PMA teams with Sesame Street to promote healthy eating

WASHINGTON — During a Oct. 30 White House event, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sesame Workshop and Produce Marketing Association (PMA) announced that they are forming a collaboration committed to increasing children’s consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. The collaboration is part of a commitment to the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama to broker commitments to help end the childhood obesity epidemic. Under the two-year commitment, the agreement allows PMA’s community of suppliers and retailers to take advantage of the strength and influence of the Sesame Street brand and characters like Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby to help deliver messages about fresh fruits and vegetables. PMA will provide technical assistance and promotions support to its members. Sesame Street characters may be on produce in stores as early as mid-2014.

“Just imagine what will happen when we take our kids to the grocery store, and they see Elmo and Rosita and the other Sesame Street Muppets they love up and down the produce aisle,” said First Lady Michelle Obama in a press release. “Imagine what it will be like to have our kids begging us to buy them fruits and vegetables instead of cookies, candy and chips. That’s what this new collaboration between Sesame Workshop and the Produce Marketing Association is all about – showing our kids that healthy food can be fun and that fruits and vegetables don’t just make us feel good, they taste good too.”

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