Michelle Obama says she’s “so excited” to include a fruit and vegetable garden — and an ode to another former first lady — on the campus of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
The Obama Foundation released renderings for the space, to be named after Eleanor Roosevelt, on Wednesday.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, Obama said in a video announcement, will include a “picnic area, a garden classroom, and a teaching kitchen where visitors of all ages and abilities will be able to participate in hands-on workshops to learn how to grow, harvest and prepare fresh fruits and vegetables.”
The move to include the gardening destination appeared to be a nod to Obama’s longtime efforts to promote nutrition. She planted the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in 2009, and pitched healthy eating as part of her “Let’s Move!” anti-childhood obesity initiative while in the East Wing. She also produced and starred in a food-focused children’s show on Netflix, “Waffles + Mochi,” last year.
Obama said naming the gardening destination after Roosevelt — who planted a victory garden at the White House in 1943 as World War II raged on — felt like “a natural fit.”
“We’re all so excited to honor Mrs. Roosevelt’s legacy with a garden, where so many folks can follow her lead and plant something to help nourish the world around them,” Obama said in the promotional video. “I can’t wait for you all to see it.”
The Obama Foundation said “themes of health, wellness and environmental sustainability” will be “woven within” the garden and the presidential center, and would be included in the museum’s exhibits and programming.
Food grown in the garden, organizers said, will be used as part of the dining options for visitors to the Obama Presidential Center.
Former President Obama and Michelle Obama broke ground on the facility on Chicago’s South Side last year. The center is expected to open in 2025.