Partnership For A Healthier America Announces New Commitments For Let's Move! Campaign

Hyatt Hotels will change menu offerings; Kaiser Permanent will spotlight breastfeeding; The Fresh Grocer will build markets in food deserts; Kellogg Foundation commits $3 million; "Healthy Kids Out of School" initiative launched...
Update: Click here for a post about Mrs. Obama's keynote address
On Tuesday morning in Washington, DC, at the inaugural national childhood obesity summit from Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), chairman James R. Gavin III announced new corporate commitments from Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Kaiser Permanente and The Fresh Grocer to support First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign. More than 800 participants attended the first day of the "Building a Healthier America" summit, which featured a morning address from both Newark's Mayor Cory Booker and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist (R-TN), honorary vice-chairs of PHA. (Above: Gavin during his remarks)

PHA is the non-profit responsible for managing and monitoring the Let's Move! commitments from private sector partners, including the pledges from Walmart and other grocers to build stores in food deserts, and from national chain Darden Restaurants to revamp its menu offerings. Mrs. Obama serves as PHA's honorary chairwoman, and will give the keynote address on Wednesday at the summit.

Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass was on hand Tuesday as the conference began at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, as was Let's Move! Executive Director Dr. Judy Palfrey, mingling with participants. Kass emceed "The Great American Family Dinner Challenge" on Tuesday night. (Above: Kass with an executive from Kaiser Permanente)

Choice architecture: "Indulgences will continue to be offered"
The mantra from PHA is "making the healthier choice the easier choice," and the Partnership is devoted to encouraging changes both large and small from private sector and non-profit participants who join the national campaign to end childhood obesity. The collective commitments have the potential to reach "tens of millions" citizens, according to Gavin. He announced that Hyatt's commitment will reach 23 million consumers annually; the company will change "the nutritional profile" of its children’s and full menus across all of its restaurants, by adding one "healthier option" to its Children's Menus in the US and Canada based on the MyPlate campaign.

This will include making a fruit or vegetable available as a default side, and offering low- and non-fat milk instead of soda and sugary beverages. This project will be completed by November of 2012. The company also pledged to reduce fat, salt and sodium by 10 percent in all menu offerings, in a project that will be completed by 2016. The company noted in its press release that it has already been focusing on making such changes, prior to joining PHA.

PHA and Hyatt stressed that the menu changes involve giving consumers improved choices rather than mandating food consumption: "Hyatt Hotel’s offering of these healthy items will supplement menu items that include indulgences, which will continue to be offered," PHA said.

Kaiser Permanente corporation, one of the founding members of PHA, will "institute new guidelines in all 29 of its hospitals that offer maternal and child health services to help make breastfeeding a priority" by designating these as "Baby friendly" and changing protocols by January of 2013. New to Let's Move! for 2011 was a focus on very early childhood interventions for obesity, and Mrs. Obama has advocated breastfeeding. The Fresh Grocer, a Philadelphia-area grocery company, will build five new food markets in the mid-Atlantic region by 2016, in areas defined as food deserts, as part of Mrs. Obama's goal of eradicating all US food deserts by 2017.

Gavin noted that PHA will be "holding all the companies responsible." Companies working with PHA sign Memos of Understanding for their commitments, but there are no legal ramifications if the commitments are not actually fulfilled. "Every company that works with PHA is required to agree that PHA will monitor and report on progress toward their commitment," the foundation noted.

Gavin also announced the Healthy Kids Out of School initiative, a commitment by leading children's organizations to develop "three unified principles for nutrition and physical activity." These are detailed below.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation during the summit announced a $3 million commitment to provide capital for financing retail, production, processing and distribution of fresh food to reach lower-income communities in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans.

During the day, summit participants participated in workshops and roundtable discussions that were closed to press. Representatives from each entity announcing their commitments spoke to the summit participants during the morning plenary session.

