Michelle Obama Launches a Program Matching Chefs to Schools

Calling all chefs. Sign up here.

As communities and organizations get behind the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to solve the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation, one group that could have a tremendous impact on the health and well being of children is the Nation’s chefs. As part of her effort to turn policies into practical solutions for America’s families, Mrs. Obama is calling on chefs to get involved by adopting a school and working with teachers, parents, school nutritionists and administrators to help educate kids about food and nutrition. By creating healthy dishes that taste good, chefs have a unique ability to deliver these messages in a fun and appealing way to the larger audience, particularly children.

The “Chefs Move to Schools” program, run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will pair chefs with interested schools in their communities so together they can create healthy meals that meet the schools’ dietary guidelines and budgets, while teaching young people about nutrition and making balanced and healthy choices. With more than 31 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the National School Breakfast Program, good nutrition at school is more important than ever.

“Many children consume as many as half of their daily calories at school and as families work to ensure that kids eat right and have active play at home, we also need to ensure our kids have access to healthy meals in their schools,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “We are going to need everyone’s time and talent to solve the childhood obesity epidemic and our Nation’s chefs have tremendous power as leaders on this issue because of their deep knowledge of food and nutrition and their standing in the community. I want to thank them for joining the Let’s Move! campaign.”

“Chefs and nutrition experts can play a critical role in addressing the childhood obesity crisis, and they are welcome partners as we work together to improve the overall health and nutrition of America’s children,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “By passing a strong reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, Congress can provide important resources to improve school cafeteria equipment and expand training opportunities for chefs, school food service personnel, and nutrition experts in our schools, because they will be on the front lines of improving school meals for our kids.”

“School cafeterias are the frontline for fostering a healthy lifestyle for children,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “This initiative is a creative and vital opportunity for children to learn and practice healthy habits. When partnerships between schools and the broader community are created, everyone wins.”

Chefs interested in signing up can do so by going to www.letsmove.gov and clicking on the “Chefs Move to Schools” button. In coming weeks, chefs will be paired with a school in their community that is interested in using them as a resource.

Vilsack's Forum on Rural Clean Energy Economies Video

This forum was held yesterday. The Department of Agriculture has been busy. It is also targeting new nutrition guidelines in schools.

Vilsack Aims for Better School Nutrition Guidelines

It's schools that depend on income from soda vending machines. For soda companies, school vending machines make up only a tiny part of their revenue.

Obama's Schedule May 5 Includes Cinco de Mayo Remarks

Obama will meet with republicans Jon Kyl at 11:15 am eastern, followed up by Orrin Hatch at 11:45 am. They are both on the judiciary committee, so the meetings might have to do with Obama's nomination for Supreme Court Justice. Obama might nominate someone this week.
At 1:30 pm, Obama speaks and signs the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act.
At 6 pm, Obama and Michelle Obama will attend a Cinco de Mayo reception.

Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, will hold a clean energy forum at 2:30 pm eastern. It will be live streamed at WhiteHouse.gov.

Obama Stops at Jerry's for Rhubarb Pie and Coffee

Obama apparently wanted to eat his pie and drink his coffee in peace and sent the press to the parking lot. Obama makes a pitstop at Jerry's in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Obama told the Ottumwa town hallers that he really likes pie and the White House makes good pie, which is what raised his cholesterol level.

The president of the United States likes his pie tart, his coffee stale and his reporters out in the parking lot.

President Obama, relaxed and strolling in shirtsleeves, popped by Jerry's restaurant on Rte. 218 in Mount Pleasant on Tuesday and took the afternoon crew by surprise around 2:30 p.m.

One of the workers immediately called his wife — who didn't believe him — so he handed the phone to former Gov. Tom Vilsack, who was part of the entourage, to confirm that Obama had ambled in. Read the rest at Politico

Obama also made a pitstop at MogoOrganic farm. Photo of Morgan Hoenig, founder of MogoOrganic, Obama, Tom Vilsack. See pictures and read more here.
Obama at Jerry's:

Obama's Memorandum on the Great Outdoors

Obama perhaps longing for the great outdoors

Updated with video below. Obama says he'd never shoot bear. He was talking about Roosevelt's legacy as a conservationist and a bear hunter. "I will probably never shoot a bear." I love this speech, not just for the subject matter, but because it embodies all that Obama is.

