Michelle Obama to visit city school

By Alfred Lubrano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: February 18, 2010

Michelle Obama will be in Philadelphia tomorrow to visit two sites - one of them Fairhill School in North Philadelphia - where she will discuss her initiative to prevent childhood obesity, according to a representative.

She will be joined by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to highlight the problem of so-called food deserts - large swaths of urban areas that do not have supermarkets. They will also discuss steps that Philadelphia antihunger groups have taken to bring healthy, affordable food to various neighborhoods.

The other stop will not be made public for security reasons, the representative said.

The visit is part of her "Let's Move" campaign, which seeks to "mobilize public and private-sector resources . . . to help kids be more active, eat better, and get healthy."

Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman found out Tuesday that Obama would be coming to Philadelphia.

She was thrilled, she said.

"That's quite a special thing for Philadelphia," Ackerman said.

The school, Ackerman said, was chosen because of its involvement with the Food Trust, a nonprofit organization that endeavors to improve the supply of affordable food and good nutrition in the Mid-Atlantic region.

"There's lots of activity in that school around healthy foods and kids' eating healthy," she said.

Michelle Obama will spend time talking one on one with a small group of students, Ackerman said.

Contact Inquirer staff writer Alfred Lubrano at 215-854-4969 or alubrano@phillynews.com.