Quote :

"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. But there can be a downside to delicious. Not everyone is happy with the enhanced offerings. Many congressional employees have complained that as the food quality has increased, so have the prices. 'It's a big jump from high school cafeteria to fancy-pants gourmet. I just wish my pay improved,' said Caryn Schenewerk, a staffer for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). A fruit and cheese side dish with two small wedges of brie and cheddar, six grapes, two saltines and one strawberry cost $4.95, for example."

Quote :

"Nearly everything in the new cafeterias is biodegradable, from plates to utensils to straws, and that situation has produced a few peculiarities. For example, there are no soup spoons, only teaspoons. The company that manufactures the biodegradable flatware doesn't make soup spoons yet. And some people have complained that the compostable straws can melt in hot liquids. Politico headed to the cafeteria at the Rayburn House Office Building to test this scenario. A compostable straw placed in hot coffee did indeed become pliable and droop, although it never disintegrated entirely. Ventura said customers would have to change their behavior to accommodate the environmentally friendly products. 'We have had a few people observe that [straw] phenomenon and we had to tell them, "Sip your coffee like a normal human being," Ventura said. "We're trying to save the planet here."'"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7888.html

Having failed to create their Utopian nanny state, the Democrat leadership in Congress has turned to exerting their influence over the menu in the House cafeteria. In addition, in typical style, the forced changes cost more--and may benefit at least one Democrat supporter.

The Democrats in Congress: Our agenda has been a dismal failure, but we are "saving the planet"--one compostable straw at a time.

1/16/2008 12:19:17 PM

Gay.

1/16/2008 12:21:43 PM

MOAR LIKE SERVING SOUR GRAPES, EH?

1/16/2008 12:22:03 PM

^ Your play on words is noted.

^^

Quote :

"brie"

Enough said.


[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:29 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 12:23:33 PM

Quote :

"'We have had a few people observe that [straw] phenomenon and we had to tell them, "Sip your coffee like a normal human being," Ventura said. "We're trying to save the planet here."'"

FUCKING STRAWS

1/16/2008 12:25:17 PM

Quote :

"Sip your coffee like a normal human being. . . ."

Behavior modification.



[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:32 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 12:28:24 PM

liberals are stupid

1/16/2008 12:33:53 PM

hooksaw:

what a douche.


At least they are not trying to play world police dumping my paycheck into the war bin so that they can drop bombs on a bunch of towel heads. so STFU

1/16/2008 12:38:46 PM

liberals humans are stupid

1/16/2008 12:39:21 PM

^^ No, the Menucrats in Congress are forcing their special brand of socialism--at an increased cost, of course--on everyone else. Because, you know, this menu thing is really important.

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:42 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 12:41:53 PM

as someone familiar with Hill food, I have to say, this was probably in the works regardless of the Dems coming onboard last year. It wasn't that long ago that all they served was fried food and burgers and shit, and then they started diversifying into food court options like wraps and stuff...this is just the next logical step...

The article itself is pretty over the top for anyone who actually eats there on a daily basis...but it sure does paint a picture that hooksaw loves!

Quote :

"'It's a big jump from high school cafeteria to fancy-pants gourmet. I just wish my pay improved,' said Caryn Schenewerk, a staffer for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). "

girlfriend, you work for a freshman member. in the words of Detective Greenly (Bob Marley) from Boondock Saints...your pay is goin' NOWHERE...you can tell ....wow i just looked her up to see what position she had to be dumb enough to come out quoted complaining about congressional pay, and she's actually a pretty senior staffer. that's funny.

Quote :

"^^ No, the Menucrats in Congress are forcing their special brand of socialism--at an increased cost, of course--on everyone else. Because, you know, this menu thing is really important."

it wasnt that long ago, hooksaw, that republicans were forcing everyone on the hill to call french fries freedom fries...

either way, it's not really a big deal.

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:47 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:53 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 12:45:41 PM

Quote :

"it wasnt that long ago, hooksaw, that republicans were forcing everyone on the hill to call french fries freedom fries"

What piece of legislation was that?

