Sesame Street stars Elmo and Rosita are set to take part in an announcement by U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday about marketing healthier foods to children, according to a release from the Produce Marketing Association (PMA).

PMA and Partnership for a Healthier America representatives will join Obama for the announcement, which follows the first ever White House convening on food marketing to children. During the meeting, the First Lady called on stakeholders to leverage the power of marketing to promote healthy products and decrease the marketing of unhealthy products to kids.

After the announcement, Obama, Elmo and Rosita will join school children invited from Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia for the annual fall harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden.

Starting next school year, all schools will be required to follow the “Smart Snacks in School” nutrition standards, making vending machines and a la carte lines healthier. Many schools across the country have already met or are working to meet these standards to ensure kids are getting the nutrition they need to lead healthy lives.

School kids will come from Magnolia Elementary School, Harford County Schools - Joppa, MD; Linwood Holton Elementary School, Richmond Public Schools – Richmond, VA; and North Elementary School, Monongalia County Schools – Morgantown, WV.

All three schools have vegetable garden activities, while Linwood also grows flowers and North Elementary also cultivates fruits.

Linwood has established a rain garden to improve the watershed and educate students while improving the water quality, and many teachers at North Elementary implement garden-based learning, incorporating the garden and its produce in math, science, reading, writing, and health lessons.

The latter has also engaged with a local farmers market where students learn the value of pricing, marketing, and selling produce at the market; additionally the have recently planted a WORLD garden where they have planted a new variety of produce indigenous to the almost 50 countries that the students at their school represent, raising awareness about different cultures and international flavors.

Magnolia participates in a Harvestable School Garden program where students and parents participate in the harvesting of the garden, with the produce incorporated in lunches.  The school is also a Healthier US Schools Challenge bronze recipient and has made great strides in improving school meals by ensuring all competitive foods sold on the cafeteria line meet the requirements of the competition.

Additionally, the school takes part in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program, introducing a variety of produce that kids otherwise might not have had the opportunity to sample.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

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