Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (3)
Pictures
Celebrity portraits
Up close and personal with famous faces. Slideshow
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
China ready to impound EU planes in CO2 dispute
12 Jun 2012
Aging Microsoft lures young tech idealists
12 Jun 2012
UPDATE 3-US worried Russia may be sending Syria helicopters
12 Jun 2012
Zynga shares dive as Facebook game craze wanes
12 Jun 2012
Analysis: Apple's big enemy in smartphone wars: delay
12 Jun 2012
Discussed
136
Exclusive: Drones ”inhumane”, dead al Qaeda man’s family says
109
Obama: U.S. economy ”not doing fine”, action needed
69
China could impound European planes in carbon row
Watched
Jolie releases video for U.N. World Refugee Day
Tue, Jun 12 2012
UN says Syrian children used as human shields
Tue, Jun 12 2012
Syrian rebels seize military base
Mon, Jun 11 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more
Escape from Alcatraz
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the daring three man escape from the island prison. Slideshow
Colorado wildfire
The High Park Fire has scorched an estimated 43,000 acres. Slideshow
Book Talk: Michelle Obama on White House kitchen garden
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Michelle Obama to Ann Romney: have fun campaigning
Tue, Jun 12 2012
Disney junk-food ad ban latest move to slim U.S. kids
Tue, Jun 5 2012
"Pre-diabetes," diabetes rising among U.S. teens
Mon, May 21 2012
Analysis & Opinion
MuniLand Snaps: June 1
Obesity in America
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
Politics »
People »
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama attends a book signing of her first book ''American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America,'' at a book store in Washington June 12, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON |
Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:30pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has adopted healthy eating and fighting childhood obesity as one of her pet causes.
Her first book, "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America," tells of her experiences planting the first vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt and shares other stories of other community gardens across the country.
Obama, who did not accept an advance and will donate all author proceeds to the National Park Foundation, sat down with Reuters before her first and only book signing, at a Barnes & Noble near the White House.
Q: What inspired you to write the book?
A: My own experiences being a mom, trying to feed my kids right. What I realized when I started making some simple changes like ... adding more fruits and vegetables. Getting the kids to farmers markets. Engaging them in the process of understanding where their food was coming from. They took an interest, and their health outcomes changed pretty dramatically.
I thought, if I don't know these things, what's going on in other households where people have less information, fewer resources? So I started thinking about how a garden could begin a really good conversation ... The book is another extension of the garden. It's open to the public and it's in a place where the public can see it. But there are so many people around the country who have heard about the garden, who are curious about it, and they'll never have the chance to see it.
I wanted it to be a beautiful book with wonderful pictures that would draw people in, particularly kids. We tried to make this book pretty user-friendly so that kids would open it up and get engaged just from the pictures. And we wanted to tell other stories ... There are thousands of wonderful community gardens all across the country. I had visited some and I wanted to tell that story too, and also use the book as a way to talk about the work that we're doing with childhood obesity and childhood health (the "Let's Move" initiative). So when we talk about that, we throw in a few recipes.
Q: Which is your favorite recipe?
A: I love the sweet potato bread. It's really good, and it's really moist. The corn soup is excellent. The linguine is good. The kids like the cauliflower mac and cheese, although I tell people to introduce kids to that early before they have the processed kind, because it's not as salty.
Q: What about the beehive? There was a concern about the proximity of the beehive to the White House and the president's basketball court.
A: Deep concern. Kids don't like bees - what kid likes bees? And then I've got this other kid, the president, and he doesn't like bees. It took a little convincing, but we had one of the staff who was a beekeeper. I assured everyone we would not be caring for the bees individually. We could just look from afar. Once we got the hive out there - it's up pretty high and it's not anywhere where (the dog) Bo could get to it, and it's very secure so it doesn't get knocked over by Marine One landing.
We all coexist very well together. The honey is amazing. I eat it almost every day in my tea with my snack. We give it as gifts. It's just a really good, personal touch. And it's delicious. We have brewed beer with it.
Q: After the Obamas leave the White House, what do you see the garden becoming or what do you hope it is?
A: I hope it's there forever. One of the beauties of the book is that all of the proceeds are going to go to the National Park Foundation, which is the foundation that will support the garden, hopefully forever. But it's really up to the next family that comes in. At least we have the legacy of what the garden has become, which is another reason why the book is so important.
Q: Any surprises? What was the biggest struggle with the garden?
A: We still struggle every day with it. Trying to figure out how to grow the right melon - we still haven't been successful with watermelon. Our pumpkins are still a little lame. We're doing some potatoes - I hope they turn out. This is the first season of red russets and different varieties. We won't know for another month or so how those are going.
Finding the proper structure for a public community garden (was hard). At first we didn't have beds that were enclosed, and we found that a big rain would come through and wash everything out. Fortunately we had gardeners who would help readjust everything. We found having those beds worked, especially since we have a lot of little kids coming through. It makes it easier for volunteers to come and not pull up the wrong thing.
Another surprise is how resilient gardens can be. They can be very fickle when it comes to the rain, but as I tell the kids, you can't break anything. It's dirt. That's why I've gotten so comfortable dealing with soil and dirt and plants and sprouts. Because you really have to try to mess it up. And that's the beauty. There's not much kids can get wrong.
They're in it to get dirty, they're in it to mess up. So there's a freedom that they have when they're in the garden that I really like. Especially when they're in the White House, it can be pretty intimidating. But you would be surprised at how little they focus on where they are. Instead they focus on what they're doing. Because they want to help, they want to engage. If they know that they can't damage anything ... it makes it just a fun experience for them.
(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Prudence Crowther)
Entertainment
Fashion
Politics
People
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (3)
Know wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.