Senate Farm Bill Hearing, "Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production and Nutrition"

Vilsack: Local food is "one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture;" Downloads of witness testimony...
Washington, DC: On Wednesday morning, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a Farm Bill hearing on "Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production and Nutrition," with six witnesses testifying, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The hearing comes on the heels of the release of USDA's new report to Congress about local and regional food initiatives, the digital document "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass," which was the subject of a national virtual conversation from the White House on Monday.

Committee Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) opened the hearing by noting that locally grown foods are helping create new market opportunities for farmers and agriculture producers across the country, while also helping to provide families greater access to healthy and nutritious foods. Witnesses during their testimony covered everything from the impact of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to farm to institution sourcing; the importance of federal nutrition programs including SNAP for combating hunger; the growing demand for farmers markets; to the importance of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, as well the benefits of local food initiatives in a tough economy, including the healthy impact on jobs.

Stabenow said that food hubs and local food systems are a ‘win-win’ for agriculture, and helping to re-introduce agriculture to a younger generation of up-and-coming farmers and ranchers.

“We also know how important local food systems have been in this difficult economy. Food policy councils, farmers markets, co-ops, and food hubs are bringing farmers together with low-income school districts, food banks, and grocers in food deserts to provide fruits, vegetables and other healthy products to families in need,” Stabenow said.

During his testimony, Sec. Vilsack cited the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, and hailed local food as "one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture." Direct consumer sales have doubled in the past decade to reach close to $5 billion in 2008, he said.

"More than ever, consumers are interested in where their food comes from and are seeking out a connection to the men and women who put food on our tables," Vilsack said. "Buyers in every sector of the food system have increased local food purchases, and conversations between farmers and consumers are taking place every day in every part of the country."

Still, USDA does not have a hard definition for "local," and will decline to create a legal definition for "local," Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said during the White House virtual conversation. She is the architect of Know Your Farmer, and said defining the term "local" would limit efforts to build vibrant food systems that best serve all constituencies, from producers and growers to consumers.

Witnesses included Ron McCormick, Senior Director of Local Sourcing & Sustainable Agriculture for Walmart, the largest private-sector partner for the Let's Move! campaign. McCormick discussed the company's partnership with Let's Move!, and noted that Walmart is now sourcing nearly 11% of its produce "locally" for its more than 3,800 outlets in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. In some states, more than 50% of Walmart's sales are through the use of federal SNAP benefits, also known as Food Stamps, according to the company.

Also testifying: Jody Hardin, a fifth-generation family farmer from Grady, Arkansas, and co-founder of the Foodshed Farm All Arkansas Basket-A-Month program, which is based at Hardin Farm in Grady; Anne Goodman, President and CEO of Cleveland Foodbank; Dan Carmody, President, Eastern Market Corporation, of Detroit, MI, which runs one of the largest urban farmers markets in the US, as well as other food access projects; and John Weidman, Deputy Executive Director, Food Trust, Philadelphia, PA. The Food Trust is a non-profit that works on healthy food access issues, including farm to school sourcing and bringing healthy foods into "underserved" communities.

The testimony...

Sec. Tom Vilsack, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Dan Carmody, Eastern Market Corp, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Ron McCormick, Walmart, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE
Jody Hardin, Arkansas, Farmer, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Anne Goodman, Cleveland Food Bank, Testimony:  DOWNLOAD HERE
John Weidman, Food Trust, Testimony:  DOWNLOAD HERE

##

Video: First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks At Northgate González Market

First Lady Michelle Obama's big Let's Move! event this week was a visit to the site of a future Northgate González Market that will open in April in Inglewood, CA. Mrs. Obama spotlighted the work of The CaliforniaFreshWorks Fund (CFWF), a public-private financial partnership led by The California Endowment. In this new CFWF video, Mrs. Obama, as well as those who joined her at Northgate, speak about the importance of bringing healthy food to "underserved" communities.

Mrs. Obama was joined by Inglewood Mayor Jame T. Butts, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, and Oscar Gonzalez, one of the Northgate owners. CFWF is financing three Northgate Markets in Southern California. The fund received a $3 million grant from the US Treasury in the Fall of 2011, and now as $264 million in financing available, according to Ross.

*CFWF video

First Lady Michelle Obama In Southern California: Let's Move To Build Supermarkets

"Every family in our country should have access to healthy food," First Lady says during visit spotlighting public-private economic partnerships...
Inglewood, CA: First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday morning held a Let's Move! campaign event in the Los Angeles area for the first time since launching her national childhood obesity initiative two years ago, visiting the construction site of a Northgate González Market that will open in April. A family-owned company, Northgate has 36 outlets across Southern California, all located in primarily Hispanic communities. (Above: Mayor Butts of Inglewood and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa listen to Mrs. Obama speak at the market)

"The story of Northgate and the new Northgate Gonzales Market that is being built here is the story that we want to tell in cities and towns across America," Mrs. Obama said. "It’s a story about bringing fresh, healthy, affordable food into communities that need it most. It’s a story about creating jobs, about revitalizing neighborhoods."