Hyatt's Commitment...
The Hyatt commitment mirrors the commitment made by the Darden restaurant chain. Menus at all Hyatt hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada will "be enhanced using the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPlate federal guidance," according to Hyatt's press release. Changes to menus will be implemented at all restaurants managed by Hyatt in the U.S. and Canada as well as on menus for room service, catering, bars, lounges and pools, the company said.

Children's Menu Changes
*Offer a fruit or vegetable as the default side item with all children’s meals

*Make 8 oz. servings of nonfat or low-fat milk available with free refills. Promote milk or water prominently on the menu with other beverage options displayed less prominently

*Offer at least one children’s menu meal option that meets the MyPlate federal guidance: One to two servings of fruit and vegetables, a whole grain serving, a lean protein serving, and a low fat dairy (or dairy substitute) serving, which together have a nutrient composition equal to or less than 600 calories, 30 percent of total calories from fat, 10 percent total calories from saturated fat, 600 mg of sodium, and no more than 10 grams added sugar. Position and feature that meal as the first on the children’s menus.

*Ensure any food illustrations on children’s menus depict nutritious options, including milk or water as the beverage of choice if beverages are depicted.

General menus
*By 2016, reduce the calorie footprint by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard within three years

*By 2016, reduce the sodium content of its food by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard within three years

*By 2016, reduce the added sugar content of food by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard by within three years

*At least two healthy menu meal options will be equivalent to or lower in price than less healthy menu meal options. This pricing parity will appear on all menus by 2016, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of menus reflecting this change within three years.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Commitment...
The Foundation announced a $3 million commitment to provide capital for financing retail, production, processing and distribution of fresh food to reach lower-income communities in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. The capital will be made available through the foundation’s mission-driven investment work in partnership with NCB Capital Impact (Capital Impact) of Arlington, Va., a Community Development Financial Institution.

Loans will be made to retailers and food enterprises that provide small and mid-sized producers with infrastructure – including processing, manufacturing and distribution operations – that help bring their products to local markets. Loans will be made available for a period of two years beginning in 2011.

Kaiser Permanente's Commitment...
*By January 1, 2013, all of Kaiser Permanente’s 29 hospitals that offer maternal and child health services will be designated as Baby-Friendly, and/or participate in the Joint Commission’s Perinatal Core Measures program, which requires participating hospitals to report their rates of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge.

*Kaiser Permanente will establish a system-wide performance improvement program focusing on the development and implementation of evidence-based hospital breastfeeding practices.

*Kaiser Permanente will develop and make publicly available a hospital breastfeeding practices guide that documents lessons learned and operational strategies that other systems can use to improve maternity care.

*To ensure accountability, Kaiser Permanente will include rates of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge as a core quality measure on its Quality Dashboard, which will be reviewed on a quarterly basis along with other hospital quality measures.

The Fresh Grocer's Commitment...
The Fresh Grocer will build five (5) grocery stores in or around areas in communities that lack access to healthy affordable foods. These stores will sell a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and dairy products and will be similar in size and scope to The Fresh Grocer stores in operation in 2011. The new stores will open by 2016.

Mrs. Obama visited The Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia in 2009 to unveil the Healthy Food Financing Initative, a fund ostensibly from USDA, Treasury and Health and Human Services that would offer grocery corporations low-interest loans and tax credits in order to encourage building markets in food deserts. Congress failed to fund the Obama Administration's requests for $400 million funding in FY 2010 and FY 2011, and again declined to fund $330 million for FY 2012.

In September of 2011, the Treasury granted $24 million to food desert projects in nine states from its own dedicated funds.

Healthy Kids Out of School...
The summit also had an announcement by ChildObesity180, "an alliance of senior-level national leaders from relevant sectors – public, private, academic, and nonprofit – that have aligned to reverse the trend of childhood obesity." The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative worked with leading out-of-school-time (OST) organizations to develop "three unified principles for nutrition and physical activity."

The principles recommend serving water as the primary beverage; fruits and vegetables as the primary snack; and increasing opportunities for physical activity. The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative "will also develop a comprehensive implementation plan to connect OST organizations with the local resources needed to help adopt the principles."

