Michelle Obama Shops At White House Farmers Market, Talks Healthy Eating

Natasha Metzler -Huffingtonpost – 17/9/09 -

First lady Michelle Obama picks some fresh produce from a stall at the opening of the Freshfarm Market's new farmers' market on Vermont Avenue near the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“I was a working mother trying to put it all together,” she said. “Takeout food was a primary part of our diet.”

But Mrs. Obama explained that she gradually saw the effect eating better had on the health and habits of her children.

“The kind of food that we put into our body gives us the energy to get through the day,” she said.

Mrs. Obama praised farmers markets as places where Americans can learn more about how their food is produced.

“You get to know the people who grow your food, how they do it, you know, who they are as people,” she said.

These markets play an especially important in neighborhoods where access to healthy options are limited, she added.

The first lady has been promoting locally grown food and healthy eating with a popular vegetable garden at the White House.