Mrs. Obama's two-day California trip has been all about encouraging healthy eating--which included getting Jay Leno to eat vegetables on national TV. The Northgate visit was Mrs. Obama's second appearance at a Hispanic supermarket in a week; she was at the National Supermarket in Tampa on Jan. 26, joined by the president of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the US. Inglewood's population is 46% Hispanic, Mayor James T. Butts, who joined Mrs. Obama, told Obama Foodorama.

He was seated on stage as Mrs. Obama spoke, as were Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, and Oscar Gonzalez, one of the Northgate owners. The event spotlighted the efforts of the California FreshWorks Fund (CFWF), a partnership loan fund led by The California Endowment which has received federal funding. CFWF is helping  Northgate build three new markets, including the one Mrs. Obama visited. 

Mrs. Obama unveiled the CFWF last summer during an event at the White House in which she announced that grocery corporations, including Walmart, have made commitments to build or transform 1,500 markets in areas identified by the US Department of Agriculture as food deserts. That announcement, like the Northgate appearance, also focused on job creation and community revitalization.

Northgate is devoted to family values, Mrs. Obama said, because the company, joined by The California Endowment, will also promote health and nutrition education for customers.

"That’s more than just owning a store. That’s being a responsible member of the community. That’s like being family," Mrs. Obama said. "And that’s what you would hope for the institutions that come into our community."

The new market is still a shell, the unfinished walls and windows covered with temporary particle board, the dirty yellow insulation for the air conditioning system visible on the ceiling. But the First Lady spoke from a podium set amidst a fantasy tableaux of healthy food, backdropped by what seemed to be hundreds of pounds of fruit and vegetables, jars of oils, bags of whole grains, bottles of juice and milk. A vintage pick-up truck was parked on one side of the stage, laden with crates of food. Green mylar balloons and black screening drapes were also strategically placed in an effort to make the site more presentable.

"They dressed it up really nicely, it’s pretty impressive," Mrs. Obama said. "This will be home to a brand new, fully stocked grocery store. And thousands -- thousands of families will be able to buy fresh fruit right in their own community."

They'll also be able to buy lovely pastries and every other kind of unhealthy food that is typically sold in supermarkets; a buffet table at the event offered sweet baked goods, Pan Dulce Mexicano and Tartaletas, alongside bowls of fruit salad, Agua Fresco and Spinach Water. The Administration's drive to encourage the building of supermarkets is predicated on giving families improved food choices, rather than mandating what these will be.

Mrs. Obama was clad in a bright orange jacket over a yellow blouse, and dark blue slacks, and somehow avoided being covered in the thick white construction dust that was everywhere, including on the thrilled audience of about 75, all from the neighborhood, and many local leaders in child health projects, according to the White House.

Getting healthy food into "Underserved Communities" rather than "Food Deserts"...
Last September, CFWF received a $3 million grant from the Treasury Department, in the FY 2011 round of funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a tri-agency project created by the Obama Administration to help eradicate food deserts. Just 12 projects across the US received grants. For FY 2012, Congress gave $32 million to the HFFI, far less than the Administration's request of $330 million. CFWF now has $264 million in funding, according to The California Endwoment's CEO Ross. 

Still, Mrs. Obama did not use the words "food desert" during her remarks, though eradicating all US food deserts by 2017 is a key pillar of her campaign. The White House instead said the event was designed "to highlight progress being made to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved communities." Inglewood is not listed on USDA's Food Desert Locator webtool, and in fact has three major grocery markets and a CostCo located within its nine square miles, according to Mayor Butts.

So exactly what is the definition of an "underserved community?" And how does it differ from a "food desert," which actually has multiple definitions according to USDA? Mrs. Obama's aides did not answer a query about this. Jeff Okey, a spokesman for The California Endowment, told Obama Foodorama that the foundation also doesn't have a hard definition for "underserved community." There's no specific population, racial/ethnic, income, or geographic specifications attached to the idea of "underserved communities," Okey said.

"We use the term for poor and low income communities, which tend to be minority, but not 100 percent," Okey said. "Foodwise we mean a community that only has access to liquor deli and fast food places." But he added that "I don't think that that would be an actual definition."

Mrs. Obama attended the first-ever Let's Move! "food desert summit" hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel last fall in Chicago, but also did not use the word "food desert" during her remarks hailing the importance of building markets in food deserts.

Definitions notwithstanding, the First Lady tap-danced around the idea of food justice during her Northgate appearance. She's called it a "right" for parents to expect that their children will receive healthier foods in the National School Lunch Program, and on Wednesday, she called access to healthy foods--with the building of local groceries--a "privilege" that should be available to all Americans.

"There are too many communities that don’t have this kind of privilege," Mrs. Obama said. "And I’m here today because I believe that every family in our country should have access to healthy food, because we can’t solve this problem [childhood obesity] if they don’t."