Obama spoke this morning at the Great Outdoors conference, which is live streaming all afternoon at WhiteHouse.gov. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will close the conference at 1:30 pm. The conference is about using and preserving land. I'll post video of Obama's remarks when video is available.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
THE CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

SUBJECT: A 21st Century Strategy for America's Great Outdoors

Americans are blessed with a vast and varied natural heritage. From mountains to deserts and from sea to shining sea, America's great outdoors have shaped the rugged independence and sense of community that define the American spirit. Our working landscapes, cultural sites, parks, coasts, wild lands, rivers, and streams are gifts that we have inherited from previous generations. They are the places that offer us refuge from daily demands, renew our spirits, and enhance our fondest
memories, whether they are fishing with a grandchild in a favorite spot, hiking a trail with a friend, or enjoying a family picnic in a neighborhood park. They also are our farms, ranches, and forests -- the working lands that have fed and sustained us for generations. Americans take pride in these places, and share a responsibility to preserve them for our children and grandchildren.

Today, however, we are losing touch with too many of the places and proud traditions that have helped to make America special. Farms, ranches, forests, and other valuable natural resources are disappearing at an alarming rate. Families are spending less time together enjoying their natural surroundings. Despite our conservation efforts, too many of our fields are becoming fragmented, too many of our rivers and streams are becoming polluted, and we are losing our connection to the parks, wild places, and open spaces we grew up with and cherish. Children, especially, are spending less time outside running and playing, fishing and hunting, and connecting to the outdoors just down the street or outside of town.

Across America, communities are uniting to protect the places they love, and developing new approaches to saving and enjoying the outdoors. They are bringing together farmers and ranchers, land trusts, recreation and conservation groups, sportsmen, community park groups, governments and industry, and people from
all over the country to develop new partnerships and innovative programs to protect and restore our outdoors legacy. However, these efforts are often scattered and sometimes insufficient. The Federal Government, the Nation's largest land manager, has a responsibility to engage with these partners to help develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st Century. We must look to the private sector and nonprofit organizations, as well as towns, cities, and States, and the people who live and work in them, to identify the places that mean the most to Americans, and leverage the support of the Federal Government to help these community-driven efforts to succeed. Through these partnerships, we will work to connect these outdoor spaces to each other, and to reconnect Americans to them.

For these reasons, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment.

(a) There is established the America's Great Outdoors Initiative (Initiative), to be led by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and implemented in coordination with the agencies listed in section 2(b) of this memorandum. The Initiative may include the heads of other executive branch departments, agencies, and offices (agencies) as the President may, from time to time, designate.

(b) The goals of the Initiative shall be to:

(i) Reconnect Americans, especially children, to America's rivers and waterways, landscapes of national significance, ranches, farms and forests, great parks,
and coasts and beaches by exploring a variety of efforts, including:

(A) promoting community-based recreation and conservation, including local parks, greenways, beaches, and waterways;

(B) advancing job and volunteer opportunities related to conservation and outdoor recreation; and

(C) supporting existing programs and projects that educate and engage Americans in our history, culture, and natural bounty.

(ii) Build upon State, local, private, and tribal priorities for the conservation of land, water, wildlife, historic, and cultural resources, creating corridors and connectivity across these outdoor spaces, and for enhancing neighborhood parks; and determine how the Federal Government can best advance those priorities through public private partnerships and locally supported conservation strategies.

(iii) Use science-based management practices to restore and protect our lands and waters for future generations.

Sec. 2. Functions. The functions of the Initiative shall include:

(a) Outreach. The Initiative shall conduct listening and learning sessions around the country where land and waters are being conserved and community parks are being established in innovative ways. These sessions should engage the full range of interested groups, including tribal leaders, farmers and ranchers, sportsmen, community park groups, foresters, youth groups, businesspeople, educators, State and local governments, and recreation and conservation groups. Special attention
should be given to bringing young Americans into the conversation. These listening sessions will inform the reports required in subsection (c) of this section.

(b) Interagency Coordination. The following agencies shall work with the Initiative to identify existing resources and align policies and programs to achieve its goals:

(i) the Department of Defense;

(ii) the Department of Commerce;

(iii) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(iv) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(v) the Department of Labor;

(vi) the Department of Transportation;

(vii) the Department of Education; and

(viii) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

(c) Reports. The Initiative shall submit, through the Chair of the CEQ, the following reports to the President:

(i) Report on America's Great Outdoors. By November 15, 2010, the Initiative shall submit a report that includes the following:

(A) a review of successful and promising nonfederal conservation approaches;

(B) an analysis of existing Federal resources and programs that could be used to complement those approaches;

(C) proposed strategies and activities to achieve the goals of the Initiative; and

(D) an action plan to meet the goals of the Initiative.

