The announcement that Michelle Obama has co-founded a new firm to produce and market healthier foods and beverages for children was made on Wednesday.
According to Michelle Obama, these products will be less harmful to children’s long-term health because they include less sugar and more nutrients.
The former first lady’s work with PLEZi Nutrition is a continuation of her initiatives to enhance child nutrition while she was in the White House.
She gave the opening remarks at a symposium on the future that The Wall Street Journal sponsored in New York. “I’ve learned that on this issue if you want to change the game, you can’t just work from the outside,” she said.
“You’ve got to enter. You need to identify strategies to transform the food and beverage sector.
As a result, she added, “Today, I’m proud to announce the national launch of a company designed not only to provide better products but also to launch what I hope will be a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry.”
According to Mrs. Obama, PLEZi Nutrition counts her as a strategic partner and co-founder.
According to aides, she won’t be a spokeswoman or the company’s public face but rather work behind the scenes on its educational and charitable initiatives.
It was unknown if she contributed any funds to the start-up of PLEZi Nutrition or if she would be paid a salary.
As first lady, Mrs. Obama worked to promote physical exercise and healthier eating among youngsters in the United States through the White House program “Let’s Move.”
She fought for better federal nutrition guidelines for school lunches and obtained promises from food manufacturers and restaurant chains to reduce the number of calories, salt, sugar, and trans fats in their menu items.
On Wednesday, however, she asserted that kids are still not consuming enough of the required nutrient levels and are consuming too much-added sugar—on average, 53 pounds annually.
She said that over two-thirds of children regularly consume sugary drinks as their primary source of added sugar.
The District of Columbia-based for-profit organization PLEZi Nutrition was founded as a public benefit corporation, which means it will balance its desire for financial gain with its goal of enhancing child nutrition.
In addition, Mrs. Obama disclosed that the business will contribute $1 million to a FoodCorps project that aims to provide free school meals and nutrition education to all 50 million students in the United States by 2030.
Additionally, PLEZi Nutrition will donate ten percent of its earnings to the more significant effort to enhance child nutrition.
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