Sam Kass (red jacket), assistant White House chef and executive director of “Let‘s Move,” tells children to be gentle with garden plants, and to give them water. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

First Lady Michelle Obama invited children from six elementary schools to Washington today to help with the fifth planting of the kitchen garden she established after moving into the White House.

Two of the schools are local and have helped with planting in past years, but the other four schools represented districts in Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Vermont that have successfully implemented the school meal regulations for healthier food.

“You guys are here because you are doing such wonderful things to implement the new school nutrition standards at your school,” Obama told the students.

The entire planting took 15 minutes. “You kids are like machines,” the first lady said before having her picture taken with the students and signing their T-shirts.

Students from the Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School in Knox County, Tenn., came to Washington with the help of the Tennessee Farm Bureau, which provided a garden-starting grant as part of the school’s “Ag in the

Tanna Hurd Nicely
After the planting, Assistant Principal Tanna Hurd Nicely explained that the school started a Jeffersonian heirloom garden. Students learn that Thomas Jefferson was a gardener, and the program connects with third- to fifth-grade social studies and history courses, highlighting American presidents who have had a role in gardening and land stewardship.

Nicely said she believes gardening has an immense value in teaching children about agriculture, especially inner city children who have never before seen food grow.

Sarah More Greene was selected because the district revamped its lunch menus and engaged parents and students to test new healthy recipes such as their own hand-tossed, whole grain pizza. The school encourages children to eat fruit and vegetables, offers nutritious snacks and breakfasts to students daily, and works with community partners to provide gardening classes to parents and kids.

The other schools that were invited because of similar school lunch achievements:

Benjamin David Gullett Elementary represented Manatee County Schools in Bradenton, Fla., where 28 of the district’s elementary schools have received HealthierUS Schools Challenge awards.
Schools have at least one salad entrée every day, offer whole-grain wraps and other healthy recipes, each of which are taste-tested with the kids. Fresh fruits and vegetables are available to students every day, and nutrition education and physical activity programming is a school priority.

Gullett uses gardening as a learning opportunity, and the school’s food and nutrition program teaches students about planting, growing, and tasting vegetables.

The Arthur D. Healey School represented the Somerville, Mass., public school district, which has a Farm to School program for K-12 that includes food education events like “corn shucking day” when kids learn about the food they’re eating in school meals.
Nutrition education is integrated into after-school programming. The school serves healthy breakfasts and snacks, its lunch program has a salad bar, and kids participate in taste tests as new healthy recipes are created.

The Healey Garden, started in 2004, hosts celebratory gardening days and gardening activities throughout the year.

The Milton Elementary School represented the Milton Town School District in Vermont, which has made lunchtime a dining experience by using the Agriculture Department’s MyPlate signs, salad bars, local ingredients, and making fruits and vegetables more interesting with innovations like squash with nutmeg and cinnamon. The district also has taste-tests and sampling to make sure children like the meals served. Milton Elementary School is also planning on planting a garden and using the produce for student meals during the school year and during the summer.

• Video: White House Kitchen Garden Planting Spring 2013
• Sarah Moore Green Elementary School (See video: “How We Live Healthy at Sarah Moore Greene”)
• School District of Manatee County, Fla., Wellness Newsletter
• Somerville, Mass., Public Schools Healthy Snack List
• Milton Town School District, Vt.: Five Simple Tips to Get Kids Excited about Eating Their Fruits and Veggies, Vermont Style