First lady Jill Biden talks nutrition, military families in West Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — First lady Jill Biden was in West Michigan on Wednesday to participate in campaign events.

At Camp Manitou-Lin near Middleville, Biden discussed summer nutrition help for low-income families that’s now available nationwide.

The first lady, along with retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, were promoting a plan that Stabenow laid out last week in Grand Rapids. The pair said that during the summer, when free school lunches aren’t available, families face more expenses. Those who qualify financially can now get $120 for the season to replace those meals, along with in-person lunches and grab-bag options.

Further exacerbating the situation, the price of groceries has gone up. The president’s wife gave part of the campaign narrative to explain why that is happening.

“We know that while grocery chains are making record profits, they’re still raising their prices,” Biden said. “And that’s why the Biden-Harris administration is fighting to lower grocery bills for families.”

Stabenow was asked if that assessment ignored the inflation that most economists believe exists.

“Well, first of all, I would say inflation has been coming down. More to do, but we are seeing it come down. We’ve fixed supply chains, we’ve addressed a number of things to bring down cost, but the cost doesn’t come down,” Stabenow replied. “I think there is an element of some corporations hoping we’ll all get used to higher prices, and they won’t have to bring them down.”

The Biden-Harris campaign has been trying to flip the script on inflation, but the issue still remains one of the top concerns in this year’s election.

On Wednesday, Middleville resident Mark Sharpe said he was pleased to see Biden promoting food programs for kids.

“Especially in communities that have a lot of free and reduced lunch and kids that rely on that,” he said. “Just to make sure it fills that gap for the kids that don’t have the ability to access during the daytime that they would normally get in the school year at school.”

Biden also recognized and support military-connected children of service members or veterans as part of the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative. Joining Forces is a White House initiative to support military families through employment and entrepreneurship, military child education and health and well-being.

The first lady’s visit got the small community of Middleville talking politics.

“I think it’s absolutely great that she comes to the small communities, because I think the small communities are the ones that have a lot of voice,” resident Julie Nagl said.

“I think it’s wonderful that people have the opportunity to share information and make their own decisions,” Don Parks agreed.

Michigan will be a key state on the path to the White House in November.

“I’m expecting to see both candidates here a lot because Michigan went blue some years and red other years, so I think it’s going to be a big deal,” Middleville resident Aaron Wissner said.

After the events in West Michigan, Biden departed from the Gerald R. Ford International Airport for Traverse City.

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