Costco Connection - June 2012

even look at: eggplant, green and red peppers, onions, squashes. The kids had worked in the garden; they had pulled a lot of the stuff that we were eating. And every single one of them dove into those pizzas because it was their work.

That’s something we try to share through Let’s Move!, particularly with parents and schoolteachers. There’s an important way to introduce healthy foods into the lives of kids; they have to feel like they’re a part of it. And we’ve learned that through our garden.

CC: How often do you eat something from your garden?

MO: I’m sure that 95 percent of the time the food is coming from the garden when it’s there. If we have a state dinner or a large important dinner, we incorporate something from the garden on the menu.

QUENTIN BACON

of Seeds change

CC: That’s great, and it gets back to fostering that sense of community.

MO: Absolutely. [In the book, White House executive chef] Cristeta Comerford tells how they’re now developing their menus around what is seasonal and fresh in the garden. As she says, it’s the vegetable that dictates the meal, rather than the protein or the side. When you have the power of growing some of the tastiest vegetables, you want that to be the highlight of the meal rather than something else.

First Lady sows passion for gardening
By Stephanie E. Ponder

WHEN FIRST LADY Michelle Obama started the White House kitchen garden in spring 2009, she had no idea of the seeds she was planting. Not only has the garden expanded to roughly 1,500 square feet and come to include a beehive on the South Lawn, but gardening in general has become a passion for the first lady. She chronicles her journey in American Grown.

More than just a history of the White House garden, the book highlights community garden projects in cities such as Milwaukee, Houston and Seattle. Obama also provides tips and addresses how engaging children in the process of growing and harvesting fresh foods complements her Let’s Move! program to address childhood obesity.

The Connection recently spoke by phone with Mrs. Obama about the White House garden, the book and, of course, children.

As I talk about in the book … it has become a community space in so many ways.

CC: The notion of community is a strong thread throughout the book, whether it’s supporting a local farmers market or sharing the bounty of your garden. Can you speak to that?

MO: My main focus was to have this garden begin a conversation about the health of our nation and in particular our children. And [I wanted] to make the garden a space for young people to learn where their food comes from and gain a better appreciation for how different foods impact their health. A lot of this other wonderful discovery that we’ve made—how gardens become part of a community and bring people together—was a happy by-product of this garden, but it wasn’t something that I was expecting to happen.

CC: Not everybody has access to a farmers market or a garden, but you point out that even a pot on the fire escape is a small change most people can make.

MO: When most people think of a garden they’re thinking about acres of land, tractors, weeds, overalls and the whole nine yards. The truth is gardening can be as simple as a pot in the backyard or the fire escape.

There are no boundaries to making these kinds of changes in our communities. All you need is some decent soil and some good sunlight. Hopefully people … will be inspired to try to do the same thing in their communities or in their schools.

The book is bigger than just the White House garden, as it should be, because the conversation is bigger than anything that I’m doing. I’m new to the game. People have been doing this for generations.

There’s no reason why every community can’t have something [similar], which is why the stories are so diverse. We want it to feel real for people so that they can explore the possibilities in their own lives. C

Costco Connection: Who is involved in making the decisions on what is grown in the garden?

Michelle Obama: We have a good team of people that includes our chefs—they really play the largest role in determining what we’re going to grow because they’re the ones who go down to the garden almost daily and pick from it. We also work with the National Park Service people who help to maintain it.

CC: A farmer once told me that once kids see where their food comes from, reluctant eaters are suddenly willing to eat their vegetables.

MO: We see that at harvest time every season, because the kids who come to plant are the kids who come for the harvest. We’ve made eating our harvest an important part of it.

Last year we made veggie pizzas. We grilled the whole-wheat flatbread, we put fresh tomato sauce on it and carved up roasted vegetables that normally kids wouldn’t