Michelle Obama Brings "American Garden Tour" to New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey – Children may not favor calls from their parents to eat their vegetables, but for students in Newark, hearing it from the First Lady of the United States was well received.

First Lady Michelle Obama, accompanied by NBC weatherman Al Roker, visited Philip’s Academy Charter School where she joined students to encourage healthy eating and living as a part of her Let’s Move campaign. During her visit, Mrs. Obama toured the school’s EcoSpaces Education learning environments: a rooftop garden, AeroFarms Indoor Growing Lab and dining room.

The school was a stop on her “American Garden Tour,” which highlights the impact and benefits of diverse gardens across the country.

First Lady Michelle Obama sharing a healthy meal with Philip’s Academy students

“We are going to have a meal experience,” said Mrs. Obama, as she sat down to take part in the school’s trademark family-style system.

Inside the dining room, Mrs. Obama talked with students about their lifestyle choices, favorite foods, and experiences with healthy eating. She also sampled food selections, which included quinoa bars, mixed vegetables, and a beet smoothie.

“Just knowing that somebody as big and great as Michelle Obama came to our school just to see the things that we have and how healthy we are is great,” said Luna Bella Roman, a sixth grader at Philip’s Academy, about the First Lady’s visit.

AeroFarms Indoor Growing Lab inside Philip’s Academy’s dining room

Philip’s Academy uses its EcoSpaces Education Program to encourage students to make healthy food choices with an immersive curriculum to teach how food is grown and how it nourishes their bodies. Related information, such as nutrition facts, food groups, and portion sizes, is posted along the walls of the school’s dining room.

“The idea is that as long as we keep connecting to children to food in a healthy way that that relationship of food starts shifting,” said Frank Mentesana, Director of the Ecospace Education Program. “So suddenly they start exposing themselves to new flavors, new textures, new ingredients.”

Mentesana notes the significance that Philip’s Academy places on its ecospace curriculum. “It’s an important part of the school day. It’s not something that you add to the school day. It’s part of our school day.”

“Before I got to use the cool teaching kitchen and rooftop garden, I didn’t know a lot about growing food and how to get local food and the healthy food,” said Kailani Day, a seventh grader who has been at Philip’s since the advent of the program. “So this really taught me how to cook and do healthy things and so I can have a healthy lifestyle.”

Homemade meals are prepared for students by Philip’s Academy’s culinary team. Ingredients used come from local farms and follow USDA nutritional guidelines.

“[The meals] allow us to stretch the boundaries of what would be acceptable as far as what they are willing to try,” said Robert Wallauer, Food Service Director and Executive Chef for Philip’s Education Partners & Ecospaces Education. “We don’t give up easily, so we try and try again until we get them to hopefully appreciate it.”

Let’s Move!, which launched in 2010, aims to help kids and families live healthier lives. The program works to reform behavioral and environmental factors through the promotion of active lifestyles and healthy eating through community involvement.

First Lady Michelle Obama speaking with the Philip’s Academy students

Prior to her arrival in Newark, Mrs. Obama joined students at the Burke County Middle School in Burke County, Georgia, where she helped plant the school’s garden.

Mrs. Obama’s visit follows that of her husband, President Barack Obama, who visited the city last November to offer criminal justice reform proposals.

For the final time as First Lady, Mrs. Obama planted the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn on Tuesday, April 5th. She was joined by students from Wisconsin, Colorado, and Louisiana, as well as NASA representatives. Mrs. Obama first planted the garden in 2009.

The planting of the White House Kitchen Garden marked the first major vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden in 1943.

In 2012, Mrs. Obama authored a book about gardens entitled “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.”

For more information on Let’s Move!, along with available resources and events, visit letsmove.gov.