Chefs Show Their Strength at the White House

I’ve been lucky enough to support Sam Kass in moving this idea forward since last fall – and it was incredibly rewarding to see the launch come to fruition once the fast-forward button was hit. While I was consumed with the details leading up to the event, I knew as I tried to call the breakfast symposium to order that gathering the chefs together was having the intended effect: the conversations about how to ensure all kids get healthy foods had already started, the cross-fertilization among chefs eager to share their strengths occurred naturally, and the positive energy kept the room buzzing.

As Director of Share Our Strength’s Operation Frontline for the last five years, I see the response chefs receive from parents and kids when they take the time to talk to them about food, taste healthy and delicious foods together, and show them that cooking can be fun. As Chef April Neujean said on the breakfast panel, “putting on your chef coat is like putting on a superhero costume.”

I feel privileged to have a bird’s eye view of the lifelong transformation that is possible when the importance of a healthy eating is imparted with energy and a sensitivity to the challenges each participant faces on a daily basis. With Operation Frontline, we train our volunteer chefs that, while they are experts at cooking, our course participants are the experts in their own lives. We focus on meeting families where they are and helping them move toward healthier choices step-by-step. This is the same lesson that we heard during our breakfast panel from the chefs already working to give kids healthier school food and the tools to make healthy choices, and from the First Lady herself: Approach schools— staff and kids— with respect, try not to assume too much, and ask questions to find out what’s most helpful. Offer your strengths: your creativity, your cooking expertise, your joy for food, your can-do attitude.

If the energy and enthusiasm in the meeting room and on the White House lawn were any indication, our chefs will lead the charge and take this movement into schools across the country, giving kids healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

Photo credit: Susan Biddle.