The report should reflect the constraints in resources available in, and be consistent with, the Federal budget. It should recommend efficient and effective use of existing resources, as well as opportunities to leverage nonfederal public and private resources and nontraditional conservation programs.

(ii) Annual reports. By September 30, 2011, and September 30, 2012, the Initiative shall submit reports on its progress in implementing the action plan developed pursuant to subsection (c)(i)(D) of this section.

Sec. 3. General Provisions.

(a) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of any necessary appropriations.

(b) This memorandum does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(c) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall assist and provide information to the Initiative, consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Initiative. Each executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses of participating in the Initiative.

(d) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(e) The Chair of the CEQ is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Obama Speaks at America's Great Outdoors Conference April 16

Obama fly fishing in the great outdoors of Montana

Update April 16: Obama's memorandum/speech on the Great Outdoors here.

The Great Outdoors conference begins at 9 am eastern and Obama will speak at 10:15 am eastern. Obama's speech and the conference will be live streamed at WhiteHouse.gov. Here's what it's all about:

Obama Administration Officials announced today that they will host a White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors on Friday, April 16, 2010. Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture are leading the conference, which will address the challenges, opportunities and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans and American families to the outdoors.

"America’s outdoors are part of our national identity. They are the farms, ranches and forests that we take great pride in, and the neighborhood parks, trails and fields where we spend memorable time with our families and friends,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Too many of these places are disappearing. In launching this conversation, we strive to learn about the smart, creative community efforts underway throughout the country to conserve our outdoor spaces, and hear how we can support these efforts.”

“Across the country, Americans are working to protect the places they know and love, from the streams they fished as children and the parks where families gather together to the battlefields and buildings that tell America’s story,” said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior. “The Conference is a great chance to learn about these efforts, start a new dialogue about conservation in America, and find ways to further the work that is already going on in cities and towns, counties and states throughout the country.”

“There is no doubt that we face serious challenges to our natural resources: climate change, air and water pollution, a lost connection between some Americans and the outdoors, and a fragmentation and loss of open space,” said Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. “We believe that the best way to answer these challenges is to work with landowners, conservation groups, sportsmen and women, local communities, and state and local governments to conserve America’s great outdoors, and in doing so, reconnect Americans to our forests, working lands and public lands.”

This conference will bring together leaders from communities across the country that are working to protect their outdoor spaces. Participants will include working ranchers and farmers, sportsmen and women, State and local government leaders, Tribal leaders, public lands experts, conservationists, youth leaders, business representatives and others who view the outdoors as integral to their communities. The discussion will center on the conservation opportunities in communities, the challenges facing them, and the innovative solutions they are crafting from the bottom up.

The conference will offer an opportunity for participants to engage with each other, learn from past and ongoing efforts, communicate how the Federal Government can support these efforts, and identify new opportunities to work together to modernize our approach to conservation, and reinvigorate the national conversation about our outdoors. WH

Michelle Obama on Eliminating Food Deserts

Some communities don't have a single supermarket. Michelle Obama calls them "food deserts."

Michelle Obama Visits Philly Grocery Store - Video

Michelle Obama's remarks at Fairhill Elementary School in Philadelphia:

Transcript.
Visit Let's Move.

Timothy Geithner in tow:

The first lady, accompanied by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, greeted the workers, telling them, “You guys are great.”

The first lady said that she “didn’t think many Treasury Secretaries can claim childhood obesity as part of their portfolio.”

“It’s pretty cool to have your husband’s Treasury Secretary enthusiastically as part of this imitative,” she said. “So I salute you.”

Obama made her way down the aisles to the fruit smoothie machine, where she ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie.

“I have my own money,” she told a worker, pulling out a $20 bill to pay for it. Politico

Vilsack on Helping Afghanistan Grow Food

Michelle Obama and Vilsack

Department of Ag head Tom Vilsack is in Afghanistan. He held a conference call today on U.S. aid to help Afghanistan grow food such as nuts and fruits, to exported and sold locally:

For the last two days I've had the opportunity to tour the country of Afghanistan with Minister Rahimi who is the agricultural minister. As you know, in December President Obama announced a new way forward for our efforts in Afghanistan, and during the course of his of speech at West Point he mentioned not only the military commitment, but also the need for us to make a commitment to a renewed agricultural economy for Afghanistan. There's no question that agriculture is critical to the success in Afghanistan in the long haul. Eighty percent of Afghanistan's population relies on agriculture for their income and livelihood. And the USDA is working closely with USAID, the State Department and the Department of Defense in a whole government approach to working with the Afghan minister. They recently announced a new framework for agriculture in this country, and we are putting people in the field and also in the capital to work side by side with Afghans towards the goals set forth in the framework. They are interested in increasing agricultural production of basic crops as well as horticultural crops that would increase their export opportunities. They need to rebuild their natural resources as a result of devastation and deforestation over the course of the last thirty years. They are very interested in helping to build an agribusiness that will enable Afghans to process products that they are able to raise into value-added products that can then be sold to their citizens and to people throughout the world, and specifically in Central Asia. And they are engaged in an effort to try to make the Ministry of Agriculture irrigation landscapes as efficient and as effective a department as possible. So they're working through a change management effort.

