The Rodale publishing group is going entirely Obama centric in October, with three different magazines featuring stories about President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
The Rodale publishing empire is devoted to promoting health and fitness, with titles that include everything from healthy lifestyles to gardening to fitness, so Rodale becoming a joint East Wing and West Wing publication outfit makes sense for the Obama admin, as a way of getting positive health care reform messages and Mrs. Obama's health and nutrition agenda out to citizens who don't utilize electronic media. Two of Rodale's magazines will have Obama covers in October, and the November issue of Prevention will also have an Obama cover. According to Rodale's own stats, Men’s Health, which will have the President on the October cover, has a global readership of over 20 million. Rodale maintains that their Women’s Health is one of the fastest-growing magazines in the US, and it will feature an interview with Mrs. Obama in the October issue--although she's not on the cover. Prevention, with the November Obama cover story, is the the 11th largest magazine in the US, according to Rodale (the New York Times does an excellent recap of what all this means for advertising bucks, here).
The Obama Diet--?
Rodale is also premiering a new title in October, Children's Health, which does have Mrs. Obama on the cover (photo at top of post), as well as an interview in which Mrs. Obama discusses Obama family eating habits. Rodale is calling this The Obama Diet, but it remains to be seen if Mrs. Obama will go on the record with concrete specifics about exactly what to eat; her nutrition campaign, to date, has been all about discouraging sugary and processed foods, avoiding fast foods except as an occasional "treat," and encouraging lots of fruit and veggies--all while amping up physical activity. The White House doesn't like the term "diet," but prefers the idea of "lifestyle balance," because it implies a healthier approach to eating, rather than restriction. In any case, certainly Mrs. Obama on the cover will assure a strong kickoff for the mag, since her poll numbers remain stratospheric. And it's a great way to spread the word about the First Lady's nutrition and health campaign.
Of course there'll be a lot of insider info from the White House Kitchen scattered among the Obama stories...And the first in-depth Sam Kass profile
Mrs. Obama does discuss "keeping calories down in the White House kitchen" in her various interviews--she and the President
have repeatedly mentioned the "dangers" of Exec Pastry Chef Bill Yosses's pies in other interviews, and the challenges of raising healthy kids--but Rodale is also publishing the very first in-depth interview with Mrs. Obama's Food Initiative Coordinator, Sam Kass, which will run at the same time as the President's October cover story in Men's Health. Kass, for those new to this blog, is the White House chef who joined the Obamas in DC after working with them in Chicago, and the man in charge of Mrs. Obama's food policy agenda, as well as the White House Kitchen Garden. Although Kass has been seen talking about the White House Kitchen Garden and cooking on global TV and in Youtube videos (such as the awesome new The Story of the Garden video)--and he frequently has tiny sound bytes in print media--the White House has held off on allowing print media to get Kass deeply on the record. Mark Bittman, best-selling cookbook author and high-profile New York Times food columnist, wrote the Kass story for Men's 
Health, and he gets all the deets. Bittman also interviewed other members of Mrs. Obama's food policy team, including Melody Barnes and Jocelyn Frye--although it remains to be seen what actually makes it into the final edit. In addition to being an incredible chef, Ag policy wonk and master gardener, Kass is also a big fitness buff, and Men's Health did a big photo shoot at the White House. So look for Kass pix in the White House Kitchen and in the garden--and maybe even shooting hoops with the President on the tennis court, which has a regulation-height basketball hoop installed, for giddy half-court games of Horse. There'll be no golf pix of Kass, though, wink wink wink. The October issues hit news stands on Sept. 15. (Top: Mrs. Obama and Kass in the White House Kitchen, Bottom: Kass talking about the garden...in the garden)
An amusing Kass print media side note: This winter, he was on People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People list, in the special section called Barack's Beauties, which starred Mrs. Obama and featured other White House staff, including Rahm Emanuel. Kass was the first White House chef to ever be on People's list, although other, regular ol' chefs have made appearances on previous lists.Rodale doesn't stop with the East Wing and West Wing: Rodale has also been handy dandy helpers with the USDA, too. The Rodale Institute, the non-profit arm of the publishing empire, donated hundreds of pounds of organic compost to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's People's Garden project at USDA headquarters on the National Mall. Nice!
*Photos: Mrs. Obama and Kass in the kitchen and Kass in the garden from White House; bottom Kass photo by Obama Foodorama
