Photo: Courtesy EllenTube
Michelle Obamais celebrating a good deed and great food.
The former first lady, an honorary chair ofPartnership for a Healthier America, had a hand in making sure more than 20,000 families in five major U.S. cities had delicious and healthy food to eat over the past year.
Through the Pass the Love campaign,1,008,000 meals were distributedto households in Cleveland, Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Fresno.
“We have so much work to do to create food equity in our country and ensure that all people have access to healthy, nutritious food,” Obama, 58, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “Our Pass the Love campaign with the Partnership for a Healthier America is getting us get one step closer to that.”
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Starting in the spring of 2021, families in cities where child poverty levels are high received a meal kit every week for four weeks. Each kit contained enough fresh fruit and vegetables, ingredients and recipes for four people to enjoy three produce-forward meals.
“The campaign’s success in giving out over one million meals to families in need shows us just how powerful it is when communities come together and look out for those in need of a hand,” Obama, whoannounced the milestone onThe Ellen Show, said in her statement. “I’m excited to see the progress we’ll make in the years ahead.”
“It’s been hard for me to get fresh vegetables, especially this last year. Taking care of [my grandson] and with my job, it’s hard to make it to the store,” a Philadelphia meal kit recipient named Denise said. “Even when I do, most of it’s too expensive and sometimes, I’m afraid he won’t eat it and it will just go bad. I don’t like to waste food.”
Pass the Love
“We’ve gotten so much help this last year, with things like the meal boxes, and they’ve really helped us get through,” Denise continued. “I’m a positive person, so I know we’ll make it — it’s already getting better.”
Fresh and tasty food certainly helps. “We loved the cucumber and the tomatoes and the sweet potatoes. All the fresh things that we don’t have around all that much,” she said. “I learned a lot of new tricks from cooking the meals, too.”
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A favorite, Denise revealed, is the “delicious” broccoli soup.
“It was easy and tasted so good. All the meals had enough to eat for lunch or a snack the next day. It was a lifesaver because I’m so busy that I don’t usually have enough time to fix a lunch,” she said. “My friend that works with me kept asking what I was eating because it smelled so good. I told her to go get a meal box, too.”
source: people.com