The USDA is partner on all four of those goals. In the area of productivity we're working with farmers to develop new strategies. I had the opportunity to meet with grape farmers who are in the process of using new methods for producing grapes here in Afghanistan that have substantially increased their yields. We had an opportunity to visit a number of folks earlier today in Helmand province where they are working with marines and USAID and USDA officials to essentially vaccinate livestock in order to increase the productivity of livestock.

In the area of natural resources we've had a chance to visit with folks from the USDA and also state natural resource departments who are working with Afghans to plant hundreds of thousands of new trees. There is a real interest and desire to look at the possibility of nut trees. This was once the center for tremendous nut production, and they are interested in returning to those days, recognizing that there are tremendous export opportunities in that area.

We are working closely with the Afghan ministry to assist in helping produce agribusinesses. Tomorrow I'll visit a juice factory where they are taking basically second and third grade level apples and other fruits and turning them into juice. It's a remarkable new opportunity for job growth in a country that currently has, in many areas, up to forty percent unemployment. Read more or listen here.

Michelle Obama Opens FreshFarm Farmer's Market in DC

Several hundred ecstatic FLOTUS fans gathered in the street amid the stands, including some of the vendors and other organic enthusiasts.

As part of her ongoing effort to focus on healthy eating, FLOTUS was there to celebrate the opening of the FRESHFARM farmer's market, aimed at selling healthy locally grown produce to people who work in the neighborhood.

"I have never seen so many people so excited about fruits and vegetables," she said to wild cheers. A transcript of her remarks will follow.

Other speakers included USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and DC mayor Fenty. Politico

Secretary of Ag's Tom Vilsack's press release:

As part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the awardees of the 2009 Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) at the opening of the FRESHFARM Market by the White House on Vermont Avenue with First Lady Michelle Obama. Deputy Secretary Merrigan, who chairs USDA's 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative, was also in attendance at the event. Reaching into communities across America, 86 grants totaling more than $4.5 million were awarded to encourage and support the viability of farmers markets and direct marketing projects nationwide. A national directory of farmers markets is available at www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets.

"Farmers markets have an important role in local and regional food systems by helping consumers have access to healthy, nutritious foods," said Vilsack. "These grants will help continue the recent expansion of farmers markets across the country to increase access to locally grown foods for consumers, and increase incomes for farmers." Read the rest

Biden, Sebelius and Vilsack Talk Food Safety

13 agencies worked to come up with guidelines on food safety:

Kathleen Sebelius and Tom Vilsack answer questions on food safety:

Biden and Vilsack Visit North Carolina April 1

Biden and Vilsack will be showing how the stimulus is affecting rural America. They'll also make an announcement on rural housing funding. For more on how the stimulus is being used, check in at Recovery.gov.

Vice President Joe Biden and Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday, April 1st to highlight how the Recovery Act is helping rural America.

They will travel to Faison, North Carolina to visit the Goshen Medical Center, which is a rural area clinic receiving Recovery Act funds and serves Duplin, Eastern Sampson and Southern Wayne Counties.

They will then travel to Pikeville, North Carolina to visit the area’s Rural Fire Department’s main station, which is receiving Recovery Act funds to help build a new facility, because the current station cannot accommodate the necessary ladder trucks required to adequately and safely fight fires.

The Vice President and Secretary Vilsack will also make a major announcement regarding rural housing funding. WH

Vilsack Helps Kicks Off Rural Broadband Initiative

Hold on to your hats republican folk, Obama's doing yet something else. He's walking and chewing like 10 pieces of gum. Okay, now I'm getting punchy.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack, Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps and U.S. Dept. of Commerce Senior Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff Rick Wade kicked off the joint broadband initiative under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act today and announced a series of public meetings that will give Americans an opportunity to help shape the program.

"President Obama's commitment to expanding broadband service to rural areas will provide rural communities with access to worldwide markets and the education, first responder, and health care resources they need to prosper and compete," Vilsack said. "The Department of Agriculture stands ready to partner with the Department of Commerce and Federal Communications Commission to support the President's goal to deploy high-speed internet service in rural and unserved communities."

