Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Nancy Pelosi does a little House-greening

Chris sends me this article from the NYT on the new cafeteria options at the four House office buildings. It's entitled "More House Salads, Whether the House Likes It Or Not," which I find to be a very combative title for an article about "revamping of the menus, to make them more local, organic and healthful." God forbid, right? Well, apparently healthier food = conspiracy:


But to some people here they represent an elitist misuse of public funds, and possibly a bit of anti-industry propaganda.

In newspaper articles and on blogs, the menu has been mocked for including sushi and brie, foods critics seem to regard as pretentious esoterica. Questions have been raised over whether the decision to stock a particular brand of organic yogurt was motivated by political donations. Writers have griped about allowing Ms. Pelosi to decide what they should eat. And some have expressed outrage at the notion that tax money is paying for all this frippery.

Whether or not sushi is too elitist for workers on the Hill, the cafeterias are not subsidized, said Perry Plumart, the deputy director of the House’s environmental effort, which is called Green the Capitol.

I wonder if that brand of yogurt is Stonyfield Farm--they might have a legitimate argument there!

Update: It is Stonyfield! (Source)

2 comments:

Chris L. said...

Note that if you check the facts, chickens hate being uncaged. Seriously, when will people begin to check the facts. Madness!

Also, I have to give Jen props for forwarding this article, it just came from my NYT login.

Michelle said...

yeah, I don't really understand how one could dispute the statement that caged hens are "unable even to spread their wings or engage in many other natural behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching and dust bathing."

Oh, and thanks Jen for the link :)