That's right.., Farmer Aman was invited to the White House for this annual event that has been going on for 136 years. My traveling companions were the Walker Family. Tiffany Walker's Media Mama magic helped to get our farm program noticed and then invited to this event. This year's theme fit right into the movement that we have going on at our school, Hop Into Healthy - Swing Into Shape. The South Lawn became a playground for 30,000 guests and we were lucky enough to be a part of it all!
Movement, fitness, nutrition and children's health and wellness was the theme. Our school farm and wellness program at Moss Haven align with this incredible National movement and fortunately, we are creating a program that teaches kids about making better choices and thinking about their healthiness. If you teach this to young ones, you can create change.
We have learned that farming builds community and helps to create a network of support. Using that network, we were able to meet Sam Kass, the White House chef. We were also able to share with him what we are doing to help grow healthy kids at our school.
The White House garden was just planted, and I was able to tour with the gardener and learn about the origins and history of their garden. It was the greatest garden tour that I have ever been on!
There was even an activity based around chickens. Although they didn't have live chickens, it explained the importance of farm fresh eggs and eating organic free range chickens.
As if the White House wasn't enough of a prop for selfies, they provided kid sized podiums for our future Presidents. In America, anything is possible. That was probably the biggest lesson that I learned on this trip! Using connections and dreaming big, with a lot of hard work, makes dreams come true! This farmer is a big fan of that type of thinking!
There was even a nice shady spot for zen time, which I stopped through twice. Being on the South Lawn was an amazing experience, so I breathed deep and thought about how lucky I was to be a part of this incredible Nationwide movement in raising healthy kids!
I visited with celebs, like Smokey and Jim Carey who was there to read his book in the garden.
Kelly Miterko was perhaps the most important person who we met that day. She is the Deputy Associate Director of Let's Move. Let's Move is the initiative that Michelle Obama has created and is so passionate about in changing the health of our kids, which in turn will change the health of our Nation. Fingers crossed that our letters of love will reach the First Lady and hopefully she will accept our invitation to visit our school to see what an amazing program we have at Moss Haven Elementary!
We caught our breath on our way out and reflected on the wonderful, once in a lifetime experience that came from this Easter Egg Roll. There are many who have gotten us here, and like the farmers of yesteryear, we continue to grow and become better people, building a better community for ourselves and most importantly for our kids!
