First Lady Michelle Obama to Harvest White House Kitchen Garden

Monday, June 6th

The White House * 11:10AM ET – First Lady Michelle Obama will welcome students from across the country to harvest the White House Kitchen Garden and prepare a fresh, healthy meal with ingredients straight from the garden. Mrs. Obama will be joined by Author, Daytime Host and Child Nutrition Advocate, Rachael Ray, who is also a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and Tastemade’s Frankie Celenza. In 2009, Mrs. Obama planted a vegetable garden on the South Lawn to initiate a national conversation around the health and wellbeing of our nation—a conversation that evolved into her Let’s Move! initiative.

The First Lady will welcome back students from the planting of the White House Kitchen Garden earlier this year. Students from Wisconsin, Colorado, and Louisiana whose schools have inspiring school garden programs will be in attendance and will highlight the increase and impact of school gardens across the country. In addition, Mrs. Obama will be joined in the garden by students from Bancroft Elementary School and Harriet Tubman Elementary School who regularly help in the White House Kitchen Garden.

Students joining the First Lady participate in the following garden programs:

Washburn School Garden Program – Washburn, Wisconsin

The mission of the Washburn School Garden Program is to cultivate environmental stewardship, foster human health, and develop ecological sustainability. The Washburn School District currently maintains a 6,400 square foot school garden and small orchard. Elementary grades each have a section of the garden to maintain throughout the year, and the middle school and high school have classes that use the garden extensively, culminating in an Agriprenuer program. Much of the food grown is used in the school food service, with additional food sold to the community. 

Montezuma School to Farm Project – Cortez, Colorado 

The Kemper Elementary School Garden is a program of the Mancos Conservation District's Montezuma School to Farm Project (MSTFP) in Cortez, Colorado. Kemper serves several Native American tribal communities along with a strong Hispanic community and students of families that were some of the first settlers in the area. With a strong indigenous and agricultural heritage, students learn science, math, health, and nutrition lessons through experiential education lessons that use native seed varietals and focus on drought resilient water and soil conservation practices. Produce that students grow in their school garden goes directly to school cafeteria meals, student taste testing, and is also utilized in youth farmers’ markets.

Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA) – New Orleans, Louisiana

ESYNOLA is a comprehensive seed-to-table food education program that aims to change the way children eat, learn, and live. The program offers hands-on gardening and kitchen classes that are integrated into the curriculum, culture, and cafeteria programs at the schools it serves. At Arthur Ashe Charter School, each grade level participates in garden classes where the students learn the importance of cultivating the soil, planting, nurturing, growing, sowing, and harvesting fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. From wellness workshops to Family Food Nights, the program helps students learn the importance of eating healthy and connect their experiences in the garden to the subjects they are learning in their classrooms.

The event will be livestreamed at obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/live.