Tuesday, January 15, 2008
News Nancy Pelosi force-feeds Republicans with weird gourmet food
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Tue, Jan 15, 2008 at 7:13 PM
Sorry to bring more politics to food blogging, but Politco.com features an amusing culinary report today. It seems that the new Democratic majority has upgraded the food choices in the House of Representatives:
The processed cheese has been replaced with brie. The Jell-O has made way for raspberry kiwi tarts and mini-lemon blueberry trifles. Meatloaf has moved over for mahi mahi and buns have been shunted aside in favor of baguettes.A revolution is afoot at the deli counters, grills and salad bars of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Newly ascendant Democrats may have hit roadblocks on Iraq and fiscal issues, but they have revamped congressional menus, replacing fatty, pre-made foods with healthier, gourmet alternatives. The once dreary congressional cafeterias now abound with haute cuisine.
The menu transformation is part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Greening the Capitol†plan to make the House campus more environmentally friendly and socially progressive.
Naturally, it's turned into a political dispute:
One House Republican aide lobbed attacks at the Democrats over e-mail.“I really don’t like Nanny Nancy telling me what I can and cannot eat for lunch. If I want to eat unhealthy, I should have that choice!†the aide fumed.
Republican aides have raised questions about why the cafeterias now stock Stonyfield Farm yogurt, speculating that the move would line the pockets of the company’s CEO, Gary Hirshberg, a significant player in Democratic politics.
That assertion is nonsense, said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the chief administrative officer, the House official who oversees the cafeterias. He said the new food vendor, Restaurant Associates, selected the yogurt producer based on price, quality and consumer satisfaction.
So I guess Nancy Pelosi can now add "special-interest food snob" to her other titles.
Check out the complete, funny story here.
(Photo of Nancy Pelosi in a corn field from the Minnesota Corn Growers' website.)
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