FLOTUS urges restaurants to change menus

The Hill ^

[Sub-Driver]

FLOTUS urges restaurants to change menus By Elise Viebeck - 09/13/10 12:39 PM ET

First lady Michelle Obama is urging restaurant owners to consider "reformulating" menus to address childhood obesity.



In a speech Monday morning to the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., Obama called on restaurants to offer a wider variety of "healthy choices" as part of her "Let's Move!" campaign.

"I'm not asking any of you to make drastic changes to every single one of your recipes or to totally change the way you do business," she said. "But what I am asking is that you consider reformulating your menu in pragmatic and incremental ways to create healthier versions of the foods that we all love."

She praised restaurant owners for their role in "our own lives and in the life of our nation."


"You’re responsible for one-third of the calories our kids get on a daily basis," she said. "The choices you make determine what’s listed on the menus, what’s advertised on billboards and what’s served on our plates."

She later gave examples of how restaurants could promote greater health, saying some dishes could be prepared with less butter or cream and that portion sizes could be reduced.

"Right now, many restaurants ... are serving more low-fat dishes, whole grain breads, fruit on the side. Some are even offering kid-size portions of the meals they serve on the main menu. And chefs across the country are partnering with local schools to help them make healthy choices.

"But as positive as these examples are, the reality is it’s just not enough," she added. "Together, we have to do more. We have to go further."

[ladyvet]


"You’re responsible for one-third of the calories our kids get on a daily basis," she said.

Uh no...the parents are lardazz.

[Little Ray]

Oh, c’mon. She’s just “traditionally built” as they would say in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series (Alexader McCall Smith).
Don’t hate her for her looks. Hate her because she’s a Commie.

[keepitreal]

I just read a book by Tim Gunn (Project Runway's fashion adviser) Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making it Work , who talks about being invited by Mrs. O to the White House for a luncheon. He said the portions were incredibly small. When another guest commented about it. MO stated that she was tired of seeing food wasted, so has ordered incredibly reduced portion sizes. And, she added, "You all can just grab an ice cream cone on the way home". LOL. Teeny portions of real food, but snack on ice cream. Mrs. Healthy strikes again.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Deep-fried celery sticks! Deep-fried spinach! Deep-fried apples!

[Girlene]

"You’re responsible for one-third of the calories our kids get on a daily basis," she said.

Michelle assumes that parents take their kids out to eat to a restaurant once a day? Pretty pricey. Yep - it's the parents' responsibility.

[circlecity]

These efforts will do little to significantly contribute to weight loss. Despite all the fad diets and methods, we've always known how to lose weight and the rules I heard as a child still hold today. It's no secret. Don't snack between meals, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink water instead of pop or fruit juice and exercise every day. Follow these rules consistently for a year and you'll lose more weight than you can imagine. Everyone is just looking for a quick fix with no sacrifice. It doesn't exist. All diets and exercise plans work if you stick with them. It all boils down to discipline and persistence.

[hoe_cake]

“MO stated that she was tired of seeing food wasted”

Down here in the South, it is considered bad manners for ladies to clean their plates. We always “leave somthing for Miss Manners.”

I wonder if the Queen of England cleans her plate? I doubt it.

[Lurker]

Bolinger? She ordered Bolinger?

[concerned about politics]

It's none of her business what a restaurant serves. Our kids are none of her business, either.

Who does she think she is? Sure, she loves to spend every WH dollar she can get her hands on, but that doesn't make her a nutritional expert, nor give her the right to interfere in Americas personal business.

You can take the Obomas out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Obomas. You can try, but you can't buy class using other peoples money, and you can't become our food dictator by riding into Washington under your husbands turban.

[keepitreal]

My friend and I were wondering if it was possible that this might have been some kind of private luncheon, paid for by the Obamas, and that she wanted to feed everyone on the cheap - using the waste thing as a self-righteous ruse.

[Gene Eric]

>> MO: 
"You’re responsible for one-third of the calories our kids get on a daily basis," she said. "The choices you make determine what’s listed on the menus, what’s advertised on billboards and what’s served on our plates." Nonsense. It's the parents responsibility, but the Leftists don't yet have the courage to make that assertion.

[mojitojoe]

[Hoodat]

"But what I am asking is that you consider reformulating your menu in pragmatic and incremental ways to create healthier versions of the foods that we all love."

More lobster and wagyu beef for everyone !!!

[keepitreal]

If she really wanted to be honest, it’s not the restaurants that are responsible for one third of the children’s calories, its the government school lunches.

I’m perfectly capable of ordering a healthy meal for my children, even at McDonald’s. I don’t need MO telling me what to do.

[hoe_cake]

She is doing a bit of pontificating, isn’t she?

Her message has no substance.

Surely her speechwriters can find better material for her soundbites.

[MinuteGal]

Forwarding this thread to a freeper who owns a restaurant.

Leni

[SZonian]

I guess there was no comment from Adam Richman of “Man vs. Food” fame?

Or Guy Fieri of Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives)?

I love those shows.

[NativeNewYorker]

Spanish princess on left, Ms. Bruni in center.

[Chattering Class of 58]

Spain’s Princess Letizi Aortiz, France’s Carla Buni, and the USA’s Moochelle Obamoo

[wac3rd]

I cannot stand her because of her Marxist tendencies and laugh at a fat broad telling me about a diet and the sycophants in the media only showing her upper half.

It’s staggeringly funny and ironic.