"When we bring healthy food into our communities, we’re not just making this generation of kids healthier, but we’re working on the next and the next and the next."

After lavishing praise on all, Mrs. Obama worked the very dusty rope line for ten minutes after her remarks, taking photos and shaking hands before heading off to a campaign fundraiser luncheon in Hancock Park with Mayor Villaraigosa, which included some of the stars of the film "The Help." She also taped The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

CFWF's partners include NCB Capital Impact, NCB, Unified Grocers, California Grocers Association, Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health, Calvert Foundation, Social Compact, Emerging Markets, PolicyLink, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, Community Health Councils, Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, Met Life, Citibank, Opportunity Finance Network, and Charles Schwab Bank.

Mayor Butts loves the First Lady...
In addition to the 46% Hispanic population in Inglewood, there's also a 46% African American population, Mayor Butts told Obama Foodorama. He was thrilled that the First Lady had shown up in his town, though he admitted that Inglewood has not joined Let's Move! Cities and Towns, a subcomponent of Mrs. Obama's campaign which now has more than 600 communities signed on.

"We've joined as of today, right now," Butts, 58, said, laughing, and adding that the First Lady's visit "put Inglewood on the map."

"There are no words to describe what her presence, her charisma meant to the city of Inglewood. Her presence made a big statement to our children and our adults about the value of a healthy eating and healthy lifestyle. To have her validate the efforts we've made in our city is just huge."

Located at the very busy intersection of 108th street and Prairie Avenue, the market is across the street from an AM PM gas station/mini market and an auto repair shop, with modest houses located along the side streets. A sign hanging on the outside reads "Coming Soon-Muy Pronto."

Asked if an Hispanic-centric market will be patronized by Inglewood's African American population, Butts was certain that it would be.

"Healthy food knows know cultural boundaries," he said, and laughed again.

It can't be overlooked that Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! efforts are a boon for President Obama's re-election campaign, since she's paying so much attention to the crucial Hispanic voting bloc. The Obama campaign on Wednesday launched "African Americans for Obama," which includes a new video from the President courting voters, and a special web portal for black voters to engage with the campaign.

While in Los Angeles, the First Lady also attended a high-dollar DNC reception in Beverly Hills. Mrs. Obama's Director of Communications, Kristina Shchake, joined her at Northgate. The Los Angeles PR firm Schake founded and then left to take up her White House post, GriffinSchake, handled the PR for the event. (Above: The buffet table, staffed by Northgate employees)

*The transcript of the First Lady's remarks.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

Transcript: First Lady's Remarks At Let's Move! Event, Northgate González Market

First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday morning brought the Let's Move! campaign to Inglewood, CA with a visit to the construction site of a Northgate González Market that is scheduled to open in April. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Inglewood Mayor James Butts, Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, and Oscar Gonzalez, owner of Northgate, joined Mrs. Obama on stage. A FULL POST IS HERE.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the First Lady
_________________________________

For Immediate Release
February 1, 2012

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT LET’S MOVE FOOD ACCESS EVENT

Northgate Gonzalez Market Site
Inglewood, California

9:19 A.M. PST

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Good morning, Inglewood, yes! (Applause.) It’s good to say that, right? It’s good to be here. You all rest yourselves.

I am more than thrilled to be here with all of you today. And thank you for having me, because I know having me in your neighborhood is a little disruptive. (Laughter.) So thank you for putting up with it.

I want to start by thanking Mayor Butts and Mayor Villaraigosa for their terrific work serving the people of L.A., and for their leadership and for their friendship and support. I am so glad that they took the time out of their busy schedules to be here today.

I also have to recognize and thank Dr. Ross and the California Endowment for their outstanding leadership in building healthy communities and bringing fresh food to areas in need all across this state. It’s been just truly a privilege and a joy to work with the endowment and to work with Dr. Ross. He’s a smart guy. He’s a funny guy. And he does what he says he’s going to do. And that’s always refreshing. Yes, indeed. (Laughter.) They’ve really set the standard on this issue, and we’re just grateful for everything that they’ve done.

And finally, I want to thank Oscar for that kind introduction, but more importantly for what he and his family are doing here in this community and across the state of California. The story is so inspiring on so many different levels. But the story of Northgate and the new Northgate Gonzales Market that is being built here is the story that we want to tell in cities and towns across America. This is the story. This is what it’s all about. It’s a story about bringing fresh, healthy, affordable food into communities that need it most. It’s a story about creating jobs, about revitalizing neighborhoods. And it’s a story -- the story, like the Northgate story -- that don’t just sell healthy food, but they also promote healthy lifestyles by helping their customers make the decisions that are right for their families.

And that’s more than just owning a store. That’s being a responsible member of the community. That’s like being family. And that’s what you would hope for the institutions that come into our community. Again, this is the story that we want to tell, and that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m glad so much of the country and the world will hear this story.