1/16/2008 12:54:03 PM

^^ So you're with the Menucrats? How could someone be "forced" in such a way? And there are these--kind of blows your theory, huh:

Quote :

"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."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7888.html

Pelosi leads the House to go organic in its cafeterias

Quote :

"Under Pelosi's signature 'Green the Capitol' initiative, the House cafeterias will get a full-blown makeover Monday to the very latest in organic and locally grown cuisine under a new contract with Restaurant Associates, caterer to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The vast House food service operation that feeds the belly of the beast - more than 2.5 million meals a year for members, staff, tourists, lobbyists, lawyers, journalists and other highly regarded species that inhabit the Capitol - is switching to locally grown, organic, seasonal and generally healthy food. It will be served in compostable sugar cane and corn starch containers instead of petroleum-based plastics. Even the knives and forks will be biodegradable."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/12/17/MNK0TRJCI.DTL



[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 12:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 12:54:19 PM

haha hooksaw you are so fucking naive. its adorable.

1/16/2008 1:04:32 PM

^ Meaningless. I proved my point--and you have no retort.

1/16/2008 1:06:34 PM

never thought it would happen, but I agree with hooksaw

this is pretty damn stupid, not to mention a huge waste of time.

1/16/2008 1:09:41 PM

you dont have a point...

so what, you're offended your tax dollars are going to anything other than cabbage soup for staffers and tourists to eat?

get the fuck outta here. your "principles" are unrealistic. HUR actually had a great point for once...there's a ridiculous war going on with billions of dollars being wasted, and you're worried about 4-8 cafeterias worth of food???

what a joke...

Quote :

"How could someone be "forced" in such a way?"

from about 2003 to appx 2006 ( i think, maybe 05...) all the House cafeterias served only "freedom fries" all the menus were changed to reflect this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80700,00.html

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 1:14 PM. Reason : your info comes from one article. mine comes years of first hand experience.]

1/16/2008 1:11:07 PM

Quote :

"there's a ridiculous war going on with billions of dollars being wasted, and you're worried about 4-8 cafeterias worth of food"

i think that's the whole point....if you're saying he shouldn't worry about it, what warrants congress worrying about it at this point in time.

1/16/2008 1:13:07 PM

you act as if this only affects 535 people.

this affects about 4-6 thousand people who work in the capitol complex. god forbid when they're working 12-16 hour days most of the time that they want something healthier than fried food.

the AOC or whoever does food purchases has to buy food anyways, your problem is that some reporter called it green/liberal/healthy, and "expensive"

im not buying what youre selling hooksaw

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 1:16 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 1:15:57 PM

^^^ Nice try. You posted this, Agent 0:

Quote :

"as someone familiar with Hill food, I have to say, this was probably in the works regardless of the Dems coming onboard last year."

I proved my point that you are wrong with a double-sourced post--and you have offered nothing but a an anecdote. In addition, answer Mr. Joshua's question.

As I indicated, you have no retort.

^ Well, then buy a $4.95 compostable plate of brie and crackers, Menucrat.

1. Nancy Pelosi called it "green."

2. A Democrat staffer said the food was expensive--you know this. Try to keep up.

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 1:22 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 1:16:29 PM

double sourced = a paper picks up a previously published story and rewrites? ok. good to know.

and Mr. Joshua's question was answered. about 2 posts up

1/16/2008 1:19:09 PM

Quote :

"as the food quality has increased, so have the prices"

first of all, this is hardly news

this story is, indeed, stupid......

however,

while the tarts and trifles are a bit much

abandoning crappy mass produced chemical laden processed cheese, bread and mystery meat

in favor of simple fresh meat, simple fresh bread and real cheese, (especially if any of it is organic or local,)

may cost more, but it is sustainable and modest and should be affordable to all (read: self-sufficiency; not socialism)

the public sector should do all it can to "be green", and to set an example for the private sector

Quote :

"fancy-pants gourmet"

is shit like salt encrusting, liquor flambes, caviar and truffles, etc.

plain, real "whole food" is not, and should never be considered "fancy-pants gourmet" or "luxury food"



and let's not forget:

Quote :

"it wasnt that long ago....that republicans were forcing everyone on the hill to call french fries freedom fries..."

1/16/2008 1:21:41 PM

This is definitely a bigger issue than the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people at the cost of billions and billions of dollars.

1/16/2008 1:21:53 PM

IF ITS IN THE PAPERS IT MUST BE TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUE

1/16/2008 1:23:07 PM

^^ It must be very important to Pelosi--she started it.

