Food is out of control in America. Portion sizes are running rampant, and we often consume far more calories than we expend each day. In addition to increased exercise, we need a return to smaller portions and healthier ingredients. When it comes to food, many of us lack the self control to cut calories from our daily diets—so it’s nice to find out that food manufacturers are doing it for us!

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition of retailers, industry trade associations, and food and beverage manufacturers, has announced that it will help Americans reduce their daily caloric intake by cutting a combined 1.5 trillion calories from its members' products by the end of 2015. To reach this goal, the food and drink manufacturers have said they will introduce lower-calorie options, change recipes when possible to reduce the caloric content of current products, and reduce portion sizes on current single-serving products. The coalition has also said that its manufacturers will add more fiber and whole grains to their products as well as increase the number of healthy (and convenient) options for consumers. The coalition hopes to reduce at least 1 trillion calories by the end of 2012.

Members of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, including cereal makers such as General Mills and Kellog's, have agreed to cut 1.5 trillion calories from their products.  Photo By Ben McLeod/Courtesy Flickr  

The Partnership for a Healthier America, an organization that works to achieve the specific goals of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, has agreed to hold the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation accountable to their pledge by requiring annual reports of the HWCF’s progress. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has also agreed to evaluate the HWCF’s efforts and has said that it will publicly report its findings.

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation’s members include such notable food companies as Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Nestlé USA, Kellog’s, Kraft Foods, Sara Lee, Post Foods, Campbells, ConAgra Foods and General Mills.

When we chose projects from the Natural Home arsenal to decorate the Blair House, the president's guest house, we had no idea we were so in tune with the Obama family’s ideas. We were all thinking decoupage.

Decoupaging old globes with reused paper is a great way to give tired ornaments new life. We bought a bunch of old ornaments from eBay and some Mod Podge decoupage medium and went to work on them with recycled gold tissue paper. The results look like antique glass globe ornaments, and each handmade piece is unique. This craft project is a fun way to revitalize and personalize old ornaments—and to avoid buying new ones.

Decoupage ornaments add a personal touch to your holiday decor. Photo By Rob Cardillo.

Meanwhile, Michelle Obama sent leftover ornaments from past White House Christmas tree decorations to 60 community groups around the country with instructions to decoupage the ornaments in honor of the cities’ local landmarks—then return them to the White House to decorate the holiday tree.

Decoupaging is easy and fun. Check out our simple instructions and instructions for making several other simple, fun holiday projects.

Best wishes and happy holidays to you and yours from all of us here at Natural Home!

When the Obama family moved into the White House, many people gave suggestions on how to green the first family’s home. 

The Obamas listened. 

For the first time since Eleanor Roosevelt grew a Victory Garden during World War II, the White House will have a vegetable garden. Michelle Obama, along with 23 fifth graders from an elementary school in Washington, D.C., dug up the soil for the 1,100-square-foot organic garden last Friday. The entire Obama family, including the President, was expected to help pull weeds in preparation.  

Michelle Obama shows elementary school children how to dig dirt for the vegetable garden. Photo Courtesy  The White House/ Joyce N. Boghosian  

The organic garden is one way the White House is going green. The beds for the garden will be fertilized with White House compost as well as crab meat, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control bugs. The first family will plant cilantro , hot peppers, red romaine lettuce, spinach, collards, Thai basil and many other seeds for a total of 55 vegetable varieties. 

The kitchen staff at the White House will use the vegetables, herbs and berries to prepare meals for the first family, but Michelle Obama hopes the garden’s benefits will extend beyond that. She believes the children helping out will learn about healthier eating. 

Organic advocates around the country hope the Obamas’ garden will become a national symbol for eating healthier food and , more importantly, growing food locally and organically. Much of the nation’s produce is grown on industrial farms, requiring large amounts of oil to transport and chemicals to fertilize. If more people grew their own vegetables or participated in a community garden, we could cut back our dependence on these farms and live healthier lives.