let's move

Fighting Food Deserts
Remy Franklin Jul 28, 2011 Let's Move 0 comments
In 2009 the USDA issued a report to congress titled Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food – Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences. The report enhanced national awareness of food deserts, defined by the USDA as “a low-income census tract where a substantial number of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store." One year later, Michelle Obama announced her Let’s Move campaign against child obesity would take on food deserts, saying that “limited access to nutritious food and relatively easier access to less nutritious food may be linked to poor diets and, ultimately, to obesity and diet-related diseases.” USDA  Today 1 in 3 children...
Michelle Obama Prompts Food Giants to Get Healthy
FarmPlate Mar 23, 2010 Let's Move 0 comments
Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the Grocery Manufacturers Association to emphasize the importance of producing healthy, affordable foods to reduce childhood obesity. Mrs. Obama asked that the major food manufacturers take responsibility for improving their offerings in grocery stores by improving food labels and reducing salt and fat in the products they sell. With the national consciousness trending more and more toward healthy food consumption, big businesses are taking note. Several major food companies including PepsiCo, Kraft Foods and ConAgra have since announced that significant and voluntary improvements will be made in the nutritional value of their products in...
Federal Funding Coming for Farmers' Markets
FarmPlate Mar 02, 2010 Let's Move 2 comments
The USDA's Know Your Famer, Know Your Food initiative has earmarked $5 million in funding from the 2010 Farmers' Market Promotion Program for grants to develop new farmers' markets and enhance existing markets, roadsides stands and CSA programs as part of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign. USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the grant funding on a visit to New York City last Thursday, where she said, "The benefits of direct-to-consumer marketing are two-fold. Consumers are provided with fresh, healthy, affordable and locally grown products, while meeting the farmers that produce it. Farmers, on the other hand, are able to expand their economic opportunities and grow their...