第一夫人演讲 "厨师进学校"1

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you, everyone.  Good afternoon.  So is it hot enough?  (Laughter.)  We planned this especially.  Lots of sun, no breeze, got you in your whites and hats.  We’re going to bring you out scarves（围巾，领巾） and mittens（手套） and boots soon to make it really comfortable.  (Laughter.)

But I -- we are just thrilled.  I mean, I don't know if you can see yourselves, but I was looking out from the Residence and looking down at you all as you were spread over the South Lawn, and it was just a sight to behold.  I have to say I wasn’t sure when I heard the goal of having nearly a thousand chefs（大厨，主厨） on the South Lawn.  I said, right, Sam, sure, whatever.  (Laughter.)  But you all pulled it off.  And I am just so proud and honored to have you here at the White House.

I want to start by thanking Todd and Norah for sharing their stories, for the work that they’re doing at the Murch School.  It’s just, you know, a wonderful example of the partnership that can be created.  This is our hope for all of you -- to just spread out around the country and replicate（复制，折叠） what they have done.  And we are just thrilled with the level of broad thinking and creativity that they’ve put into this work.  And we want to see more of it happen.

And I also have to thank my partner in crime, Sam Kass, who has just been such an important part of promoting healthy eating, not just here at the White House, but helping to shape this initiative（主动权，首创精神） .  And Sam has worked closely with so many staff members on the East Wing and in our kitchen, but we wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have the knowledge and the passion if it weren’t for people like Sam who really understand your world; they understand and appreciate the value of cooking.

This has been a long conversation that Sam and I have had over the years, and I think it’s just pretty powerful to see what started out as a few conversations in our kitchen on the South Side of Chicago turn into a major initiative that hopefully will change the way we think as a country, not just about the health of our kids but about our health as a nation.  (Applause.)

Well, you’re all here for the same reason -- because you appreciate the power that food can have in our lives.  And who would have thought food having power, other than just making us full?  But it’s got a lot of power.  You all know the enormous amount of care and the sense of pride that our farmers put into growing the food that nourishes（滋养） the world.  You have those relationships.  You’ve seen it in action.

You know the joy of cooking for others, that passion that you get, the sense of camaraderie（友情，同志之爱） , the understanding and fulfillment that comes with seeing folks gathering around a dinner table, not just enjoying a meal, but enjoying fellowship.  That is power.

You know the central role that food plays in the moments that make us happiest.  Food is always there, whether it’s at a birthday party, or Thanksgiving dinner, or quiet moments with friends.  Food is at the core of what makes life wonderful.

And you all know how the ingredients（材料，作料） we put in our bodies can affect the way we feel, the way we think, and how we grow.  This is especially true when we’re talking about our nation’s kids.

And you all know the statistics when it comes to the health of our kids -- and they're staggering（令人惊愕的，蹒跚的） , every time we talk about it -- how nearly one-third of children in this country are now overweight or obese.  That's one in three.  Just think about that.  That means that these kids are at greater risk of obesity-related diseases -- you name them, cancer, heart disease, stroke.  

And last year as a nation, we spent nearly $150 billion treating conditions like these.  And if we don’t do something now, that number is just going to continue to increase as we see these children reach adulthood at an unhealthy weight.  But what we do know is that none of us wants this kind of future for our kids.  No one does.  This is not what we had in mind.  And we don't want this kind of future for our countries.

That’s why, earlier this year, we started “Let’s Move!”  As you know, it’s been a national campaign with a very ambitious（雄心的） goal, which is to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today grow up with a totally different approach to eating and their health, and they grow up at a healthy weight with a wonderful appreciation for food and how to use it to tap into their power.

“Let’s Move!” is about making the changes that we need in several key ways.  Number one, we’re working to get more information to parents so that they can make good choices for their kids.  That's something that's always confusing as a mom:  What do you feed your kids?  How do you do it?

We need to do a better job at making sure that our parents know what’s best for their kids.

We’re working to make sure that families and communities across this country have access to quality affordable（负担得起的） foods.  You all know this.  Millions of Americans are living in food deserts.  They don’t have access to the kind of food that they need to live a healthy life.  And we can’t begin to have this conversation about healthier living for our kids if their families don’t have access and can’t afford the foods that they need.  (Applause.)