Our friends over at Obama Foodorama have noted that today is harvest day at the White House! First lady Michelle Obama and chef Sam Kass will be assisting Bancroft Elementary students in picking and choosing fresh produce out the White House garden today in hopes of fostering continued education on healthy food production and consumption. Once the food items have been selected, the kids will join Kass and Mrs. Obama in the White House kitchen to learn how to turn great produce into a great meal.

The Obamas, who are the first presidential family to employ a Food Initiative Coordinator, have been adamant supporters of healthy and sustainable food, as President Obama noted in a speech yesterday.

We can avoid illness and disease in the first place by taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children….it cutting down on all the junk food that is fueling an epidemic of obesity, putting too many Americans, young and old, at greater risk of costly chronic conditions. That’s a lesson Michelle and I have tried to instill in our daughters with the White House vegetable garden that Michelle planted. And that’s a lesson that we should work with local school lunches to incorporate into their school lunch programs.

~Jennifer Heigl