Michelle Obama harvests White House vegetable garden for the last time | McClatchy Washington Bureau

It was hard to miss the red and white gingham tablecloths, the lively green plants and the red and blue furry creatures jumping up and down above a pile of hay in the White House Kitchen Garden this week.

Children laughed as they ran around the tables, and the TV creatures behind the hay shouted with excitement as first lady Michelle Obama greeted them.

The “Sesame Street” characters joined Obama and Washington elementary school students Thursday afternoon to harvest the garden one last time before her husband leaves office. Even though this would be the last event like this during Obama’s time as first lady, the garden will continue growing.

On Wednesday, Obama announced that the garden would become a permanent fixture on the South Lawn, thanks to a $2.5 million gift from The Burpee Foundation, a home gardening company.

Since 2009, the garden has been a centerpiece for the first lady’s Let’s Move! program, aimed at decreasing childhood obesity in America. President-elect of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Donna Martin, seven-time NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning and Grammy Award-winning singer Ashanti joined Obama in the garden, and “Sesame Street’s” Elmo and Rosita commentated.

Equipped with shovels, baskets and gloves, the group picked vegetables from the garden and prepared grilled flatbread with basil puree and the vegetables as an example of a fresh and healthy meal.

“I take pride in knowing that this garden will serve as a reminder of what we all started, but also what we all have left to do,” Obama said. “Healthy eating is starting to become the new norm for our kids.”

Through Let’s Move!, Obama became a vocal supporter of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the first update in school nutrition standards in 15 years. The somewhat-controversial legislation expanded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s role in overhauling school lunch and breakfast programs, increasing funding and access to healthy food in low-income school districts.

“The kids who are here today represent so many parts of Let’s Move! and our program’s initiatives,” Obama said. Students from Bancroft Elementary School and Harriett Tubman Elementary School took part in the harvest, as well as a combined 14 students from seven schools that have established Let’s Move! programs.

Obama estimated that 50 million children have had access to healthier school meals because of Let’s Move! programming. Childhood obesity affects nearly 1 in 3 American children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the first lady highlighted that the obesity rate is no longer on the rise; it dropped more than 40 percent among children ages 2-5 from 2004 to 2012, according to the CDC. Still, about 17 percent of children ages 2-19 remain obese.

“Today, we just assume that we can find healthy options at the drive-thru,” Obama said. “So it’s not surprising that childhood obesity rates in this country have stopped rising, and they’ve even started falling for our youngest kids.”

The trademark Let’s Move! program has been debated by medical professionals and many in the Republican Party, however.

“If we really want to bring obesity numbers down, we have to focus on nutrition, not on exercise,” said Dr. Agustina Saenz, the director of nutrition and policy at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “(Obama) has made great changes in nutrition, like allowing tofu and soy yogurt, but processed meat is still served in every school.” Studies by the World Health Organization have linked processed meat to cancer.

“If they’re able to add on to the Hunger-Free Act, that will give the next administration the focus they need,” Saenz said.

Members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, like Kraft and General Mills, have introduced more than 30,000 product choices with fewer calories; reduced fat, sodium and sugar; and more whole grains in alignment with the ideals of the Let’s Move! campaign.

“This is notable progress, but we know that more needs to be done, and our companies are committed to doing their part to continue to help consumers live healthy and active lifestyles,” said Mary Sophos, the association’s vice president of policy and strategic planning.

Obama expressed her passion for the campaign and said it would continue to inspire change, even after she is no longer first lady.

“So let’s be clear, no one can ever look at Let’s Move! and say that this was just Michelle Obama’s initiative,” Obama said Wednesday. “This has truly become a movement. And it certainly won’t end when I leave the White House, because we still have a long way to go before we solve this problem.”