First Lady Michelle Obama Promotes Healthy Food Initiative During Southland Visit
INGLEWOOD (CBS) — First Lady Michelle Obama is pushing for fresh, healthy food in one of Southern California's most impoverished neighborhoods. She spoke at the future site of a Northgate Gonzales Market in Inglewood Wednesday morning.
The California FreshWorks Fund, a public-private financing fund that has raised $264 million to invest, has committed $20 million in financing to Northgate for its first three projects. The fund is part of a nationwide commitment announced July 20 involving retailers, foundations and small businesses.
"This is what it's all about," Obama said. "It's a story about bringing fresh, healthy, affordable food into communities that need it most. It's a story about creating jobs, about revitalizing neighborhoods."
She said the effort isn't just about stores selling healthy food, but "they also promote healthy lifestyles by helping their customers make the decisions that are right for their families... And that's more than just owning a store. That's being a responsible member of the community," she said. "That's like being family."
Obama is scheduled to conclude her visit by speaking at a Women for Obama luncheon at a home in Hancock Park benefiting the Obama Victory Fund. Tickets begin at $1,000, and about 300 people are expected to attend, a campaign official said.
Obama brought food from the White House kitchen garden to an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Tuesday, encouraging him to eat an apple "because I heard you haven't had an apple in a decade." She suggested Leno
dip the apple in some "White House honey" because "it will help it go down just a little easier."
Leno jokingly replied, "White House honey? That sounds bad," drawing laughs. "With a different president, that could mean a whole different thing."
Obama later attended a Beverly Hills fundraising reception benefiting her husband's re-election campaign.
