Meet Obama Foodorama

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Last week’s meetings in DC were full of unique opportunities & milestones for me.  I must say, though, the opportunity to meet with Eddie Gehman Kohan, the founding editor of Obama Foodorama was by far the most unique.  In a nutshell, Eddie is a historian.  She is in charge of the official public record of the Obama Administration’s Food & Nutrition Initiatives.  A huge part of her job is documenting our First Lady’s contribution to American History.  And Eddie wanted to meet The Produce Mom during our trip to DC.  Amazing.

My meeting with Eddie was really informal, but so perfect & fun.  We actually met at 10pm at a coffee shop!  I was rushing back to the city from a meeting in Delaware & she didn’t hesitate to meet at 10pm because as she put it “the President was in a different time zone – so it’s going to be a late night.”  It was just a fascinating & exhilarating opportunity for someone like me who has been so inspired & affected by this administration’s contribution to the fresh produce industry to actually sit down & talk with the woman who is in the middle of it all, documenting it & sharing it with our country via a blog.

It’s important that you understand what I mean when I reference & praise the Obama Administration’s contribution to the Fresh Produce Industry… from the increased portion size of fruits & veggies in the USDA school meal programs, to Let’s Move!, to Michelle Obama’s role in encouraging the food industry to adopt responsible practices when marketing food to children, to fostering a partnership between Sesame Street and the produce industry, to MyPlate, Farm to School & more… there is strong bipartisan support for our First Lady’s platform & efforts to raise the awareness of the childhood obesity crisis as well as this administration’s innovative programs that work with a mission of beating this crisis in 1 generation’s time.  I’m not a political figure; I’m a produce industry advocate & voice.  And each of these reference programs and efforts affects our industry & all of our consumers (aka me, you & our kids) in a very positive manner.

So I told Eddie this:  How The Produce Mom started.  How Find Your Favorite came together.  How the Indianapolis Colts have partnered with me to bring Find Your Favorite to a broader audience. How I’m working on a plan to take Find Your Favorite to elementary schools across the nation.  How the produce industry has praised Find Your Favorite as one of the greatest marketing campaigns for kids of all time.  How they recently recognized me as one of the top 25 global contributors to our industry.  How people like you tune in because the content is delivered in a very familiar format…. I’m a mom like you.  My kids also want cookies instead of broccoli.  Heck, I too want cookies instead of broccoli.  But I know how important it is to eat more fruits & veggies and my work and focus as The Produce Mom is to help all moms and all consumers understand that fruits & veggies are always a great choice and to provide you with tools to make it easier to select, store & serve your fresh produce.  As well as messaging that connects with your kids to make fruits & veggies the “cool” choice.  Because let’s be honest, a professional athlete, artist or public safety officer telling kids to eat their veggies is way cooler than mom saying it!  Eddie and I conversed about all of this until the coffee shop kicked us out.  Then we talked for another 20 minutes on the sidewalk.

So Eddie told me this: She loves what I’m doing & wants to see me do more.

And the next chapter begins…
xoxo Produce Mom

 

 

About Lori

Lori Taylor is the Founder & CEO of The Produce Moms. For ten years she sold fresh produce to over 300 grocery stores throughout the United States, and today she is fully focused on working with the produce supply chain, media, and government to increase fresh produce access & consumption in the US and around the globe. Connect with Lori on LinkedIn.

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2 Comments

  1. This is ridiculous. In the first place, her husband LOVES Monsanto. What kind of horrible marriage is that? And now, ObamaFoodorama can’t be accessed without some sort of login? What is that about?!

    1. Hi Aunty M,
      Thanks for reading The Produce Mom blog. I know nothing about President & First Lady Obama’s marriage. Regarding ObamaFoodorama – I’m not sure when the access became invite only. I no longer have access to the website. I enjoyed the White House recipes & insights that ObamaFoodorama shared. I’ll let you know if I get any more information on the blog access.
      Have a great day, Lori