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MARCH 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
CONVENTIONALWISDOMHOLDS
that kids and
vegetables are natural enemies. So when first
ladyMichelle Obama planted a kitchen garden
at the White House, she was surprised to see
the local schoolkids whose help she’d enlisted
take to it the way they did—particularly one
li le girl who wandered off with a whole tray
of cauliflower (“This is
so good
, what is it?”), and
a couple of 4-year-oldswho got so carried awaypickingherbs that
they began ripping out entire plants. “They tore up the whole
herb section,” the first lady sayswith a chuckle. “It was the cutest
thing—they were
into
it.”
All first ladies have signature initiatives; Michelle Obama’s
is health. In addition to launching Let’s Move!, a program that
educatesparents about thebestway to feed their kids andencour-
ages youngsters to be more active, she decided to help start a
national conversation about how America eats by cultivating a
White House garden, becoming the first to do so since Eleanor
Roosevelt grew a “victory garden” there during World War II.
Her experiences in the garden and beyond are detailed in her
newbook,
AmericanGrown
, whichmixesmemoir, gardening tips,
public policy ideas, and stories about people who are using gar-
dens to combat childhood obesity and bring fresh food to places
that have long gonewithout it. She recently spoke to
Hemispheres
fromtheWhiteHouse about the pleasures of gardening, the need
to eat be er andhowher husband reacted toher idea to introduce
tens of thousands of bees near his basketball court.
DIG IT
From top, Michelle
Obama inspecting
the wares at a D.C.
farmers’ market;
tending the garden
at the White
House with a
young volunteer
THE
HEMI
Q&A:
MICHELLE OBAMA