Calorie by calorie, first lady Michelle Obama is chipping away at big portions and unhealthy food in an effort to help America slim down.
In the year and a half since she announced her campaign to curb childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama has stood alongside Wal-Mart, Olive Garden and many other food companies as they have announced improvements to their recipes -- fewer calories, less sodium, better children's menus.
The changes are small steps, in most cases. Fried foods and french fries will still be on the menu, though enticing pictures of those foods may be gone. High-sodium soups, which many consumers prefer, will still be on the grocery aisle. But the amount of sodium in each can will gradually decrease in some cases, and the taste of their low-sodium variety will be improved.
On Thursday, the first lady joined Darden Restaurants Inc. executives at one of their Olive Garden restaurants in Hyattsville, Md., near Washington to announce that the company's chains are pledging to cut calories and sodium in their meals by 20 percent over a decade. Fruit or vegetable side dishes and low-fat milk will become standard with kids' meals unless a substitution is requested.
McDonald's, Burger King and more than a dozen other restaurants have also said this summer that they will revamp children's menus. Changing recipes and menu items is good business for the industry because consumers want wider choices -- chefs and food manufacturers say consumers are demanding more healthy food than ever before.
The first lady's effort has had "a dramatic impact on manufacturers, restaurants and retailers," says Scott Faber, a lobbyist for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents all of the major food companies. "Until the first lady launched her initiative there was no one American who was inspiring this generation of kids and parents to do more to have a healthy lifestyle."
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