Will Allen with Michele Obama fighting childhood obesity

My friend Katie, who I met working at Growing Power, just sent me the following article. It's Will Allen's birthday today and I think he's going ot enjoy being at the white house for it. Wouldn't you???

Growing Power founder on hand to help launch childhood obesity initiative

By Karen Herzog of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Feb. 8, 2010 |(0) Comments

Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen will share a podium with first lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Tuesday.

The Growing Power founder and CEO is to be one of three featured speakers helping Obama officially launch a national initiative to fight childhood obesity.

Allen will join Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Willis "Chip" Johnson, mayor of Hernando, Miss., as they formally announce efforts to raise awareness of the need for children to have healthier schools, more exercise, access to affordable healthy food, and the knowledge to make healthier choices on their own.

The campaign was first broached publicly last month in Michelle Obama's keynote speech to the National Council of Mayors. President Barack Obama also mentioned the initiative in his State of the Union address.

Allen, whose Growing Power urban farm and food systems training center at 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive, operates in an underserved area of Milwaukee, plans to speak about the need to increase access to affordable healthy food. He will talk about creating new infrastructure to grow food in cities and new networks to channel food from diversified local farms into communities.

Allen said Monday that he also plans to invite the first lady and other national leaders gathered for the Tuesday announcement to visit Milwaukee and to see Growing Power in action.

"We have to institutionalize good food in our schools, and not only in the cafeteria, but in our teaching every day," Allen said in a phone interview.

"We also need to be able to grow food year-round where it's needed, despite the climate, the way we are doing it here at Growing Power in Milwaukee. We need to scale up these efforts, growing good soil, growing good food, growing the relationships necessary to distribute and deliver this food to people."