White House
-
White House chefs and the limits of personal choice
About a month ago, high-profile foodies got pretty amped up about whom Obama would choose as White House chef. Three of them -- Berkeley sustainable food doyenne Alice Waters, Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl, and New York City restaurateur Denny Mayer -- even got together to pen a letter urging the incoming president to replace the current White House chef with someone who chooses locally grown, organic food -- preferably sourced from an on-site vegetable garden. According to a New York Times account, the letter states:
A person of integrity who is devoted to the ideals of sustainability and health would send a powerful message that food choices matter. Supporting seasonal, ripe delicious American food would not only nourish your family, it would support our farmers, inspire your guests, and energize the nation.
Last week, Obama defied this gentle effort to convince him to send the incumbent chef packing. Cristeta Comerford, who has been in charge of cooking first-family meals for the Bushes since 2005, will retain her post, the Obama team announced.
My first reaction to this news was disappointment. After choosing an agribiz-friendly pol as USDA chief, couldn't Obama at least make a symbolic nod in the direction of the sustainable-food movement by picking a new chef?
Now I'm not sure what the fuss was about in the first place.
-
Obamas keep current White House chef instead of bringing in sustainability-focused one
Foodies have been wondering who will feed the Obamas when they move into the White House on January 20. Some gourmands and sustainable-food advocates have argued that a chef who will focus on local and organic foods should replace current White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford.
Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl and restaurateurs Alice Waters and Danny Meyer sent a letter to Obama asking him to pick a chef who is sustainability-minded, and might even use foods from a White House garden. Michael Pollan called for the same thing.
Reichl and friends even offered to help Obama find the right chef for the job. "A person of integrity who is devoted to the ideals of sustainability and health would send a powerful message that food choices matter," they wrote. "Supporting seasonal, ripe delicious American food would not only nourish your family, it would support our farmers, inspire your guests, and energize the nation."
But sustainable foodies won't get their way on this one (just as they didn't with Obama's choice for secretary of agriculture). The Obamas are planning to keep the current chef, a transition official says.
-
New fact sheet greenwashes Bushes record on energy and climate
OK, my headline may have selectively edited the White House’s newly released energy/climate legacy talking points. But I didn’t do anything more than the White House itself did in its unintentionally humorous fact sheet that asserts, “President Bush Has Strengthened America’s Energy Security And Taken Constructive Steps To Confront Climate Change.” I suppose the “fact […]
-
Placemaking in the Cabinet
Excellent news: “White House to Establish Office of Urban Policy.”
-
White House begins review of controversial EPA rule
With a new president-elect only days away, the Bush administration is racing to push through 11th-hour, polluter-friendly rules. The Washington Post flagged some of the most egregious examples in a front-page story, Friday. The latest to pop up is what the Bush EPA opaquely describes as the “increment modeling” rule. It is now under review […]
-
Despite industry lobbying, EPA toughens lead pollution limits
Federal regulators announced Thursday a sharp reduction in legal levels of lead emissions, rejecting pleas by industrial battery recyclers who told White House officials earlier this month that they could be put out of business by tough new limits. “Our nation’s air is cleaner today than just a generation ago, and last night I built […]
-
Recyclers of industrial batteries work to derail tougher EPA standards
Lobbyists for industrial battery recyclers charged over to the White House recently to crank up arguments against possible tough new regulations of lead, a key ingredient of automobile and other heavyweight batteries. The closed-door meetings were prompted by a court order requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act by Wednesday to update its 30-year-old […]
-
Did House Dems kill renewable tax credit extension?
Sure looks that way. I wasn’t entirely thrilled with everything in the Senate bill. But given how dreadful congressional Democrats and environmentalists are at messaging, it is surely the best anybody could hope for. The House Dems threw out elements of the tax package that were crucial to get the support of Senate Republicans and […]
