‘Whitecoats’ Storm The Whitehouse!

Whitecoats storm the Whitehouse

Today was a special day. There are, without question, those moments in the life of a chef, when you feel like you are doing more than making people happy with food, but that you are making some kind of tangible difference.

Connecting with Rhode Island farms to create a multi-course meal in the middle of a field last August was one for me. Bringing other chefs to farms to introduce them to cheesemakers, through our ‘Pasture To Plate’ trips has been another. Today was yet one more of those moments, in Washington, D.C.

One week ago, I was asked by my favorite organization, Chef’s Collaborative, to join a troupe of passionate and dedicated chefs, to help launch Michelle Obama’s new program “Chefs Move To Schools“, via the administrations new initiatives at let’s move.gov. The goal of the program is to utilize chefs as ambassadors to healthy, delicious food and to place them with ‘adopted’ schools within their community. Through this partnership, the chefs are to help the schools start to find ways to bring healthy, local and sustainable foods to schools throughout the nation.

Does it sound far fetched? Grandiose? An unattainable goal? Perhaps, as we all know the myriad of problems and issues facing school administrators, teachers, faculty and staff in every aspect of the education system- let alone the food that is served in schools. The dismal state of the food programs in American schools—especially public schools—is almost universally acknowledged. But we have to start somewhere. Small, incremental change is necessary on a local level, all over the country, in order to begin the process of making change.

The Whitehouse Beehive

Today’s events at the Whitehouse were the first steps in ensuring a healthy future for our kids, with close to as many as 500 of passionate, skilled, eager, exited, and sweaty (yes it was over 90 degrees on the South Lawn) chefs, literally storming the grounds of the First Family. I was there and I am proud to say it really was nothing short of an amazing morning and afternoon of embracing the ideals of healthy cooking, local and sustainable purchasing and deep seeded passion for changing the way America looks at food.

On The South Lawn

We began our morning with a symposium at the JW Marriot with Billy Shore, founder of Share Our Strength, a non-profit with a nationwide reach, dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America by 2015. Speakers covered a lot of ground, as we all rubbed the morning from our eyes (8am is early for a chef), and guzzled coffee. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House Assistant Chef Sam Kass, local school Principles and their Chef Liasons were all on the panel, offering insight, instruction and inspiration on how to get involved on a local level.

Then, in a parade of white coats and shiny black shoes, we walked two blocks to the Whitehouse, to peruse the Presidential vegetable garden, share our ideas and energy and to hear The First Lady tell us about her plans for the ‘Chef’s Move’ program. The sea of Egyptian cotton and neatly pressed black and gray pants washed down Pennsylvania Avenue, and we all assembled at the front gate. I’d turn to my left and see Michel Nischan and Marc Murphy, to my right- Anne Burrell, Carla Hall, Anne Cooper, Bill Telepan and Tom Colicchio.

Chef Jose Andres and meNot such bad company.

For possibly the first time ever in history, all of the chefs in attendance put away their egos and pride and we all talked about what it meant to be involved in such a project. How each one of us was going to work in ways to do our part. Jose Andres and Daniel Boulud joked and teased each other like high school boys and Telepan poked Marcus Samuelson with his walking cane. It was a jovial gathering of chefs, all galvanized in a movement, in a moment of time.

Tours of the Whitehouse garden followed, a visit to the apiary, the compost bin (now that’s some Presidential shit!), and the day finally came to a cascading finish in the searing heat, while we all mopped our brow, and listened intently as Michelle Obama spoke of changing the way American kids eat in this generation.

The Whitehouse Vegetable Gardens

“You are all at the heart of this initiative because if anyone understands nutrition and food, it’s the folks sitting here in their whites today,” Obama said, referring to the traditional chef uniform. “You know more about food than almost anyone – other than the grandmas – and you’ve got the visibility and the enthusiasm to match that knowledge” she said. The First Lady added “These schools are going to need your support. But it’s got to be a collaboration.”

With that, our historic day had come to an end. We’d heard from the ‘Command-ress In Chief’. The vision was clear. The goals had been set. Now we have to get our hands dirty and get started. As Bill Telepan, who has been working closely with his daughter’s school through Share Our Strength’s program, ‘Operation Frontline’,  said in our opening symposium at the Marriot “Don’t get discouraged. Take small, incremental steps to achieve change. Have patience. Have fun”.

Chef Daniel Boulud and me

The Whitehouse Garden Walkway

My discussions with Chefs Tom Colicchio, Jose Andres and Daniel Boulud were varied and we covered everything from Tom’s construction disasters with his new home, Chef Boulud’s precocious and adorable daughter, chiding him the whole time as he videotaped the crowd of chefs, and Chef Andres’ Blackberry woes “This thing- it drive me crazy”, but one thing is for certain- the energy is there. The enthusiasm is un-contained. These chefs are ready to be instrumental in not just changing food in schools, but food policy, here at home and across the globe. This was a welcome realization. It’s always kind of nice when you discover your professional heroes share some of your personal values.

Chef Tom Colicchio & Me

After a couple of weeks of being able to digest what I learned today as well as the processes by which the collaborations between chef and school will work, I look forward to ‘adopting’ a local, Rhode Island school, and doing what I can to channel the obvious enthusiasm for quality,  healthy foods into an environment where I can be most useful. Stay tuned and stay hungry.