Update: Food safety bill

The House on Wednesday defeated a bill aimed at toughening food safety laws, but there is hope that another will pass before the end of the week. It was six votes short of the needed two-thirds majority needed to pass.

The Washington Post said Democratic leaders were likely to reintroduce the bill Thursday under a special rule, which would require a simple majority for passage.

The bill is strongly supported by the White House and many consumer groups. It would place responsibility on farmers and food processors to prevent contamination before it occurs. The FDA would be required to set safety standards for growing and processing food and increase inspections and enforcement. The agency would be able to mandate the recall of a food if it suspects contamination instead of waiting for the processor to voluntarily call back tainted products.

A Senate version has bipartisan support, the Post said.

A White House seder

This is the first year in many we haven't had a Seder. But the White House did. Here's a photo from it. They used the Maxwell House haggadah (which I almost picked up at the grocery story, but they wanted you to actually BUY some Maxwell House coffee).

A White House spokesperson said that on Passover during last year's primary campaign, Obama along with some Jewish and non-Jewish staffers held an impromptu Seder in Harrisburg, Pa., and everyone who attended that Seder was invited to this year's White House edition.

In addition to the first family, the guest list includes close friend and top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, Obama friend Eric Whitaker, White House associate counsel Susan Sher (who does liaison work with the Jewish community) and her family, White House videographer Arun Chaudary and Obama personal aide Reggie Love. Also on the list are White House staffers Eric Lesser, Herbie Ziskend, and Lisa Kohnke, and three staffers for the first lady: Melissa Winter, Dana Lewis and Sam Tubman.

The spokesperson said the food was "kosher-style," with the White House kitchen staff preparing the food. Guests brought additional dishes.

Hail to the chef!

It's official now: Cristeta Comerford is keeping her post as White House chef, just as I predicted (click here).

From a Los Angeles Times story this morning:

Despite some foodie salivating over the idea of a star wearing the chef's whites in Barack Obama's kitchen, the current White House chef is keeping her job. Michelle Obama says she and the White House chef have something in common, and she's looking forward to a collaboration.

"Cristeta Comerford brings such incredible talent to the White House operation and came very highly regarded from the Bush family," Obama said in a statement released last week by the president-elect's transition team. "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families."

Photograph: Ron Edmonds

Gourmet gulch

Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine, wants a high-profile chef in the White House who cooks delicious local food. That may be a fine sentiment for 6 to 8 months out of the year, but has she SEEN what's growing around DC at the moment? If it's local, and a vegetable, it's probably not fresh. That's not to say we shouldn't all strive for local first, but should it be a White House policy issue? I think not.

White House chef, cont.

I got a little excited when I saw Yahoo news promoting a story on the new White House chef, but after talking to several more people in the know, Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer didn't get much more information than I shared in my Nov. 15 item, "Who will cook for the Obamas?"

She did advance Alice Waters as a celebrity chef consideration, and quoted the Culinary Institute of America's Tim Ryan making the point that like the Kennedys, the Obama White House can send a message to the nation with the choice of a chef with an agenda.

The Dallas Morning News (where I worked in the early '80s) had this item this morning:

Walter Scheib, the White House executive chef for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, believes there's a 90 percent chance the new administration will stick with his successor, Cristeta Comerford. He also said a celebrity hire, as hinted on food and political blogs, wouldn't work. "You have to be a person who has a real heart of service, and it can't be someone who needs to see themselves on camera," Mr. Scheib said.

Who'll cook for the Obamas?

The changing of the guard at the White House may include the chef -- but not necessarily.

Cristeta Comerford, 45, a naturalized citizen originally from the Philippines, is the first female executive chef in the White House. Comerford, who started her career in the United States at the Sheraton near Chicago's O'Hare Airport, had worked in the White House kitchen for 10 years before being named to the post in August 2005. At the time of the appointment, Bonnie Moore, a former assistant chef at the Inn at Little Washington who is president of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, a national group that had urged Mrs. Bush to name a woman, said naming Comerford to the position "sends a message around the world. Women make up more than 50 percent of food service workers, but hold less than 4 percent of the top jobs. And this is the top job."

Usually, the chefs are not replaced just because of a change in the Oval Office. The first White House executive chef, Rene Verdon, was brought in by the Kennedys to class up the fare; he was promptly fired by Johnson because he wouldn't provide the new president's Texas favorites.

Although the Obamas ate plenty of fried stuff and pizza on the campaign trail, that's not their favored mode of eating.

"Apparently he is not into carbs," said Denver chef Daniel Young, who cooked for Obama at the Democratic National Convention. "I made lots of fresh, healthy foods."

Young was mentioned in a New York Daily News earlier this week as a possible pick for White House chef. Although Rick Bayless and Charlie Trotter have been mentioned as possible White House chefs, I’d lay money that it won’t be someone with an existing restaurant empire. Young or Art Smith, who has cooked for Oprah Winfrey, would be more likely -- although an up-and-coming chef, one who is a great cook and versatile menu planner who may not have yet made it onto the public radar, would get my vote. 

And don’t count out Comerford; why kick out a youngish, minority woman for a older white guy? Change? Maybe not the best policy in this case.