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Services (RUS) today also released a Joint Request for Information and Notice of Public Meetings (RFI), which invites comments from interested parties on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the RUS grants and loans program established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. To encourage public participation, the RFI sets a schedule of public meetings from March 16-24. That will give Americans an opportunity to discuss how NTIA and the Rural Utility Service should design and implement these programs. Each of these meetings will feature a roundtable discussion and an opportunity for public comment.

The meetings will be webcast, and as part of the effort to broaden public input, the March 17 meeting will be held in Las Vegas, Nev., with the following day's meeting scheduled for Flagstaff, Ariz. Read more

Other Vilsack news: transcript and video of the announcement of how the stimulus will help low income families and rural development here. $145 million will go to increasing the average SNAP payment (a food program for low income families). $25 million for food banks. On the reinvestment side, $980 million will go to forest maintenance, which will create 1,500 jobs, mostly for young workers. $1.1 billion for single family housing in rural America. $145 million for farm loans. And so much more.

Vilsack Hangs With Cookie Monster

To know more of the agriculture secretary's goings on check out Obamafoodorama, which doesn't paint Tom Vilsack in the most positive light but it's interesting information.
Here's eating guidance from the Department of Ag on Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life. The best eating guidance out there is by Michael Pollan: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Read that story here.

Obama Picks Kathleen Merrigan Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

Reuters: President Barack Obama chose Kathleen Merrigan, an assistant professor at Tufts University who helped develop U.S. organic food labeling rules, for the Agriculture Department's No 2 job, the White House said on Monday.

Merrigan, tapped for deputy secretary of Agriculture, was head of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service from 1999-2001 during the Clinton era and helped develop USDA's rules on what can be sold as organic food. As a Senate aide, she worked on the 1990 law that recognized organic farming.

"Sustainable and organic farmers are excited ... that someone who has been associated with these issues her whole career is going to be at that level in the department," said Ferd Hoefner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Hoefner encouraged the Senate to confirm Merrigan for the post.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was confirmed on Jan 20. The deputy agriculture secretary usually oversees day-to-day operations of USDA.

A 2004 story written by Merrigan.
Bio at Tufts:

She earned a Ph.D. in urban and environmental planning from MIT and a master's degree in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She comes to Tufts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where most recently, she was administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service.

Merrigan has worked on a wide range of agricultural and food policy issues, including the development of the federal standard for organic food, and on matters related to biotechnology, sustainable agriculture, agricultural research and extension, pesticides, animal and plant health and agricultural appropriations. She currently serves on the advisory board for the Pew Initiative on Biotechnology. Prior to her appointment at the USDA, she was a policy analyst at the Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture.

Merrigan's international experience includes work on organic agriculture with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; with the Water Policy Institute of the Polytechnic University of Krakow on pesticides; and with the Netherlands Ministry of the Environment. She has written extensively on sustainable agriculture policy in the United States and is frequently invited to give congressional testimony on agriculture and environmental issues.

Other nominations:
Ashton Carter for Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition.

Jon Cannon Environmental Protection Agency's deputy administrator.

Seth Harris for deputy secretary of labor.

Tom Strickland for assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks at the Department of the Interior.

Michelle Obama Visits Department of Agriculture

Continuing her visits to various governmental departments, Michelle Obama stopped off at the Department of Ag today:

Building gardens at USDA facilities all over the world is "a very good thing," First Lady Michelle Obama said on a visit to the Department of Agriculture today, for the example it sets for communities around the world. And she had kind words for Secretary Tom Vilsack, who has been leading that effort.

She even brought a gift to help the garden at Agriculture's headquarters get started -- a seedling from the Jackson magnolia tree on the South Portico of the White House, planted by President Jackson in honor of his wife, Rachel, who passed right before they moved into the White House.

"I hope that this seedling brings years of joy and beauty to the garden that will be planted here, in the same way it has brought beauty to the White House for 180 years," she said.

The long version:

Pool report
Michelle Obama USDA,
Thursday at 2 p.m.

Michelle Obama paid a visit to employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture today in the auditorium of the agency's 14th Street building. She was introduced by newly appointed Sec. Tom Vilsack, who pronounced her holder of "probably the most difficult job of all."

She has to be someone the president can rely on so he can do his job, he said, and "That is an important job." The first lady thanked Vilsack for the "moving introduction."