And that’s also why, last spring, as part of Let’s Move, we brought together nonprofit organizations and grocery stores large and small. That was just a year ago that we pulled these folks together, and now we’re celebrating the second anniversary of Let’s Move in just a couple of weeks. And when we brought these people together, we asked them one simple question. We said, “What can we do together to get fresh food into every community in our country?” Not just some of them, but every community. What can we do if we put all our resources and energy to this task? And within a couple of months -- it didn’t take that long -- we had our answer.

Companies ranging from small local grocers to major national chains agreed to build or expand 1,500 stores in underserved areas in our country.

And the Fresh Works Fund -- which is, again, a coalition of companies and nonprofits including the California Endowment, but so many others -- they agreed to dedicate $200 million to support these efforts.

And this all is on top of what the Healthy Food Financing Initiative that the Obama administration started back in 2010. So there’s been a lot of coming together around this issue.

And with support from these programs, soon, this warehouse we sit in -- I mean, they dressed it up really nicely, it’s pretty impressive -- but this will be home to a brand new, fully stocked grocery store. And thousands -- thousands of families will be able to buy fresh fruit right in their own community.

And it sounds like a very simple thing, but there are too many communities that don’t have this kind of privilege. And I’m here today because I believe that every family in our country should have access to healthy food, because we can’t solve this problem if they don’t. You can’t look a parent in the face and tell them to feed their child better or healthier if they don’t have access to those resources. It’s not fair. If a parent wants to pack a piece of fruit in their child’s lunch, if they want to pick up a head of lettuce to make a salad, they shouldn’t have to get on a bus and go for hours into another community to make that happen. They shouldn’t have to pay for an expensive taxicab ride to get to another neighborhood just to make that simple act happen, something that so many Americans take for granted.

Instead, they should have a retailer, like Northgate, right in their own community. Again, it sounds so simple -- a place that sells healthy food at reasonable prices so that they can feed their families in the same way that so many people can and the way that they want to.

That’s how we solve this problem, one community, one household at a time, because when families have access to fresh food, that means that kids can get better nutrition. It’s as simple as that. And when kids have better nutrition, they grow up to be healthier. Simple as that. And when healthy kids become healthy adults, they’re less likely to suffer from conditions like diabetes, heart disease, cancer -- conditions that cost our economy billions of dollars every year. All preventable. All preventable. And when those kids take those healthy eating habits that they learned at childhood and we think about what they do with that knowledge, that can affect not just what they eat today but what they feed their own children years from now.

So let’s not be mistaken at any level. When we bring healthy food into our communities, we’re not just making this generation of kids healthier, but we’re working on the next and the next and the next. We don’t want our kids to struggle in the ways that we do. And they won’t if they have the information and if we as parents and communities, we have the information and we’re passing that on.

So I am so proud of what we’re all doing together. This is that simple thing. You take what appears to be a tough problem and you bring a little hope to it. And then you bring people together and you come up with smart, common-sense solutions, and then you do the hard work. And people respond. And lo and behold, it benefits our children. And that’s all that we want to do. In the end, we are doing this for our children.

So this work is inspiring. And I want to be traveling around the country and going to projects like these all over the country, just shining the light on what we can do together when we are focused on what matters most: our children.

So I want to congratulate all of you, all of the employees. You guys are making this happen. Do not underestimate the power of the service that you provide, creating a home in so many ways for your neighbors and your families and your friends. We are so incredibly proud of all of you. And I look forward to working with you in the months and the years ahead.

Thank you so much. Congratulations. (Applause.)

END 9:28 A.M. PST
##

*Photo of the First Lady with Mayor Butts, left and Mayor Villaraigosa by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

SoCal Trip: Michelle Obama Will Focus On Healthy Food Access For Hispanic Communities

First Lady will spotlight commitment to build supermarkets in underserved communities from California FreshWorks Fund and Northgate González Markets...
Following on the heels of Thursday's major commitment from Goya Foods to join the Let's Move! campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama next week will continue her focus on nutrition initiatives in the Hispanic community. Mrs. Obama will bring her childhood obesity campaign to the Los Angeles area for the first time on Wednesday, Feb. 1, as she hosts an event at Northgate González Market in Inglewood that will focus on eliminating food deserts. (Above: Mrs. Obama speaking during the Goya announcement)

"The fact is that today, Hispanic neighborhoods have one-third as many supermarkets as non-Hispanic neighborhoods," Mrs. Obama said during the Goya announcement.

There are 36 Northgate González Markets sprinkled across Southern California, located "in areas where first and second generation Mexican and Hispanic nationals predominantly live," according to the company. Mrs. Obama will be joined by Mayor James Butts, Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, and LA community leaders "to highlight progress being made to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved communities," the White House said.

Last July, as she unveiled major pledges from grocers to build or revamp stores in food deserts, Mrs. Obama announced the creation of the California FreshWorks Fund (CAFWF), a public-private financing initiative that committed to securing $200 million in funding to promote healthy food retailing in California, which would "create or retain" approximately 6,000 jobs, according to White House officials.

