Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Michelle Obama's Fall Kitchen Garden Harvest: 15 People Selected For Let's Move! Tweet-Up

#WHTweetup guests will cook with Comerford; tour Kitchen Garden with Kass; meet with Let's Move! team; watch First Lady & her helpers pluck produce...
Update, Oct. 5th: Actually, 17 people are expected to join the Tweetfest, East Wing tells Obama Foodorama
Tomorrow, on Wednesday, October 5th, when First Lady Michelle Obama hosts the third annual Fall Harvest of her Kitchen Garden, she'll be joined by about fifteen people selected to participate in the first-ever Let's Move! Tweetup, Hannah August, Mrs. Obama's Press Secretary, told Obama Foodorama.

The afternoon of events will be a busy one: In addition to watching Mrs. Obama harvest the garden, the group will cook in the White House kitchen, have a private tour of the garden, and engage in a conversation with leaders from Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! team.

The harvest bounty--think loads of Sweet Potatoes--will be used for next week's State Dinner in honor of President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea, and some will be donated to Miriam's Kitchen, a DC social services agency. Mrs. Obama last hosted a planting and harvest event on June 3rd.

The Twitter users come from "New York to California," and include "parents, gardeners, and people that are passionate about the solving the problem of childhood obesity," said August. Applicants had to be over 18 years old to be invited.

The group will tour the Kitchen Garden with Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass, prepare "a healthy meal" in the White House kitchen with Executive Chef Cris Comerford, and visit the beehive with Beekeepe-in-Chief Charlie Brandts.
The select group will also have a conversation with Let’s Move Executive Director Dr. Judith Palfrey and Jocelyn Frye, Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady. (Above: The First Lady and Kass at the the 2011 Spring planting)

The group will watch Mrs. Obama harvest the Kitchen Garden; she'll be joined by students from Harriet Tubman and Bancroft Elementary Schools in Washington, DC. Attendees will use the hashtags #LetsMove and #WHTweetup to discuss their experience on Twitter.

In the coming days, Mrs. Obama will also be answering questions about the Let's Move! campaign on Twitter, the White House announced today. Use the hashtag #AskMichelle to participate.

Hundreds of applicants...
Hundreds of people applied for the Let's Move! Tweetup in the short application window of 24 hours, according to August. The @LetsMove account has 13,855 followers.

"Tweetup attendees are active users of social media, expressed particular interest in the campaign to end childhood obesity, and many showed interest in the intersection of government and technology," August said.

The small Let's Move! Tweetup group is in contrast to the very large Tweetup that will take place on Oct. 13 for the Arrival Ceremony for the State Visit of President Lee; the White House and State Department are trying to make that event the largest Tweetup yet.

*Top photo by White House; others by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama. On Twitter: @ObamaFoodorama

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