michelle obama – Cincy Link

Michelle Obama launches PLEZi company to improve child nutrition

cincylink — Thu, 25 May 2023 11:30:04 +0000

Michelle Obama announced Wednesday that she has co-founded a new company to make and sell healthier food and drinks for kids, products that she says will be less detrimental to their long-term health because of their lower sugar and higher nutrient content.In the video player above: Want your kids to eat veggies? Parents can set an example by eating them, too, study finds The former first lady's work with PLEZi Nutrition is an extension of her efforts to improve child nutrition when she was in the White House."I've learned that on this issue, if you want to change the game, you can't just work from the outside," she said during a keynote address in New York at a conference on the future sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. "You've got to get inside. You've got to find ways to change the food and beverage industry itself.""So today, I'm proud to announce the national launch of a company designed not just to provide better products, but to jumpstart what I hope will be a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry," she said.Mrs. Obama said she is a co-founder and strategic partner of PLEZi Nutrition. She will work behind the scenes on its educational and philanthropic efforts, according to aides, who stressed that she will not be a spokesperson or public face of the company. It was unclear whether she put any money down to help launch PLEZi Nutrition or whether she will draw a salary.As first lady, Mrs. Obama sought through a White House initiative called "Let's Move" to improve the health of U.S. children by encouraging them to engage in physical activity and eat healthier food. She worked to improve federal nutrition standards for school lunches and extracted commitments from food companies and restaurant chains to cut calories, salt, sugar and trans fats in their meals.But she said Wednesday that kids still are not getting the recommended levels of nutrients and are eating and drinking too much added sugar, an average of 53 pounds per year. Sugary drinks are youngsters' main source of added sugar, she said, adding that nearly two-thirds of them have such a drink every day.Video below: Parents say kids are making better food choices PLEZi Nutrition, based in the District of Columbia, is a public benefit corporation, meaning that the for-profit company was created specifically for the public's benefit and will balance its profit needs with its mission to help improve child nutrition.Mrs. Obama also announced that the company is donating $1 million to an initiative by FoodCorps, a nonprofit organization that is working to help all 50 million students in the U.S. receive education about nutrition and free school meals by 2030. PLEZi Nutrition will also contribute 10 percent of its profits to the broader movement to improve child nutrition.

In the video player above: Want your kids to eat veggies? Parents can set an example by eating them, too, study finds

The former first lady's work with PLEZi Nutrition is an extension of her efforts to improve child nutrition when she was in the White House.

"I've learned that on this issue, if you want to change the game, you can't just work from the outside," she said during a keynote address in New York at a conference on the future sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. "You've got to get inside. You've got to find ways to change the food and beverage industry itself."

"So today, I'm proud to announce the national launch of a company designed not just to provide better products, but to jumpstart what I hope will be a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry," she said.

Mrs. Obama said she is a co-founder and strategic partner of PLEZi Nutrition. She will work behind the scenes on its educational and philanthropic efforts, according to aides, who stressed that she will not be a spokesperson or public face of the company. It was unclear whether she put any money down to help launch PLEZi Nutrition or whether she will draw a salary.

Mary Altaffer
Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during WSJ’s Future of Everything Festival, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in New York. Obama says she’s working behind the scenes with a new company that will make and sell food and drinks for kids that have less sugar and more nutrients. She says the products from PLEZi Nutrition will be less detrimental to children’s long-term health because they contain less sugar and more nutrients. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

As first lady, Mrs. Obama sought through a White House initiative called "Let's Move" to improve the health of U.S. children by encouraging them to engage in physical activity and eat healthier food. She worked to improve federal nutrition standards for school lunches and extracted commitments from food companies and restaurant chains to cut calories, salt, sugar and trans fats in their meals.

But she said Wednesday that kids still are not getting the recommended levels of nutrients and are eating and drinking too much added sugar, an average of 53 pounds per year. Sugary drinks are youngsters' main source of added sugar, she said, adding that nearly two-thirds of them have such a drink every day.

Video below: Parents say kids are making better food choices

PLEZi Nutrition, based in the District of Columbia, is a public benefit corporation, meaning that the for-profit company was created specifically for the public's benefit and will balance its profit needs with its mission to help improve child nutrition.

Mrs. Obama also announced that the company is donating $1 million to an initiative by FoodCorps, a nonprofit organization that is working to help all 50 million students in the U.S. receive education about nutrition and free school meals by 2030. PLEZi Nutrition will also contribute 10 percent of its profits to the broader movement to improve child nutrition.

