First lady Michelle Obama exercises with children from Chicago Public Schools, in her hometown of Chicago, as she makes a major announcement helping to bring back physical activity to area schools, while celebrating the third anniversary of her ‘Lets Move’ program. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Introductory Essay by Betsy L. Angert | Originally Published at EmpathyEducates. May 28, 2014
Dear Michelle Obama…
I write to thank you not only for taking on the Let’s Move initiative, but also for taking on the more endemic invective; too often we hear the new school lunch program comes with “declining participation, rising food costs, and a lack of flexibility. Students suffer. There is .“No Appetite for Good-for-You School Lunches.” It has also been said that “only parents can help their children.” At times, as you observe, there are unmitigated conditions. Access to healthy food may be limited. Money might be tight. And even if parents have means, frequently we do not have the knowledge. I think of my own life and the lack of dietary “restrictions.” My parents believed, as I, and many do, “balance is best.” A little bit of this, a touch of that, and all will be good.
However, in reality, that is not what happens. A pinch of sugar. A smatter of fat. Pass the salt and prepare our children for an onslaught of foods that tempt us and tease us into thinking that we have made healthy choices. What if You Ate Only What Was Advertised on TV? Oh, people might say, “That is not me.” Few of us imagine that we might be so easily influenced. But are we?
Does the wafting smell of bread baking get your attention? Can you taste the coffee as it brews? Then there is the sizzle of bacon, and if you really need a boost…Did I tell you that for decades, daily, I drank Mountain Dew by the cases. I ate pounds of cookies, mounds of cake, and sweets too. I did all of this in excess. There is much that was not intended. Worst of all, what I did had a profound affect on my parents.
Each blamed themselves for all my unhealthy eating habits. If only they knew that the processed food industry promotes chemical consumption as good science, and when I was younger few understood. Even today we trust that what we ingest is healthy. If only we knew. Indeed, it would seem that there are Six chemicals we consume in our food and drink that should be banned. We can beware, or just stare into the abyss and say there is nothing we can do. Ah, but there is. And again Michelle Obama, I thank you. May we each stand strong and move.

The Campaign for Junk Food
Michelle Obama on Attempts to Roll Back Healthy Reforms

By Michelle Obama | Originally Published at The New York Times. May 28, 2014
WHEN we began our Let’s Move! initiative four years ago, we set one simple but ambitious goal: to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthy.
To achieve this goal, we have adhered to one clear standard: what works. The initiatives we undertake are empathyeducates – In Defense of Healthy Food: