--- title: Michelle Obama: Why We Stopped Eating Boxed Mac and Cheese description: Malia Obama learned about processed foods the hard way canonical: https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-09T23:16:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:43.300Z og:title: Michelle Obama: Why We Stopped Eating Boxed Mac and Cheese og:description: Malia Obama learned about processed foods the hard way og:url: https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f29a9449ddc42fd/69877e57e20a8757d9a8501e/cooking-light-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: cooking-light-obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama: Why We Stopped Eating Boxed Mac and Cheese twitter:description: Malia Obama learned about processed foods the hard way twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f29a9449ddc42fd/69877e57e20a8757d9a8501e/cooking-light-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why the Obamas Don't Eat Mac and Cheese Out of a Box Anymore  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 9, 2015 11:16 PM UTC  Cooking Light  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 9, 2015 11:16 PM UTC Michelle Obama [sat down with _Cooking Light_](http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/michelle-obama-interview) for an interview about her now five-year-old Let’s Move! campaign, but she also opened up about the meals she grew up with and the challenges of cooking for a family. In one of the more interesting anecdotes, the First Lady recalls the time Sam Kass, the former executive director of Let’s Move! and White House chef, taught her older daughter, Malia, a memorable lesson about eliminating processed foods. --- > “” --- Those rules would have been hard for Chelsea Clinton to follow back when she moved into the White House at age 12\. “At that age she had a very narrow idea of what she wanted to eat,” former White House executive chef Walter Scheib [recalled in 2008](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-11-09/news/0811070085%5F1%5Fwhite-house-new-first-family-feeding-the-family). “Two of her favorites then were grilled chicken breast with lemon pasta and broccoli, and macaroni and cheese. She was very clear that it had to be Kraft macaroni and cheese from a blue box. We couldn’t deviate.” [Read the rest of the First Lady’s interview at _Cooking Light_](http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/michelle-obama-interview). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/"},"headline":"Why the Obamas Don't Eat Mac and Cheese Out of a Box Anymore","datePublished":"2015-02-09T23:16:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:43.300Z","description":"And why Chelsea Clinton would hate it in the Obama White House","url":"https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/","keywords":["Living","Food & Drink","Michelle Obama","malia obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f29a9449ddc42fd/69877e57e20a8757d9a8501e/cooking-light-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f29a9449ddc42fd/69877e57e20a8757d9a8501e/cooking-light-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cooking-light-obama","caption":"","creditText":"Cooking Light","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3702149/michelle-obama-mac-and-cheese/","name":"Why the Obamas Don't Eat Mac and Cheese Out of a Box Anymore"}}]}] ```