Obama to set up a White House farmer's market
The market will supply school cafeterias with fresh produce and help local farmers.
By Bryan NelsonFri, Aug 21 2009 at 3:36 PM EST
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WHITE HOUSE: Michelle Obama holds a food and nutrition event at the White House's organic garden. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Not long ago, the first lady planted the first seeds for the White House's own organic garden. Now the Obamas want to expand the idea to set up a farmers market just outside the White House.
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One aim of the market will be to help local farmers deliver fresh produce to D.C. school cafeterias, to encourage kids to make healthier choices in their diet. The president announced the plan at an interactive health care strategy meeting yesterday:
"When it comes to food, one of the things that we are doing is working with school districts ... 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 -- 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.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? It suddenly gives D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue-maker for local farmers in the area."
There's no word yet on whether any of the produce from the White House's own organic garden will be part of the bounty, but the market should provide a shining symbol for the organic and local food movement.
Source: Huffington Post
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Comments
erin.p.fielding
08/24/2009 16:45 PM
I think that this shows that President Obama is in tune with what is going on in the local food movement and that he is encouraging healthier eating for school children. It's great that it has his backing and I don't see why this could be a bad idea at all. Even if it doesn't pan out, I think the intentions are honorable.
robert-gould
08/23/2009 15:33 PM
I think farmers markets are great, so if the Obamas want to set up a farmers market outside the White House go for it. It is a good thought.
The thing is as others have mentioned is the food already being distributed to schools and the way parents are teaching children about food. It really starts at home.
David Adams
08/22/2009 16:01 PM
You do know that lead was found in the soil samples of the white house garden,
don't you? 'Feeling Good' is no substitute for research.
hannah
08/22/2009 18:31 PM
lead is sometimes associated with coal power
http://www.inteldaily.com/news/144/ARTICLE/9251/2009-01-12.html
Jo Anne
08/22/2009 12:02 PM
I'm all for free speech, and I believe to the core of my being that everyone has a right to his or her opinion. But I find the tone of some of these comments disturbing. These pages and comments are being read by people around the globe. I feel that the Post has a responsibility to exclude from publication those comments which lack civility. You can disagree with the President's plans and policies using intelligent, civilized language. Reading these comments I feel like I'm watching the.... More
Theron
08/23/2009 18:41 PM
Gee, good idea... Let's arbitrarily censor free sppech and thought. That'll show the rest of the world how a free and democratic country should operate.
Anonymous
08/24/2009 10:53 AM
The president is encouraging us to introduce healthier foods into the lives of children and adults in order to better our eating habits and therefore our long term health.
This is not censorship. This does not even resemble the definition of censorship.
Way to generalize.
Jo Anne
08/22/2009 12:05 PM
I meant Mother Nature Network....NOT Washington Post. I am replying to two different message boards at the same time and got them mixed up. Apologies!
Anonymous
08/22/2009 11:27 AM
The Obamas' idea to create an organic garden and set up a farmer's market at the White House are good ideas, but they of course will only benefit a small handful of kids. There are already many great farmer's markets in DC, MD, and VA - and around the country. If Obama really wanted to make an impact on getting healthy, local food in schools he would work on connecting the existing markets to school lunch programs. But the bigger issue beyond that is that the government subsidizes big.... More
Anonymous
08/22/2009 11:10 AM
Stuff white people like:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/18/5-farmers-markets/
tomb
08/22/2009 06:10 AM
One major flaw in this assumption is that we have no "food distribution system" hell we do and it woks fine. The problemis that USDA has made school lunches an industrial venture esigned to put money into agriculture. Fine point here, most of the healthly food people think of is not agriculture, but horticulture, fruits and veggies. Make USDA school lunches accountable for the content, then you don't need to re invent the wheel.
BabySinister
08/22/2009 09:34 AM
offcourse by saying we have no "food distribution system" he obviously means that we have no large scale distribution system that would make it possible for every school in the USA to get its food from local producers. furthermore part of a "distribution system" is making deals with schools, being able to compete (be it on quality or prize) with "regular" foodsources, and offcourse to educate not only the schools and children, but most importantly the parents.
because, and we tend to.... More
Anonymous
08/22/2009 04:54 AM
I'm so into this! go obamas!
James
08/22/2009 04:50 AM
haha, you called Administration is a joke? Why are you exist until today then in any country there is administration? You should go just stay in mountain.
Farmer Brown
08/22/2009 03:35 AM
Anybody?
T Rogers
08/22/2009 10:45 AM
They don't. Most of the Republican-supporting States produce food. Heck, they even give Federal money to subsidize tobacco farmers because the Gubberment is spending so much on anti-smoking campaigns.
Obama Girl
08/21/2009 23:21 PM
The President announced a project to create better school lunches, AND a White House Farmers Market. Two different projects. The Farmers Market is for local produce to be sold to increase access to fresh food and stimulate the local economy, and getting Farm to School programs going is a way to get more produce into school lunch programs, AND stimulate local economies. The Farmers Market has nothing to do with the Farm to School project...other than that they both involve fresh produce..... More