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Michelle Obama to speak with college students nationwide

cincylink — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 04:58:45 +0000

Alright, Hurt one. We've got to be just sticking them again. Ready, So oh, let's look up, look, smile. We envision this is a place where residents and visitors from all over the world come together and restore the promise of the people's party. So that will be the core mission of the center and our foundation programming. And now I guess we're going to talk to her down watching Great Street. That's it. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Michelle Obama to speak with college students nationwide

Updated: 11:41 PM EDT Nov 1, 2021

Related video above: Obamas break ground on presidential centerMichelle Obama's next promotion for her memoir "Becoming" will center on college students.The former first lady will appear Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. with "black-ish" actor Yara Shahidi for a livestream conversation with students from 22 schools throughout the country, from Cal Poly Pomona to Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, from where Obama and Shahidi will speak. BET plans to televise the event at a later date, to be determined."I can't wait to hear from students across our country as they navigate their studies and lives during this unprecedented time," Obama said in a statement Monday. "As a first-generation college student myself, I remember my own struggles to manage classes and figure out my place on campus — and I can't even imagine how much harder it is to do it during a pandemic, when so much feels like it's constantly up in the air. I just hope they realize that moments of self-doubt and fear are completely natural, but if we embrace those moments — if we own our stories and use our voices — we can share the very best parts of ourselves with the world."Along with the Nov. 9 event, Crown is donating 100 copies to each of 12 schools in the Maryland Community College Consortium."We know the book has been deeply impactful for young people, especially young women, and has become a kind of touchstone," Drake said.Obama's book, published in 2018, has sold nearly 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and continues to sell more than 2,000 copies a week, according to Crown president David Drake. Most political memoirs, even ones by presidents or first ladies, are forgotten after the initial publicity. But Obama's book has been assigned everywhere from Ohio State University to Fresno City College, in courses ranging from composition to Black women's studies. Julie Gallagher, an associate professor of history at Penn State Brandywine, included the book in her course on civil rights in the modern era. She noted that civil rights narratives often focus on the South, but that Obama grew up in Chicago, and so told a story of a Northern state. And Gallagher found Obama's memoir an invaluable contrast to how Black women often are portrayed in the media."Here's this woman who comes from a very strong, loving family," she said. "This is a story of love, determination, grit, community, of multiple generations working to strive for the American dream."In 2020, the University of California, Irvine, included "Becoming" in its "Great Big Read" for students, faculty and staff. Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth, the school's assistant vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, told The Associated Press that themes discussed included "self-identity, patriotism, relationships across significant others and families, as well as questioning roles and finding ways to circumvent the incidences and impacts of discrimination in society."Earlier this year, Crown released a young readers edition, for ages 10 and up, that Obama will help promote when she appears at the National Council of Teachers of English convention on Nov. 18. She will deliver the keynote address and speak with the vice president of the NCTE, Valerie Kinloch, the first Black woman dean of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education.

NEW YORK —

Related video above: Obamas break ground on presidential center

Michelle Obama's next promotion for her memoir "Becoming" will center on college students.

The former first lady will appear Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. with "black-ish" actor Yara Shahidi for a livestream conversation with students from 22 schools throughout the country, from Cal Poly Pomona to Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, from where Obama and Shahidi will speak.

BET plans to televise the event at a later date, to be determined.

"I can't wait to hear from students across our country as they navigate their studies and lives during this unprecedented time," Obama said in a statement Monday.

"As a first-generation college student myself, I remember my own struggles to manage classes and figure out my place on campus — and I can't even imagine how much harder it is to do it during a pandemic, when so much feels like it's constantly up in the air. I just hope they realize that moments of self-doubt and fear are completely natural, but if we embrace those moments — if we own our stories and use our voices — we can share the very best parts of ourselves with the world."

Along with the Nov. 9 event, Crown is donating 100 copies to each of 12 schools in the Maryland Community College Consortium.

"We know the book has been deeply impactful for young people, especially young women, and has become a kind of touchstone," Drake said.

Obama's book, published in 2018, has sold nearly 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and continues to sell more than 2,000 copies a week, according to Crown president David Drake. Most political memoirs, even ones by presidents or first ladies, are forgotten after the initial publicity. But Obama's book has been assigned everywhere from Ohio State University to Fresno City College, in courses ranging from composition to Black women's studies.

Julie Gallagher, an associate professor of history at Penn State Brandywine, included the book in her course on civil rights in the modern era. She noted that civil rights narratives often focus on the South, but that Obama grew up in Chicago, and so told a story of a Northern state. And Gallagher found Obama's memoir an invaluable contrast to how Black women often are portrayed in the media.

"Here's this woman who comes from a very strong, loving family," she said. "This is a story of love, determination, grit, community, of multiple generations working to strive for the American dream."

In 2020, the University of California, Irvine, included "Becoming" in its "Great Big Read" for students, faculty and staff. Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth, the school's assistant vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, told The Associated Press that themes discussed included "self-identity, patriotism, relationships across significant others and families, as well as questioning roles and finding ways to circumvent the incidences and impacts of discrimination in society."

Earlier this year, Crown released a young readers edition, for ages 10 and up, that Obama will help promote when she appears at the National Council of Teachers of English convention on Nov. 18. She will deliver the keynote address and speak with the vice president of the NCTE, Valerie Kinloch, the first Black woman dean of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education.

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