The event was televised and the transcript is forthcoming, but here are some highlights: She recommended Vilsack to the employees who now work for him, saying "You all are blessed to have him." She praised the concept of "community gardens," and presented the agency with a seedling from the magnolia at the south portico of the White House, planted by President Andrew Jackson in honor of his wife Rachel. She also praised the veteran employees of the USDA who joined her on stage, all of whom have worked at least 38 years with the department. She thanked the workers in the audience for their service and told them "We're going to need you working hard for the next several years."

Mrs. Obama made brief reference to her husband's economic stimulus plan, which she said will help pay for clean energy technology, and also to the housing plan he unveiled yesterday, which she predicted will help homeowners deal with the home mortgage crisis. She shook hands with everyone on stage and then worked the crowd for a while.

From Larry Quinn, an agronomist who is acting as director of communications for the agency: The magnolia tree will be planted somewhere in the landscaping at the agency"s Whitten building facing the national mall, but they won"t decide where until they see exactly what species the plant belongs to. "We certainly want it to survive," said Quinn.

Christi Parsons
Chicago Tribune
cparsons@tribune.com

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the First Lady
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release February 19, 2009

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
2:19 P.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you so much. Thank you. You all take a load off your feet. (Laughter.)

First of all, I want to thank Secretary Vilsack for that very moving introduction for me. It is an honor for me to serve in this capacity, and coming to these departments, like I've been doing, is probably one of the -- next to hanging out with Malia and Sasha -- (laughter) -- is probably one of the most valuable things that I think that I can do.

We're so lucky to have Secretary Vilsack. I got to know him on the campaign trail; spent a lot of time in Iowa. He brings to this job a lifetime of public service in one of the greatest states in this country, which has become one of my favorite states, Iowa. (Laughter.) You get to know Iowa. When you're running for President, you spend a lot of time in Iowa. And it is a good place with decent, hardworking people with some strong values.

And getting to know the state, as I've done, and getting to know Secretary Vilsack, as I have, over the past several years, I know that we are lucky and you all are blessed to have someone who is so committed and knows so much about so many things regarding agriculture. Working with family farms and rural communities, he's going to bring all of that experience to his work here at the Department of Agriculture. And we are grateful to have him onboard. So let's give him a round of applause. (Applause.)

I was also particularly pleased to hear that he's working on creating these wonderful gardens here at the USDA. Did you know that?

AUDIENCE: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: That's a very good thing -- (laughter) -- and kicking off this effort to build these gardens all over the world in all of the facilities of the USDA, because I'm a big believer in community gardens, both because of their beauty and for their access to providing fresh fruits and vegetables to so many communities across this nation and the world.

So to help kick this effort off, I brought a little gift to get this garden going. It's right here in this pot. (Laughter.) It is a seedling. It will be beautiful one day. (Laughter.) But right now it's a seedling. And it's a special seedling because it comes from the Jackson magnolia tree. And the Jackson magnolia tree sits on the South Portico of the White House. And it's a special tree because it was planted by President Jackson in honor of his wife, Rachel, who passed right before they moved into the White House. So I hope that this seedling brings years of joy and beauty to the garden that will be planted here, in the same way it has brought beauty to the White House for 180 years. So please accept this gift from the White House. (Applause.)

So as you probably heard, I've been running around the District visiting departments. And as I've said, it's been one of the most fun things that I've done. My purpose is simple: It's to say thank you. You know, that's something that Barack and I talked about; talked about all the folks who have dedicated their lives, as the people on this stage have done for -- did I hear the youngest worker on here has worked for 38 years? See, I have staff on the back who gulp every time they hear that -- (laughter) -- because they're like 20. (Laughter.) So they can't imagine doing anything for longer than four years. (Laughter.)

But what is true and what America needs to remember is that this nation is built on the backs of you, workers who have dedicated their lifetimes to working on behalf of the issues that are so important to this nation. And before we do anything here in this town, in this country, we thought it is important to say thank you for the work that you've done, thank you for the work that you're going to do, because we're going to need you working so very hard over the next several years. So thank you.

It's important for people to know what happens here at the Department of Agriculture. As you begin moving the policies and programs of this administration forward, I wanted to come by and just remind people of the work that you do.

From supporting the farmers that produce the food that we eat, to managing the school meal programs that give students the energy and the nutrition they need to get through the day, to providing greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables, to giving struggling families the assistance they need to put food on their table, and to protecting our food supply, the work of this department touches the lives of all Americans on a daily basis in ways that sometimes we can't even imagine.

And like many parts of this country, rural America is hurting economically. The President is taking steps to turn our economy around and help struggling families. And the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program will insure more children, including those in rural communities, so that they get the health care that they need.

