offering healthier snacks for students.
“Starting next school year, all schools will be required to follow the 'Smart Snacks in School' nutrition standards, making vending machines and a la carte lines healthier,” the White House said in a press release. “Many schools across the country have already met or are working to meet these standards to ensure kids are getting the nutrition they need to lead healthy lives.”
The first lady planted the vegetable garden, also called the “kitchen garden,” in the South Lawn of the White House as part of her national “Let's Move” initiative to promote health eating and exercise among children.
The schools participating in the event are Harriet Tubman Elementary in Washington, D.C.; Bancroft Elementary in Washington, D.C.; Magnolia Elementary School of Harford County Schools in Joppa, Md.; Linwood Holton Elementary School of Richmond Public Schools in Richmond, Va.; and North Elementary School of Monongalia County Schools in Morgantown, W.V.
–
[related]