Participating organizations include Boy Scouts of America, National 4-H Council, Girl Scouts of the USA, National Council of La Raza, National Council of Youth Sports, National Urban League, Pop Warner, US Youth Soccer, and YMCA of the USA.

"Collectively, these organizations have the potential to reach tens of millions of children annually," PHA said.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

President Obama, First Lady Shop At Virginia Farmers Market

"Michelle does a good job promoting produce,” President says during pumpkin pit stop on Ground Force One...
First Lady Michelle Obama joined President Obama for one of his favorite pastimes this morning: Hopping off Ground Force One to make a foodie pit stop. Of course the stop was healthier than a couple of the eat n' greets the President has had on his own, like his Monday stop at a North Carolina general store to buy a bucketload of candy. Today's visit was to the kind of place Mrs. Obama has devoted herself to making popular: A farmers market. Located in Hampton, Virginia, Wood’s Orchard Farm Market has been open for sixty years, and it was chock full of seasonal, locally grown delights, including huge pumpkins and produce, and laden with homemade jams and breads. (Above: The President and Mrs. Obama with a wagonload of pumpkins)

"You know Michelle does a good job promoting produce,” President Obama told owner Billy Wood. “She tries to get everyone to eat their vegetables."

Clad in wide-legged pants and a striped shirt, Mrs. Obama perused the pumpkins as the President chatted with Wood and other locals. The First Couple bought a couple of apples, a bag of peanuts, a jar of what seemed to be honey, and ten pumpkins to bring home to the White House, including one that weighed about 70 pounds. They paid cash. (Above: The President hauls a wagon of pumpkins out of the store, and carries his bag of goodies)

Yesterday, the President asked a North Carolina crowd not to tell his wife what he's been eating while on his three-day bus tour. She knows what he ate today: The First Couple stopped for a lunch at a Hampton pizzeria, where they were joined by four veterans. The two stops came after a morning visit to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, where both spoke at an event at which Mrs. Obama announced that the American Logistics Association (ALA) and their 270 affiliate companies have signed on to her Joining Forces campaign, and committed to hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013.

Pool report & video from the farmers market:
At about 11:30 a.m. POTUS and FLOTUS, riding the imposing Ground Force One, stopped at a roadside farmer’s market in Hampton called “Wood’s Orchard Farm Market,” which was chock full of pumpkins. Owners Billy and Betty Wood said they have been in business for 60 years, married for 51, and working at this location on East Mercury Blvd. since the 1940s. A billboard read: “Pumpkin Patch Open Hayrides” and had hours of the rides on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Another sign read: “No credit cards under $10.” (Above: The President loads pumpkins on to Ground Force One)



POTUS and FLOTUS spent about 20 minutes inspecting pumpkins, as well as some other goods, such as fruit, jams and honey. Billy Wood informed the president that there are 8 varieties of sweet potatoes. A handmade sign on a pillar read: “Pie pumpkins $3.00 each.”

“You know Michelle does a good job promoting produce,” Obama replied. “She tries to get everyone to eat their vegetables.”

Obama talked a lot to the shopkeepers, but Michelle Obama was busy inspecting pumpkins. She seemed very interested in oversized white-colored ones, which Betty Wood later explained were called “full moon pumpkins.” Michelle Obama picked one up by wrapping both arms around it to load it into a metal rolling cart with a long metal handle. Betty Wood later estimated the pumpkin could weigh 70 pounds.

POTUS quipped: “Don’t hurt yourself now.” .. He yelled out to an aide: “We are we going to put it? In the back of the bus?”

Michelle Obama loaded more into the cart. “How many are you going to buy?” POTUS asked. “You want anything else?”

“No, we’ll have enough trouble getting these back,” she said.

POTUS approached the cash register. They had about 10 pumpkins, including two of the full moons. He also had two red apples, a bag of peanuts and a jar of yellow-colored syrup that appeared to possibly be honey. He handed Billy Wood some $20s. (We think the cost came to about $60, but it is not clear.)
Obama asked if they would take a picture together and also promised to send photos of the pumpkins back to the store.