The new investments that will double the nation's renewable energy capacity is going to bring new jobs and economic opportunity to rural communities who will play a central role in creating America's clean energy future.

And the President's plan to address the home mortgage crisis is going to help rural families refinance their mortgages, modify loans and secure loans with more affordable monthly payments. And this effort is not going to just help keep families in their homes, it's going to help strengthen rural neighborhoods and communities across this country.

So there's a lot of work to do. And we have great leaders in Secretary Vilsack and President Obama that we can count on through the next several years. But it's, again, important to remember that these great leaders are only as great as the people who hold them up. And, again, that's where you all come in. They can only do the work that they do because there are thousands and thousands of dedicated federal workers like you who are willing to make the sacrifices in their own lives, with their own families, to devote the time and energy that is so needed to get the work done.

So, again, we are going to need you in the months and years to come. The challenges that we face are serious and real. And it's going to take quite a long time to get this country back on track. So your contributions are more important now than they have ever been.

So, again, on behalf of my husband, on behalf of the administration and the Obama family, I want to thank you for your energy, for your passion, and for your commitment. And let's get this thing planted. (Laughter.) Thank you. (Applause.)

Shinseki Says His Challenge is Transforming VA

Gen. Eric Shinseki is being heard today to be confirmed to head Veteran Affairs. Obama's picks are now going through senate confirmation hearings.
Schedule.
Others being heard today include Tom Vilsack, agriculture, and Lisa Jackson, environmental protection agency. 

With his own about to begin, General Shinseki told his confirmation hearing to be head of the Department of Veterans Affairs how he will be dealing with some of the costliest aftermath of a war that he famously predicted, just before the curtain fell on his first act, would bog down hundreds of thousands of troops for years. With the invasion of Iraq looming, his Pentagon bosses rebuked him for saying that, and he retired a few months later as Army Chief of Staff.

So there was great anticipation Wednesday for what would be the general’s longest public discussion in more than five years.

In written answers provided to committee members in advance of the hearing, General Shinseki said his priorities would be post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries suffered by troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as finding jobs for vets, examining and dealing with the problem of homeless vets, and helping all wounded vets make the difficult transition from military health care to VA facilities.

In his written answers to committee members, the general said his that the “over-arching challenge that the VA faces is its own transformation into a 21st century organization.” It was an echo of the transformation theme that dominated his time as the Army’s top general. Read more atNYT

Will Obama Plant A Garden on the White House Lawn?

There's a food movement going on.
Many are hoping that Obama sets an agricultural example by planting a garden on the White House lawn. It's part of an effort to promote gardening, local farming, good food and organics.
Eat The View:

"Eat the View" is coordinated by Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine-based 501c3 nonprofit network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries who are inspiring and teaching more people to grow some of their own food.

Then there's the WhoFarm:

We, the people, respectfully request that an organic farm be planted on the grounds of The White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC.

The White House Organic Farm (aka TheWhoFarm) will be a model for healthy, economical and sustainable living everywhere. It will serve as an educational tool and economic aid, and as a means to provide food security in the Nation’s Capitol. It will reconnect the Office of the Presidency to the self-sufficient agricultural roots of America's Founding Fathers.

The White House Organic Farm Recipe

Article I: The Farmers
Public school children and Americans with disabilities will work The White House Organic Farm, to set an example for the world of hands-on learning and will foster an independent, do-it-yourself work ethic.

Article II: The Eaters
The White House Organic Farm's harvest will provide fresh food for the President, the President's family, and the President's distinguished guests. Just as importantly, it will also supply healthy food to public school lunch programs and food pantries in Washington, DC.

Article III: The Delivery
Food from The White House Organic Farm will be delivered to local public schools and food pantries by volunteers on foot and by bicycle, at a net-zero cost to U.S. taxpayers.

Article IV: The Seeds
The White House organic farmers will plant a diverse mix of heirloom seeds passed down from Thomas Jefferson's farm at Monticello and seeds donated by American farmers and gardeners, to celebrate both the rich agricultural traditions of the Office of the President and the passions of everyday Americans for working her fertile and bountiful land.

Article V: The Soil
The White House Organic Farm will use healthy topsoil, nourished by compost supplements from yard and food waste from all three branches of the federal government; from The White House, from The United States Capitol, and from The United States Supreme Court.

You can vote for a garden on the White House lawn at change.org. The site also has a contest for inauguration tickets in exchange for an essay. 

This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

Food Democracy Now is petitioning for under secretary reformists, under Obama's pick to head the Department of Agriculture, former Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack.
Food for Democracy says the under secretaries have more influence than the secretary.