^^^ and ^^^^ The name of a menu item was changed to make a point. No one was forced to comply--that's Menucrat territory.

^ Prove that it isn't.

Quote :

"Replaced all plates, cups, utensils, takeout containers, etc. with 100% compostable items"

Quote :

"Ensured House food offerings are organic and locally grown within a 150 mile radius whenever possible"

http://speaker.gov/newsroom/reports?id=0019

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 1:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/16/2008 1:25:15 PM

I may be completely out of touch with reality here, but no one is forcing anyone to eat at the cafeteria, there appear to be other places to eat in DC. McDonalds will always be a source for fatty processed foods if they want it.

I think it's actually nice to see the government leading in some efforts to reduce waste.

1/16/2008 1:29:53 PM

the democrats are just trying to relate to the average working class american that their party represents...the blue collar average joes who eat brie cheese and baguettes

1/16/2008 1:37:30 PM

^^while technically correct

its not really practical to go off site for the average congressional staffer...the way it works with votes and hearings, etc. on a normal day in session doesnt really allow you to be too far away at any given time, all the way up the chain.

1/16/2008 1:39:24 PM

Quote :

"Congress are forcing their special brand of socialism--at an increased cost, of course--on everyone else. Because, you know"

I could use several pejorative terms to describe the Dem led congress eating "gourmet" on the tax payer dime but "socialist" is not one of them. Unless of course any tax-paying american citizen can show up at lunch time and enjoy a healthy meal off of pelosi's new menu.


As long as we call french fries , freedom fries what do u care hooksaw.

1/16/2008 1:44:54 PM

Quote :

"plain, real "whole food" is not, and should never be considered "fancy-pants gourmet" or "luxury food" "

Exactly. The bias in that article is almost too much to swallow.

1/16/2008 1:45:36 PM

Quote :

"I may be completely out of touch with reality here, but no one is forcing anyone to eat at the cafeteria, there appear to be other places to eat in DC. McDonalds will always be a source for fatty processed foods if they want it. "

and on the contrary, nobody was forcing them to eat the food there before.....there appear to be other places to eat in DC, including healthier options if they so choose.

I don't necessarily have a problem with them doing this, but after repeated bitch slappings from the white house on important issues, they should be working harder to drum up support for things that matter......and lets face it, this really doesn't matter.

1/16/2008 1:46:07 PM

again, using the argument, "There are other places to eat in dc" doesnt work, for previously mentioned reasons. Although in principle you are correct.

Quote :

"Unless of course any tax-paying american citizen can show up at lunch time and enjoy a healthy meal off of pelosi's new menu."

they can. all the congressonal buildings are public buildings and all the cafeterias within are open to the public.

1/16/2008 1:48:31 PM

wonder if old pelosi added any of her favorite syrian dishes to the cafeteria menu

1/16/2008 2:57:22 PM

...yeah, okay. Nancy Pelosi is a West-Coast, San Francisco liberal, and has imposed her left-wing fanaticism on the House Cafeteria. Quickly now - to the barricades!

Seriously? This is what your panties are in a wad about?

Quote :

"spöokyjon: This is definitely a bigger issue than the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people at the cost of billions and billions of dollars."

1/16/2008 3:33:04 PM

pulling the iraq card...that sure is you people's answer to everything isn't it

"Hey (insert democrat/liberal's name here) did this bad/wasteful/dumb thing"

"OH YEAH WELL ITS NOT AS BAD AS AN UNJUST WAR BASED ON LIES, THEREFORE ITS IRRELEVANT"

and yes for the record, obviously a war is infinitely more important than this particular change in house cafeterias...but using the iraq war's importance as a reason to dismiss basically anything else is pathetic at best

1/16/2008 4:59:48 PM

Quote :

"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

1/16/2008 5:54:59 PM

Maybe this will help emphasize we should subsidize fruits and vegetables, and not corn and meat in the capitol

and as for the staffers, who cares

75% of them will be overpaid lobbyists in a couple years anyway

1/16/2008 6:12:15 PM

Quote :

"pulling the iraq card...that sure is you people's answer to everything isn't it"

Who the fuck is "you people?"

