First Lady Calls on Manufacturers to Produce More Healthful Foods

Michelle Obama wants food makers to market healthier options to children.

March 18, 2010

WASHINGTON - First Lady Michelle Obama is asking food manufacturers to make and market more healthful food options to kids, the Washington Post reports.

"We need you not just to tweak around the edges, but to entirely rethink the products that you're offering, the information that you provide about these products and how you market those products to our children," said Obama to members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association earlier this week.

In February, she launched her "Let??s Move" initiative to combat childhood obesity. This is the first time Obama has appealed directly to the food industry, highlighting the unique role food manufacturers have.

"We can build shiny new supermarkets on every block, but we need those supermarkets to actually provide healthy options at prices people can afford," she said. "And we can insist that our schools serve better food, but we need to actually produce that food. And we can give parents all the information in the world, but they still won??t have time to untangle labels filled with 10-syllable words or do long division with these portion sizes. And that??s really where you come in."

Obama said the industry has made strides to reformulate its products into healthier products, but that more needs to be done. "This isn??t about finding creative ways to market products as healthy," she said. "As you know, it??s about producing products that actually are healthy ?" products that can help shape the health habits of an entire generation."

Read more about First Lady Obama??s "Let??s Move" campaign in the "Inside Washington" section of current issue of NACS Magazine.

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