First Lady Michelle Obama annouced a collaboration with Walmart to promote the 'Let's Move' campaign, in a press statement from the White House dated January 20, 2011. Walmart's Nutrition Charter is a new initiative to provide healthier, more affordable food on the table.
First Lady Michelle Obama and Walmart CEO Bill Simon heald a joint news conference on January 20, 2011. They made a statement while standing in front of a colorful produce stand filled with healthy vegetables.
The Let's Move Campaign, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama, was launched almost a year ago. The ambitiuous campaign fights the serious health problem of childhood obesity by educating the public, parents and educatiors. The Let’s Move! Campaign is a comprehensive, collaborative, and community-oriented initiative that has sought to engage every sector of society to tackle head-on the many different factors that lead to childhood obesity.
The campaign seeks to educate parents and children about healthy choices to fight childhood obesity, with is a health risk. People is some areas are challenged by the lack of affordable healthy food in their markets. Walmart has committed to ensuring healthy food is available and affordable in their stores.
Walmart has agreed on a three-prong approach to the support the 'Let's Move' campaign. Walmart plans to offer more nutritious food products, lower the cost of healthy foods, and provide consumers with better information about healthy food options. These changes are the types of improvements critical to achieving the primary goal of Let’s Move! – solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation.
Walmart's plan includes reformulating packaged food to reduce the amount of sodium and added sugars and by removing all remaining industrial produced trans fats. Walmart plans to work with suppliers to improve the nutrient value of packaed foods. Walmart will be phasing this initiative in over the next five years, so it should be fully in place by 2015.
Walmart has also committed to making healthy food more affordable by redicing the prices on frest produce, including fruits and vegetables.
The third part of Walmart's plan is to empower consumers to make informed choices with a health seal on the front of packaged food. The label will help consumers identify healthy products.
“I believe this Charter is a victory for parents…it’s a victory for families…and most of all, it’s a victory for our children,” said First Lady Michelle Obama, in the press statement. “But I’m also here today because I think that this nutrition charter represents something bigger. The truth is, back when we first decided to take on the issue of childhood obesity, in the back of my mind, I wondered to myself whether we would really be able to make a difference. When you’re dealing with a problem this big…and this complicated…it can be a little overwhelming. You can start to wonder: Is what we’re doing here really working? Are folks really interested in making these kinds of changes? Is this actually making our kids healthier? But today, when I see a company like Walmart launch an initiative like this, I feel more hopeful than ever before that the answer to these questions is yes. Efforts like this show us that yes, we can improve how we make and sell food in this country – and what we feed our kids. Yes, we can give parents better information so they can make better decisions for their families.”
The Let's Move campaign focuses on healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy nutrition and exercise.
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