Quote :

""Hey (insert democrat/liberal's name here) did this bad/wasteful/dumb thing" "OH YEAH WELL ITS NOT AS BAD AS AN UNJUST WAR BASED ON LIES, THEREFORE ITS IRRELEVANT" and yes for the record, obviously a war is infinitely more important than this particular change in house cafeterias...but using the iraq war's importance as a reason to dismiss basically anything else is pathetic at best"

I was going to make a point about the national deficit, which seemed equally significant, but I decided to quote someone else's pre-existing issue instead, since it was there. I suppose that must make me one of those people.

I mean, seriously. Of all the shit going on right now, you want to bitch about the San Francisco Liberal's lunch tyranny?

Really?

[Edited on January 16, 2008 at 6:44 PM. Reason : Really?]

1/16/2008 6:41:15 PM

Quote :

"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."

Works for me.

Enjoy that sand in your vagina. (And by "your", of course, I mean the collective anyone who is seriously whining about this and tries to tie it into larger self-perceived failures by the party in power whom you like to pitch a fit about)

1/16/2008 6:41:23 PM

Quote :

"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. Several calls to Restaurant Associates’ spokeswoman Gina Zimmer were not returned."

Considering Pelosi's ethics history, I'd like to know the process that she used to select this company. Any connections between Restaurant Associates or its parent company Compass Group and the Speaker?

Quote :

" ‘Sip your coffee like a normal human being, We’re trying to save the planet here.”"

You know..I read that line and had a flash of what socialized medicine would be like with bureaucrats like this running things. This smug, sanctimonious attitude is very telling.

1/16/2008 8:27:46 PM

I want to know who the fuck drinks hot coffee through a straw

1/17/2008 9:05:45 AM

San Franciscans

Pretty soon, you'll see the homeless people lining up outside looking for their "credit cards".

1/17/2008 9:09:09 AM

I remember an article last year saying that Pelosi spent $16,000 on flowers for her office. So, it isn't anything new. Atleast she is fulfilling the stereotype that government does a great job at spending money.

1/17/2008 9:37:11 AM

Quote :

"I want to know who the fuck drinks hot coffee through a straw"

Exactly what I was thinking.

Not that I'm surprised hooksaw made this thread, but it is crazy that people get so bent out of shape about a menu change in the House cafeteria with how many other problems this country is facing. I mean, does this really directly affect anyone in this thread? How many times / week do you eat there hooksaw?

1/17/2008 9:57:03 AM

Quote :

"it is crazy that people get so bent out of shape about a menu change in the House cafeteria with how many other problems this country is facing"

again, imo that is the reason to be bent out of shape about this....now is not the time to waste resources on something so unimportant.

1/17/2008 10:34:30 AM

Quote :

" 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."

LOL, she was petitioning for a Speaker aircraft similar to Air Force 1... LOL, LETS BE GREEN GUISE... OH WAIT I GOTTA GET ON MY JET FOR ONE TO SAN FRANCISCO TO MEET WITH MY DONORS, I MEAN FRIENDS AT THE STARFISH TUNA PLANT.

1/17/2008 10:36:21 AM

Quote :

"I mean, seriously. Of all the shit going on right now, you want to bitch about the San Francisco Liberal's lunch tyranny? Really?"

well thats what this thread is about

you're like one of those idiots who thought Michael Vick shouldn't be prosecuted because the situation in Iraq is more important...like Virginia state police should be fighting in Iraq instead of fighting crime in Virginia...like YOU PEOPLE always want to bring up Iraq regardless of what the thread is about

1/17/2008 10:39:31 AM

Who the fuck is you people? I've asked that twice now, and have yet to get an answer. In fact, here's another question I haven't had the answer to: why the fuck is this even noteworthy in light of other significant shit going on?

And your Vick analogy is positively stupid. Not that anyone expects anything less out of you. (Why do you even post in here?)

1/17/2008 11:14:04 AM

^ Ask pelosi why it's noteworthy. She's the one reforming the cafeteria when social security and iraq need reforming.

Don't ask us why we're talking about it, ask pelosi why she's wasting government dollars on this bullshit.

1/17/2008 11:16:04 AM

Look, I think it's abundantly clear how I feel about Pelosi's priorities - but frankly, this is small beer. And if you're going to get this worked up over it in light of other things going on, it speaks volumes to your personal priorities.

1/17/2008 11:17:10 AM