First Lady Michelle Obama Answers Your Questions on Let's Move!

First Lady on Obiesity (sugar)

Michelle Obama asked parents, teachers, physicians, coaches and kids to get involved and suggested they look at the new Let's Move Web site for helpful tips, strategies and updates on beating childhood obesity in the United States.

"About one-third of our children are overweight or obese. None of us want that for our country," she said. "It's time to get moving."

First, according to Obama, package labels should be easier to read.

By the end of the year, the Food and Drug Administration will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutritionally sound and consumer friendly front-of-package labeling to provide 65 million parents in America and other caregivers with easy access to the information they need to make healthy choices for their children.

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Fresh Greens

by Lindsey Lewis

[]Eat In
Michael Kraus cares about your health, the planet’s—and helping you stay well-nourished right through that snoozy lunch meeting. The founder of Viva Fine Foods & Bakery has launched an environmentally and socially conscious company, One Planet Catering, that delivers wooden-boxed lunches straight to your office. All ingredients are local, organic, and unprocessed whenever possible. Plus, each delivery includes a quick fact about one of the ingredients. (Did you know the Incas considered quinoa a sacred food?) The company also has a zero-waste policy and donates five per cent of its total revenues to environmental and social causes.oneplanetcatering.com

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WestEnder

You are... Michael Kraus, founder of One Planet Catering (395 Railway, 604-760-1646, OnePlanetCatering.com) 

Describe the concept of your business: “One Planet Catering is a ‘green’ catering company, and our primary focus is to serve lunch to people at their offices. We encourage our customers to make positive choices for their well-being and for the environment, while providing information on nutrition and current food-related environmental issues. We increase our customers’ health, energy, and productivity by delivering well-balanced and organic lunches. We give our customers the experience of making a difference by contributing five per cent of the sale of each lunch toward environmental or social causes.” 

Where did you train? “My grandfather’s bakery and my grandmother’s kitchen and vegetable garden were the early roots to my culinary journey. I completed a three-year pastry chef program and a two-year chef apprenticeship in Munich, Germany, then I [worked in] service and management before moving to Vancouver in 1992. The real training started with the opening of my first business seven years ago.”

 We might also find you dining out at... “Le Crocodile, for perfection on a plate from the iconic Michel Jacobs; Bin 941, for a creative, fresh and consistent menu, executed with attention to detail and served with charm and care; and Fritz, for service from the heart and the best poutine in the city.” 

Your dream dinner date (spouses and family don’t count): “Buddha, because he’s my friend, and Jesus, because he’s my hero.”

Last night’s dinner: “Chicken with mushroom cream sauce, saffron rice, and spinach-arugula salad with honey-lime dressing, prepared at home by my girlfriend, Dawn. We had apple crisp with vanilla gelato for dessert.”

 If you had a date with the electric chair, your last meal order would be... “Warm Bavarian meatloaf with sweet mustard, a buttered pretzel, and a Hefeweizen.” 

You’d gag if you ate... “Fermented soybeans, because of the smell, flavour, and texture. My motto is to experience things at least once: ‘If you don’t try, you don’t know.’ That dish was definitely an experience never to be repeated.” 

You’d be happiest at Happy Hour with... “A glass of bubbles from Blue Mountain, candlelight, reggae music, and a good conversation.” 

Secret treat: “Cheetos.”

You’d take a long flight in economy class for that one meal in... “Cansaulim, South Goa, for a plate of prawn masala at the Tibetan Kitchen, a small shack on the beach, tables and chairs right in the sand, no shoes required. Fresh ingredients, simply prepared with love and passion. The most memorable food experience I have ever had.”

Culinary confessions: “Working as a pastry chef at the Teahouse about 12 years ago, I designed a wedding cake in the shape of a swan out of meringue, about three feet wide by three feet tall. On that particular day, it was raining pretty hard, so the humidity was very high. Just when the chef and sous-chef carried out the cake for the ‘grand entrance’ into the dining room, the neck of the swan separated from the body, because the meringue was starting to melt, and it hit the chef in his chest. I never had a chance to apologize to the bride, so here I go: I’m truly sorry; let me make it up to you with a lunch at your office.” 

Menu suggestion for a hassle-free, sit-down dinner party for six: “Use a raclette grill, a combination of a table grill and a salamander. Anything goes as long as there is Gruyère, a few homemade dipping sauces, a variety of blanched vegetables, and meat or fish. Add a nice bottle of wine and a good loaf of bread. It can last for hours and is very entertaining. Have grilled banana or peaches for dessert.” 

Five must-have ingredients in your kitchen: “Bread, butter, olive oil, sweet Bavarian mustard, and dog food.”