The CAFWF "is building a long term partnership with Northgate by providing the financing for their stores," the White House said. "Mrs. Obama’s event will showcase tangible changes being made by Northgate Gonzales Markets that will use FreshWorks financing to further prioritize healthy food retailing as they expand, create jobs, and nourish communities that otherwise lacked access to fresh affordable food."

"While one in three kids in America are overweight or obese, we know that in the Hispanic community, it’s nearly two in five," Mrs. Obama said on Thursday. As part of the Let's Move! campaign, Mrs. Obama has pledged to eradicate all of the estimated 6,500 US food deserts by 2017.

The First Lady's event will also serve to highlight the Obama Administration's efforts to create jobs and revitalize Hispanic communities, a key population for the 2012 re-elect campaign. Mrs. Obama will be in Los Angeles from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, and she will attend two Democratic National Committee fundraisers, as well as film segments for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Both appearances are to celebrate the upcoming second anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign in February.

In October of 2011, Mrs. Obama traveled to Chicago, Ill., for the first-ever Let's Move! Food Desert Summit, hosted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. For FY 2012, Congress approved $32 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, an interagency fund designed to eradicate food deserts.

*Photo by AP

Sam Kass On The Record: The Let's Move! Campaign In 2011...And In 2012

The First Lady's Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives talks about campaign achievements, challenges, and criticism...
"We've seen unprecedented movement in less than two years" for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives told Obama Foodorama. In a wide-ranging interview, Kass declared that the First Lady's signature initiative is "having a tremendous impact." He also discussed his favorite moments of 2011, ongoing criticism of the campaign, and details about the third and what could be the final year of Let's Move!, which begins in February. (Kass, above)

Now 31, Kass was just 28 when he arrived at the White House with President Obama and Mrs. Obama. He is the architect for many elements of the sweeping national campaign, but he has no delusions about the incredible challenges involved in achieving the First Lady's ambitious goals. Kass is the first to admit that childhood obesity is a complex problem, with a complicated and interconnected set of origins, from genetics through cultural influences.

"It took us decades to get into this, and it's going to take us decades to get out," Kass said. "We have a really long way to go--and the First Lady is in it for the long haul."

Mrs. Obama is hoping for nothing short of a society-wide paradigm shift in protecting child health and ending childhood obesity, something she believes is not only critical to returning America to its former position of global superstar--but which can also be a source of community revitalization and job creation. It's also key to improving educational achievement, and protecting national security, aides frequently point out: Some 27% of military recruits fail to qualify for service due to obesity. Let's Move! is good for America, plain and simple, according to the White House, from business through defense initiatives. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Kass during a White House event)

The campaign has a very long time frame, with an ultimate goal of reducing the current level of childhood obesity--about 17%--to just 5% by the year 2030. Thus Let's Move! was designed with multiple entry points and has a widely varied series of components, so a series of seemingly small steps will have a huge, concerted impact.

"I could never have predicted the amount of change and commitment that would have been announced in 2011," Kass said.

But he noted that it's exactly the kind of response Mrs. Obama hoped for with her call to action.

2011 for Let's Move!: Major private sector partnerships and grassroots efforts...
Literally millions of people joined Let's Move! last year, from families and children to sports legends such as Billie Jean King and Drew Brees, and teen TV stars, including those from Nickelodeon and Disney. Popstar Beyonce re-wrote one of her songs for the campaign, and had students from more than 600 middle schools across the US dancing during a national work-out session. The video has now gotten more than 15 million hits on YouTube.

2011 saw an outpouring of private sector support, and Kass using the word "unprecedented" isn't hyperbole. Because while the campaign incorporates small steps, the commitments announced in 2011 were major. America's largest grocer, Walmart, led the way with the Nutrition Charter, a five-year plan that includes pledges to build markets in food deserts, work with suppliers to reformulate thousands of food products, reduce the price point for fruit and vegetables, and create a front-of-pack nutrition label for food products.

"Walmart has pledged to reduce the costs of fruit and vegetables by a billion dollars in one year," Kass said. "These are efforts that are going to have a huge impact."

The company has more than 140 million customers weekly, and Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs Leslie Dach has announced that "Walmart moms" are already seeing changes in stores.

The nation's largest pharmacy chain, Walgreens, and other grocery chains joined Walmart in a pledge to improve food access and affordability, committing to build or revamp 1,500 grocery markets to help achieve a centerpiece Let's Move! goal of eliminating all US food deserts by 2017. Congress approved $32 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative for FY 2012, a program designed to further the effort to eradicate food deserts. In October, Kass and Mrs. Obama traveled to Chicago for the first Let's Move! Food Desert Summit, which broguht together Mayors from across the US to discuss Let's Move! initiatives in their cities. More food desertcommitments were announced in November. (Above: Mrs. Obama speaking at the food desert announcement)

Darden Restaurants, Inc., the largest casual dining chain in the US, serving more than 400 million meals annually, announced a series of menu changes across its brands (including Olive Garden and Red Lobster), which includes making fruit and vegetables a default side and lowering calories and sodium across all menus. Hyatt Hotels recently announced a similar commitment for its thousands of venues.