Obama will have to stand up to the big farm lobby if he wants to bring about the resurgence of farming:

NYT: The Agriculture Department — and the agriculture committees in Congress — have traditionally been handed over to industrial farming interests by Democrats and Republicans alike. The farm lobby uses that perch to inflict unhealthy food on American children in school-lunch programs, exacerbating our national crisis with diabetes and obesity.

But let’s be clear. The problem isn’t farmers. It’s the farm lobby — hijacked by industrial operators — and a bipartisan tradition of kowtowing to it.

The way the system works now:

NYT: One measure of the absurdity of the system: Every year you, the American taxpayer, send me a check for $588 in exchange for me not growing crops on timberland I own in Oregon (I forward the money to a charity). That’s right. The Agriculture Department pays a New York journalist not to grow crops in a forest in Oregon.

Food Democracy Now's reformist choices for under secretaries:

Gus Schumacher: Former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture. Boston, Massachusetts
Chuck Hassebrook: Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Nebraska.
Sarah Vogel: attorney; former two-term Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota.
Fred Kirschenmann: organic farmer; Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ames, IA; President, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, New York.
Mark Ritchie: current Minnesota Secretary of State; former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich; co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Neil Hamilton: attorney; Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and Professor of Law and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.
Doug O’Brien: current Assistant Director at Ohio Department of Agriculture; worked for the U.S. House and the Senate Ag Committee; former staff attorney and co-director for the National Agriculture Law Center in Arkansas, Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
James Riddle: organic farmer; founding chair of the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA); has served on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Organic Advisory Task Force since 1991; appointed to the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board, serving on the Executive Committee for 5 years and was chair in 2005, Board of Directors. Winona, Minnesota.
Kathleen Merrigan: Director, Agriculture, Food and Environment M.S./Ph.D. Program, Assistant Professor and Director of the Center on Agriculture; Food and the Environment, Tufts University; former Federal Agency Administrator U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service; creator of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, mandating national organic standards and a program of federal accreditation. Boston Massachusetts.
Denise O’Brien: organic farmer, founder of Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN); represented the interests of women in agriculture at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995; organized a rural women’s workshop for the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome, Italy; received nearly a half million votes in her 2006 bid to become Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. Atlantic, Iowa.
Ralph Paige: Executive Director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund; served as presidential appointment to the 21st Century Production Agriculture Commission; participates on the Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee for Trade; the Cooperative Development Foundation; and the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education & Economics Advisory Board. East Point, Georgia.
Karen Ross: President of the California Winegrape Growers Association and Executive Director of the Winegrape Growers of America; awarded the Wine Integrity Award by the Lodi Winegrape Commission for her contributions to the wine industry. Sacramento, California.

Michael Pollan, author of books, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” seems to be offering a blueprint for healthy eating. Here are his 12 commandments for eating.
About TheWhoFarm:

Obama to Overhaul Interior

Apparently the interior department is in horrible shape. The NYT has an editorial in today's paper about what needs fixing.
During the news conference this morning, Obama announced that Colorado Senator Ken Salazar is the guy to do the overhaul.

Obama said Salazar understands natural resources and can balance energy needs and conservation. Over the last 8 years, the interior department has been "deeply troubled," Obama said. The interior has been seen as an appendage to commercial interests, he said. 

The department is going to be proactive, talking to farmers and ranchers and it will be at the cutting edge of environmental policy. The secretary is important to overall energy discussions, he said.

"If there is going to be a debate about oil shale, I want Ken at the table." If we're debating wind power, Salazar needs to be at the table.

"I also wants an interior department, very frankly, that cleans up it's act."

On Blago, again, he told reporters that by next week they'd have the answers to all their questions. He also announced former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. Video below 
NYT on the messy interior:

No cabinet post is as critical to the integrity of the nation’s parks, its open spaces and its animal species. Mr. Obama, and his environmental adviser in chief, Carol Browner, must be prepared to offer Mr. Salazar full support, especially in fending off the ranchers and the oil, gas, mining and other special interests who have always found the Interior Department to be a soft target, never more so than in the Bush administration.

Mr. Salazar’s most urgent task will be to remove the influence of politics and ideology from decisions that are best left to science.

Just as Mr. Salazar’s name was surfacing for the job, Earl Devaney, currently the department’s inspector general, reported to Congress that on 15 separate occasions the department’s political appointees had weakened protections for endangered species against the advice of the agency’s scientists, whose work they either ignored or distorted.
This sort of meddling has become standard operating procedure. Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, resigned last year after an earlier report found that she had run roughshod over agency scientists and violated federal rules by giving internal documents to industry lobbyists.

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