Kevin Fonzo, chef/owner of K Restaurant in College Park, is heading to the White House June 4 to participate in Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools” program, part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to fight childhood obesity.

Trish Shawn of Deep Creek Ranch and Orlando Slow Food nominated Fonzo and was invited to go along. The two will attend a breakfast sponsored by Share Our Strength then participate in a seminar on the South Lawn where they will mee Michelle Obama. They’ll wrap up with a tour of the White House’s vegetable and herb garden, which was started by Obama a year ago.

Chefs Move to Schools will pair chefs with schools in their communitites to 
bring fun to fruits and vegetables,” according to a blog post by White House assistant chef Sam Kass, and “teach kids about food, nutrition and cooking in an engaging way.”

This is not a foreign concept for Fonzo; in fact, he’s a front-runner in this initiative. Last year he started working — during the day, when he wasn’t overseeing his restaurants — with Orlando Junior Academy to improve its school lunch program. “I’m a big believer that we shouldn’t be feeding our kids crap,” Fonzo said in an article written by Linda Shrieves at the Orlando Sentinel. “I wanted the kids to eat real food, including as much organically grown food as possible – not just the empty carbs and sugars that kids get in most school lunches.”

The school year has ended, but not Fonzo’s commitment. He has committed to spearheading the school’s lunch program when the school year starts in August.

The White House is calling on other chefs to get involved with schools in their communities. (Central Florida is a large community, and more chefs are needed to follow Fonzo’s lead.) To find out how you can get involved, visit the Chefs Move to Schools page of the USDA’s Web site. School administrators can visit the site to learn how they can pair up with a chef, too.