Chefs improving school lunches- finally

Moral of the story: Chefs are finally starting to become involved in the fight against obesity.  Working with Michelle Obama they are starting an adopt a school program and are going to offer classes.  This is a very important first step, and as a former chef, I have to say a decidedly tardy but welcome one.

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 6/4/2010

Chefs aim to improve school lunches in DC, across the US.

The Washington Post (6/4, Black) reports that Washington, DC's Iron Chefs "have taken the first steps to make real the lofty goals of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, which aims to end childhood obesity within a generation." Some have begun "teaching cooking classes to hundreds of students and parents, and have helped to plant school gardens." On Friday, "hundreds of...chefs will gather at the White House to launch a national adopt-a-school program. Dubbed Chefs Move to Schools, the initiative will draw both the brightest stars of the culinary universe -- Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio and Cat Cora -- and the unknown soldiers who staff corporate kitchens, food banks and culinary schools."

        In an editorial, the Houston Chronicle (6/4) mentions the meeting between Mrs. Obama and the chefs, and says, "It's a fun, flashy piece of the mom-in-chief's war on childhood obesity -- which is, sadly, a big fat American problem." Notably, "Houston is on the leading edge of the problem." Approximately "36 percent of our kids ages 6 to 17 are overweight; 19 percent are obese." But, according to the Chronicle, "we're also on the leading edge of the solution -- largely because of Recipe for Success, one of the biggest organizations battling childhood obesity. The nonprofit group runs after-school cooking and gardening classes, as well as summer camps."