America's largest private-sector childcare companies have signed on to Let's Move Childcare, to bring healthy eating and fitness initiatives to the pre-school sector, as well as to promote breastfeeding, a key way to insulate children against childhood obesity. Kaiser Permanente pledged to make 29 hospitals "baby friendly," which will also include a focus on breastfeeding support.

"We've seen tremendous progress in all stakeholders coming together to make real strides," Kass said. "These are efforts that start to really add up."

There has also been important work at the federal level that's key to the campaign and the culture-wide shift it is creating. Mrs. Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010, which retools the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. In 2011, Let's Move! enrolled 1,631 public schools in the HealthierUS School Challenge, a USDA program that rewards schools participating in the federal meal programs for best practices in nutrition and fitness initiatives. Last summer, Mrs. Obama joined USDA officials to announce the MyPlate initiative, a graphic icon and healthy eating campaign built around the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

"MyPlate completely transforms the government's perspective and view on how to think about healthy meals," Kass said. "And does it in a way that's applicable to what it means to eat."

"That's all about cooking. That's a big deal."

Kass and White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford appeared on national television in 2011 to demonstrate easy, family friendly MyPlate recipes, and there will be more MyPlate initiatives in the year ahead. There are now more than 5,000 organizations participating in USDA's MyPlate Nutrition Communicators Network.

In addition to the tent pole commitments and projects that garner headlines, there has been plenty of other Let's Move activity.

"There's the big announcements you see onstage with the First Lady," Kass said. "But there is so much more work being done on the ground at the grassroots level."

"We've seen gardens springing up all over the country. We've seen cooking programs everywhere and chefs playing an increased roll in educating people. We're seeing science teachers building gardens to teach kids about healthy eating. We're seeing parents deciding you know what, we're going to take our kids out today and we're going to go run for a half an hour."

Chefs Move to Schools, which marries professional chefs to schools, now has close to 4,000 chefs enrolled, according to Kass, who along with the other White House chefs has adopted his own school, Harriet Tubman Elementary in Washington, DC. Entire communities have joined the campaign, through Let's Move Cities and Towns. Many, many groups and private sector partners have been invited to the White House to discuss their projects and how they can join the campaign.

"When you put all the initiatives together, there's just no question that there's nothing that comes close to the amount of movement," Kass said.

Favorite moments...
The First Lady's Kitchen Garden remains a favorite part of his job, Kass said. The 1,500 square foot plot produced more than 2,500 pounds of vegetables in 2011, used for everything from the First Family's meals to State Dinners. About a third of the crops are donated to local social services agency Miriam's Kitchen to be used for meals for DC's neediest. The garden grows through the winter, thanks to protective hoop houses. Harvests and plantings include school students each time. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Kass with a young helper during the 3 Sisters Harvest and Planting)

"The garden is a true highlight every year," Kass said. In addition to all his policy work, Kass still cooks for the First Family when he's not away from the White House being the ambassador for the campaign.

Mrs. Obama's book about the garden, American Grown, will be published this April. Pretty much guaranteed to be a bestseller, the book will ensure healthy eating and gardening remain in the headlines.

Kass traveled around the US visiting food and policy conferences and groups in 2011, and deemed November's first-ever national childhood obesity conference from Partnership for a Healthier America, the non-profit created to support the campaign, as one of his personal highlights for 2011. More than 800 child health advocates, businesses, academics, medical professionals, and elected officials met in in Washington for the two-day conference.

"Not talking about the issue, but taking action on the issue was a really fantastic moment," Kass said.

Kass emceed a culinary competition, the Great American Family Dinner Challenge during the conference, and said the seemingly uncomfortable moments onstage when six-year-old judge Austin Jackson repeatedly spit out the healthy but delicious offerings created by four James Beard Award-winning chefs, including Top Chef host Tom Colicchio, was another favorite moment of 2011.

"I loved that little kid," Kass said. "What Austin showed us is this stuff isn't easy. It takes commitment on behalf of parents to really work with their kids to ensure they're getting the vegetables they need. It's hard."

Through The Looking Glass: Campaign criticism...
Still, despite all the achievements, the criticism of the First Lady for the campaign--and personally--was relentless in 2011. It had a Through The Looking Glass feel: Mrs. Obama is either doing too little or too much, depending on who is doing the criticizing. Those who lean conservative dislike what they perceive as Mrs. Obama's effort to exert Big Government control over what is apparently a Constitutionally protected freedom to consume unhealthy food. Mrs. Obama has been called a Food Nazi, the Food Police, and worse. "No Fries For You!" screamed the headline on Drudge Report when Mrs. Obama joined Darden executives to announce the Let's Move! collaboration.

