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MCCC
Faculty Chefs Part of White House Launch
to End Childhood Obesity
6/8/10
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West
Windsor, NJ: For Doug Fee, coordinator of Mercer County Community
College's Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management
Program (HRIM), June 4 was a day like no other. Fee was among
the nation's culinary professionals invited to the White House
to launch "Chefs Move to Schools," a grassroots
initiative in support of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's
Move!" national campaign to end childhood obesity within
a generation.
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Our Strength (SOS), the nation's leading organization working
to end childhood hunger, kicked off the day by hosting a welcome
breakfast at the JW Marriott Hotel. Opening remarks by White
House Assistant Chef Sam Kass, Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan, and SOS Founder and Executive Director Bill Shore
were followed by
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MCCC
Associate Professor Doug Fee, left, and Adjunct Faculty Member
Bill Beyer, were among hundreds of culinary professionals invited
to the White House June 4 for First Lady Michelle Obama's new
initiative to end childhood obesity. |
speakers
Janet Poppendieck, professor of sociology at Hunter College and
author of Free for All: Fixing School Food in America, and Ellen
Teller, director of Government Affairs at the Food Research and
Action Center.
Next,
the proceedings moved to the White House South Lawn for the First
Lady's address. She spoke of the importance of everyone working
together to serve nutritious meals, and the need for bipartisan
support of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act.
"It was great to hear from our First Lady and to talk with
colleagues across the country about ways to provide cost-effective,
healthy meal programs for youngsters," said Fee, who was accompanied
to the event by HRIM adjunct faculty member Bill Beyer. The two
are involved in teaching good nutrition to children served by New
Jersey Tennis & Learning in Trenton, a group dedicated to working
with overweight children and their parents. With the children in
mind, Fee asked for and was given a case of paper chef's hats from
the event to take back to Trenton for them. "It's all about
educating the kids and their families," said Fee.
Mercer's chefs also chatted with industry leaders and celebrity
chefs such as Food Network's Ellie Krieger and Iron Chef Cat Cora,
the latter having been featured in a promotional event June 2 with
MCCC's Hospitality Club students in Hamilton.
"The trip to the White House was a surreal experience,"
said Fee, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who holds
a bachelor's degree from the University of New Haven and a master's
from Thomas Edison State College. "There is so much synergy
to get things moving in the right direction. We are motivated and
excited."

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