champions of change

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Deborah is the Vice President of Food and Farms at Ecotrust, a non-profit organization based in Oregon.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Ruth Hambleton is the founder of Annie’s Project in Illinois. Annie’s Project is a non-profit organization that concentrates on education for Farm Women.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

When the gasoline additive MTBE was banned in 2006 and ethanol was its only practical replacement, Eric as a corn farmer, became very interested in joining with other farmers to build a corn ethanol plant.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Everett farmed all his life in North Dakota and taught high school while farming for a few years. Nowadays, Everett is a full-time farmer and a leader in co-operatives with farming.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Linda Barnes is a professor of biology at the Marshalltown Community College and also an organic farmer.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

After retiring from the University of Texas-Pan American in 2008, Dr. Arriola, like many retirees in America, wanted to continue to be of service to his community. He formed the Texas Valley Communities Foundation, a non-profit, 501(c)3 tax exempt organization designed to provide funding and support to grass roots organizations in South Texas seeking to develop and implement effective college readiness outreach programs for Hispanics and at-risk students. Through his efforts, and with the help of grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Motor Company Fund, Meadows Foundation, and the Houston Endowment, Dr. Arriola's foundation and its partner grass roots organizations have created the Engaging Communities for College Readiness (ENCORE) program.

As chair of the recently established White House Rural Council, I want to make sure you take a look at a new web page that went live on the White House Champions of Change website.  It is focused on the meeting that was held at the White House on July 6, with President Obama, myself and 18 Rural Champions from across 14 states.  The new site features blogs and short video clips from participants about the meeting.  I hope that you’ll take a moment to check it out: http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to join 5 chefs from across the country, all of us being recognized as a Champion of Change. Working together as a team the six of us joined in a discussion with Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and Chef Sam Kass to discuss opportunities and challenges of the Chefs Move to Schools, a program of the Let's Move! initiative.

The true spirit of Chefs Move to Schools (CMTS) is to engage children in their classroom through food. The program has morphed into a fun and educational program benefitting both school children and school nutrition professionals. One practice that is becoming popular is to have the program benefit both these groups; first by getting kids excited by a chef demo then having the chef step into the school kitchen, not to comment about the food, rather to work hands on with the kitchen staff to help re-educate them on basic kitchen skills. This quick educational lesson is often welcomed by the staff who see it as an opportunity to network with a local chef. Engaging organizations is important to seeing through with the success of CMTS. The American Culinary Federation, School Nutrition Association and Share Our Strength are the top three organizations involved to see through with the success of CMTS.