What the First Lady eats privately routinely makes for excoriating headlines, which often include speculative calorie counts for her meals at restaurants, and meals served to White House guests. But this can be seen as a sign of progress for the campaign: It indicates that large media entities believe that Mrs. Obama has raised the nation's nutritional awareness enough that the average reader actually understands what daily caloric intake should be. What other First Lady in history has been married in headlines to calorie counts?

And then there are people like Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who recently blamed his derogatory comments about Mrs. Obama's posterior on a dislike of the Let's Move! campaign. There's simply no explaining that kind of willingness to bash a Presidential spouse.

Those who are ostensibly healthy food advocates have criticized Mrs. Obama for not doing enough. She's repeatedly chastised for partnering with Big Food corporations, especially with Walmart, which was the subject of intense protests before Mrs. Obama came on the scene. A popular yet incredible idea seems to be that because Mrs. Obama has encouraged gardening and sourcing from local farmers, her campaign will be meaningless until she is willing to throw her considerable influence into driving major national food corporations permanently out of business. (Above: Mrs. Obama speaking to more than 1,000 school representatives invited to the White House to celebrate the success of HealthierUS Schools Challenge)

The criticism from food advocates reached a nadir in November, when Mrs. Obama announced that Let's Move! will have a renewed focus on physical fitness in 2012. She was vilified for "caving in" to food corporations, with critics claiming that highlighting the importance of physical fitness meant she was giving up on efforts to ensure that America's children eat healthier food.

Entirely untrue, said Kass. The focus on physical fitness in 2012 comes after two years of devoting most of the campaign attention to food and nutrition initiatives. Kids are still spending an average of seven hours in front of various media screens, and "focusing a significant amount of energy on physical activity" from the campaign is a must, Kass said.

"That's a critical component of kids being healthy. But of course we're going to always strive to improve the health and nutrition of food served to young people."

Still, after two years of such criticism, Kass is sanguine about it all.

"I can't go on the record about misinformed opinions," Kass said. "But what I do know is the First Lady has dedicated the past two years to improving the health of the nation's kids."

"She's made it very clear that this is an issue she will continue to work on while she is in the White House--and for the rest of her life."

Against the backdrop of the noisy criticism, Mrs. Obama was named to Time magazine's 2011 list of 100 Most Influential People in the World for the Let's Move! campaign. She was also one of the inaugural honorees for the James Beard Foundation's Sustainable Leadership Awards, and Michael Pollan named her the "World's Most Powerful Foodie" in Forbes magazine. Kass was named to Fast Company magazine's 2011 list of the "100 Most Creative People in Business" thanks to the White House Walmart partnership. He is #11 on the list of genius executives, impresarios and artisans who are transforming the world.

The year ahead for Let's Move!...
Even if President Obama loses the election next November, the Let's Move! campaign will continue, thanks to Partnership for a Healthier America. But it will no longer be centered in the White House. So Let's Move! will grow even larger this year, Kass said. The many sub-components that have already been launched will become more detailed.

"We'll see deepening and expanding of existing programs," Kass said.

"We've got really solid platforms with Chefs Move, with Let's Move Faith and Communities, Let's Move Cities and Towns, and we're going to be working to deepen the impact and expand the reach of those programs."

There will be more private sector partnerships, managed by Partnership for a Healthier America, which monitors these commitments.

"I can't predict what companies are going to come to the table and what companies aren't," Kass said. "But we're going to continue to work towards these goals and see who steps up this year to become part of the solution."

USDA is expected to release its final nutritional guidelines for the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act this month, and despite recent Congressional measures that deregulated both potato and tomato usage in school cafeterias, Kass is not overly worried. In October, under much pressure from lobbyists and big food corporations, Congress mandated that potatoes and other starchy vegetables can be served in schools in unrestricted quantities each week; USDA had proposed restricting these this to once weekly, to make more room for dark green and dark orange vegetables on cafeteria menus. In November, Congress officially made pizza sauce "a vegetable."

"In the end the nutrition standards are going to be raised significantly," Kass said.

"There will be more resources for schools, and we're going to be well on our way to really dramatically improving school lunch."

The First Lady recently vowed to take "bold steps" to ensure the child nutrition legislation is implemented properly.

As for the President's re-election campaign impacting the amount of time Mrs. Obama can devote to Let's Move! in 2012? Kass said he is not concerned that Mrs. Obama will be out on the campaign trail. Nor is he worried that her other national campaign, Joining Forces, will reduce Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! efforts.

"She's going to continue to do everything she can to help make the healthy choice the easy choice and to make better health for kids the norm in this country," Kass said.

"Let's Move Boldly" could be the campaign's new slogan for 2012. Stay tuned....