“We’re going to send pictures of the pumpkins outside the White House,” he said, shortly before they carried the pumpkins back onto Ground Force One and the caravan rolled onward.

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*Pool was Politico's Glenn Thrush. *AP photos, Telegraph UK video

First Lady Announces Commitment From Major Food Companies To Hire Vets, Military Spouses

Joining Forces: Tysons Foods, Coca Cola, Unilever and ConAgra among 270 companies that will hire 25,000 by 2013...
President Obama and First Lady Obama appeared this morning at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, an Air Force base in Virginia, to announce a major new commitment from private corporations to hire 25,000 veterans and military spouses by 2013. As part of the Joining Forces initiative, the commitments come from companies that include Tysons Foods, Coca Cola, Unilever and ConAgra. (Above: The President looks on as Mrs. Obama speaks to the Air Force crowd)

The commitment "is the largest coordinated effort by the private sector we’ve seen in years, maybe ever," Mrs. Obama told the cheering crowd.



The President and Mrs. Obama's appearance came on the third day of Mr. Obama's American Jobs Act bus tour. After the visit to the base, the President and Mrs. Obama had lunch with four veterans, and they also visited a farmers market.

The White House news release about the commitment:

First Lady Michelle Obama Announces Major Private Sector
Commitment to Hire 25,000 Veterans and Military Spouses
in Support of Joining Forces

270 companies committing to employ veterans and military spouses

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, while visiting Joint Base Langley-Eustis with President Obama on Day Three of the American Jobs Act bus tour, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that the American Logistics Association (ALA) and their 270 affiliate companies have committed to hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013. This commitment is part of the First Lady’s and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative to support veterans and military families. The ALA’s commitment will fulfill a quarter of the President’s challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013. The announcement comes as the President and First Lady visit Joint Base Langley-Eustis to discuss the critical importance of hiring America’s veterans.

“We ask our men and women in uniform to leave their careers, leave their families, and risk their lives to fight for our country,” said President Obama. “The last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home. That’s why I’ve made increasing job opportunities for veterans a critical priority for my Administration and why the American Jobs Act I proposed includes tax credits to make it easier for businesses to hire America’s veterans.”

“The ALA’s commitment today is the largest coordinated effort by the private sector we’ve seen in years, maybe ever. And they’re making these hires not just because it’s the right thing to do or the patriotic thing to do. They’re doing it because it’s good for their bottom line. They know that these veterans and military spouses represent the best, and they want them on their team,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “And that’s what Joining Forces is about, tapping into all that goodwill that’s out there, all across America, in every sector of society, and channeling it into meaningful action that’s a win-win for everyone.”

Led by the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the United States, the ALA includes major manufacturers such as Tysons Foods, Coca Cola, Unilever and ConAgra along with a multitude of specialty suppliers to the on-base military consumer channel. With annual sales of nearly $20 billion, these companies provide goods and services to a military channel comprised of military commissaries (grocery stores), exchanges (convenience stores, department stores, food concessions, gas stations, communications and electronics, ship’s stores, tactical retail outlets), Morale, Welfare, and Recreation sales and services (restaurants, child care, fitness centers, libraries, auto service) and Veteran’s Canteen Service (retail outlets in VA Hospitals and offices), as well as retail outlets on Coast Guard bases. To achieve its goal, the Association will be teaming up with several on-going employment programs including the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) and the Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden created Joining Forces to bring Americans together to recognize, honor and take action to support veterans and military families as they serve our country and throughout their lives. The initiative aims to educate, challenge, and spark action from all sectors of society to ensure veterans and military families have the support they have earned. The initiative focuses on key priority areas – employment, education, and wellness while raising awareness about the service, sacrifice, and needs of America’s veterans and military families.

The ALA’s commitment to hire 25,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013 will further promote the goal of Joining Forces to create greater connections between the American public and those inspirational men and women who have served and sacrificed so greatly for this country.

For more information about Joining Forces, visit www.joiningforces.gov.

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*Photo courtesy of the Air Force