At White House garden, Michelle Obama promotes healthy, fresh eating

First lady Michelle Obama wasn’t afraid to get her hands a little dirty Monday afternoon. Kneeling in the White House’s kitchen garden on the South Lawn, she yanked out turnips, kale and other vegetables for a fresh meal to be prepared just a few steps away.

As part of her healthy eating initiative, which she launched in 2009, Obama invited students from five different school districts across the country to help harvest the garden – along with author and chef Rachael Ray and the online food network Tastemade’s Frankie Celenza.

Before the harvesting began, Obama spoke for only a few minutes, during which she lauded the students’ schools for their own innovative gardens and celebrated the increased presence of community gardens.

“When we planted, we invited you guys because all of you have really cool school gardens,” she said. “And we want to highlight the work that you guys are doing in your schools and in your communities.”

“I’ve been doing that not just at the White House, but at community gardens. We’re seeing that folks across the country are starting to do what we’re doing at the White House,” she said. “And it’s really helping a lot of kids eat better.”

Students from the different schools – Washburn School District in Washburn, Wis., Kemper Elementary School in Cortez, Colo., Arthur Ashe Charter School in New Orleans, Bancroft Elementary School in D.C., and Harriet Tubman Elementary School in D.C. – worked alongside Obama under the hot June sun, pulling out cauliflower, broccoli, snap peas, cilantro and turnips for the group’s lunchtime dish.

And when the harvesting was complete, the outdoor cooking began. Ingredients sizzled and crackled in pans, quickly being mixed into a spring vegetable curry with warm whole wheat roti and a crisp salad with honey dressing that was served in cardboard containers to the attendees.

Obama sat with students from Kemper, then walked around and greeted students at all five tables set up in the grass. She had previously met the majority of the students in April, when they helped to plant the garden that they were currently harvesting.

“You guys are champions in that effort,” Obama had told them before the afternoon began.

Students also had a chance to meet some of the chefs before the event. Celenza sat with a group of students, snapping a photo for Obama’s Instagram account with his phone.

And before she left, Ray walked around the red-and-white checkered tables chatting with the students. “How was your lunch? Did you like that dressing? That curry was real good.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2016 at 4:50 PM with the headline "At White House garden, Michelle Obama promotes healthy, fresh eating."