First Lady To Visit Miami Elementary School
MIAMI (CBS4) -- Childhood obesity in Miami will get a kick in the pants Monday when First Lady Michelle Obama visits a local school to talk about the problem as part of her Lets Move! initiative.
Obama will join students from Riverside Elementary School to show them steps to take in improving children's health. Those steps include increasing fruit and veggies in their diets.
Obama will highlight the role schools and community partnerships can play in improving school nutrition, through programs such as school gardens, salad bars and youth involvement.
She will be joined by chefs from the Miami area for a demonstration of how a school can effectively use a salad bar to provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables. The local chefs are participants in the Chefs Move to Schools initiative.
Obama will also be joined by leaders from the fruit and vegetable industry, and school and public health officials who will announce a major commitment to support the use of salad bars in schools across the country.
Miami-Dade schools have a head start on the initiative. In August a group of chefs visited school cafeterias to introduce the healthier menus and to encourage the kids to choose vegetables over pizza.
"I want the kids to crave it. I want them to say, 'Hey- where was that salad or where was that wrap - or whatever it might be,'" said Chef Michelle Bernstein who visited her Alma matter, North Miami Senior High in August.
The menu that day featured Asian chicken Wraps, baked sweet potatoes and a spicy zucchini slaw. Mango chutney gave the wraps some great flavor, while fresh mint was added to the slaw.
"We're trying to get them to throw away the bags of flavoring and give them their own flavor," Bernstein said.
North Miami Senior High alone serves up some 1200 lunches a day. Cafeteria cooks already are learning to use different spices and a varied healthy menu that will encourage students to adopt better eating habits.
Other changes in local schools include healthy items in school vending machines and incorporating healthy cooking lessons for students in Home Economics classes.