Related: Read this pocket guide to the Let's Move! campaign, which explains the five pillars that constitute the Administration's childhood obesity initiatives. Download the full White House Childhood Obesity Task Force Report [PDF], which is the framework for the campaign.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

Kass On The Healthy Food Financing Initiative: Lack Of Funds Won't Stop Food Desert Fight

A Top White House Food Story, 2011: Congress funds key component of Let's Move! campaign, but at $298 million below Obama Administration's request...
In a year when reducing the federal budget was a months-long battle in Washington, it is almost a miracle that the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) got funded at all. A crucial component of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, which she has been promoting for almost two years, the HFFI is an inter-agency project from the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and USDA that will provide things like grants, low-interest loans and new market tax credits for grocery stores and other projects to be built in food deserts. It was created to help achieve Mrs. Obama's goal of eradicating America's thousands of food deserts by 2017, and will bring "critical resources to communities that really need it most, where it's actually connecting the needs of people and businesses," said Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives (above).

President Obama's budget for FY 2012 asked for $330 million for the HFFI. But Congress allocated just $32 million in the "megabus" appropriations bill the President signed on Dec. 23rd, though the HFFI is "a key component of the Administration's efforts to combat childhood obesity," according to the White House. USDA estimates that 23.5 million* people, including 6.5 million children, live in about 6,500 food deserts in the continental US, urban and rural areas where there is no or very low access to fresh fruit and vegetables and other healthy foods. The national childhood obesity rate is about 17%.

Despite not getting $298 million in requested funding, the $32 million is a win for Mrs. Obama: Congress declined to fund the HFFI at all for FY 2011. In October, Kass said he "firmly believed" the First Lady's goal of eradicating food deserts will be achieved. But five years and 6,500 food deserts breaks down to more than 1,300 projects that must be created each year to meet the 2017 deadline. (Above: Mrs. Obama announcing private sector food desert commitments)

Will the loss of $298 million in hoped-for funding derail the plan?

It's going to make the rapid push "very difficult," Kass admitted.

"But it doesn't mean we're going to give up on working to solve this problem," he said.

Kass pointed to the major private-sector pledges Mrs. Obama got for the Let's Move! campaign this year, when corporations including Walmart, Walgreens, SuperValu and regional outlets committed to build or transform grocery stores in food deserts, with as many as 1,500 projects being completed in the next five years. The pledges are a huge achievement for the Let's Move! campaign, he said.

"Obviously the more resources to solve this challenge the better," Kass said. "But we didn't need that [federal] financing for a lot of companies to step up and make the commitments."

None of the major corporations in the Let's Move! partnership are receiving HFFI funding, according to the White House. Walmart has already opened 20 of the 275-300 markets it has promised, according to Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs Leslie Dach. Walgreens has unveiled some of its revamped outlets, which now offer healthy foods.

Kass said that there'll be more Let's Move! work on eliminating food deserts in 2012, but declined to give details, other than saying that the Treasury will be awarding more grants for the HFFI. In September, Treasury awarded its first funding for the HFFI for FY 2011, $25 million in grants for projects to twelve Community Development Financial Institutions in nine states. This was the first financial activity for the HFFI, since Mrs. Obama unveiled it in February of 2010. The award profiles are here. Other regional food desert commitments from the private sector were announced in October.

There will be more corporate partnerships for the Let's Move! campaign in 2012; that's the goal of Partnership for a Healthier America, the non-profit foundation created to continue Mrs. Obama's work. She's the honorary chair, and PHA manages and monitors such initiatives.

"There's a lot of ways that we can solve this," Kass said about eradicating food deserts.

From the FY 2012 megabus, $22 million of the HFFI funding will be through the Treasury Department, and $10 million through the Department of Health and Human Services, as part of the Community Economic Development Program. USDA could allocate more funds from various programs to HFFI projects, too.

The White House regards building super markets in food deserts as a job-creating project that revitalizes communities; "thousands of jobs" will be created by the private sector commitments to build in food deserts, numerous White House aides said during the Walmart/Walgreens/SuperValu announcement. The HFFI is modeled on a state-level project in Pennsylvania, and will, in theory, "leverage" millions more dollars than the actual funding into local economies.

In October, the First Lady and Kass, along with other Administration officials, traveled to Chicago for the first-ever Let's Move! Food Desert Summit, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the President's former Chief of Staff, brought together Mayors from across the US to discuss ways to eliminate food deserts and boost community involvement in Let's Move!.

USDA's original "implementation plan" laying out the framework for the HFFI IS HERE {PDF}.
________________________

*USDA has two different ways of calculating what constitutes a food desert, and one method cites 13.5 million as the number of people living without access to healthy food. For both calculations, USDA says that 6.5 million children live in food deserts. Mrs. Obama, Kass, and all other White House officials use the higher population number when discussing food desert initiatives.

"How USDA defines food deserts is obviously a challenge and a work in progress and I think we're going to continue to evolve that tool," Kass said when asked about the variation in food desert population numbers.

"What's important here is that the country is coming together to solve that issue."

Related: Read this pocket guide to the Let's Move! campaign, which explains the five pillars that constitute the Administration's childhood obesity effort. Download the full White House Childhood Obesity Task Force Report [PDF]. In 2011, Congress showed itself more likely to protect the interests of business rather than child health, as the recent forays into potato and tomato regulation for school lunches indicate.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama