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“He’s always asking: ‘Is that new? I haven’t seen that before.’ It’s like, Why don’t you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet.”

Making the White House Our House

Michelle Obama, the wife of Barack Obama, America’s 44th president, is the first African-American first lady. After studying sociology and African-American studies at Princeton University, Michelle Obama went on to Harvard Law School. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1988, she joined a law firm in Chicago, Sidney Austin, where she met future her husband. After a successful career in law, and then working in the community service field in Chicago, she took the position of associate dean of student services at The University of Chicago Medical Center. 

As First Lady, Michelle Obama has continued her work in community service by launching the Let’s Move! campaign (www.letsmove.gov). This nationwide effort is aimed at promoting exercise and healthy eating to tackle the problem of childhood obesity, with the aim of ending it within a generation. The campaign unites communities, teachers, nurses, doctors and families in an effort to meet that goal. 

An example of Michelle Obama’s interest in promoting healthy eating is the organic garden that she, with the help of Washington, D.C.— area children, planted on the grounds of the White House. The aim of the garden is to not only to educate young people about healthy foods but also to urge them to participate in the growing of it. Her choice of the White House’s Executive Chef, Cristeta Comerford, reinforces her position. After the 2008 election, the first lady talked about Comerford’s staying on as White House Chef from the Bush administration: “She is also the mom of a young daughter and I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families.”