Who Can Handle The Heat: The POTUS vs. FLOTUS Grill Off

LadyPresident Obama told a crowd of about 10,000 unioneers at today's AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic about the need for a new, imaginary White House cooking event...that excludes the White House chefs. The President ended his talk, which covered everything from fair pay to health care reform, by chanting with the enthusiastic crowd Get Fired Up!--though this had nothing to do with his imaginary event:

From Studying With Mama at the Kitchen Table to Leader of The Free World: White House Posts President Obama's Back-to-School Remarks

Press Secretary Gibbs on the Con controversy over the President's school speech: "It's a sad state of affairs...an 'Animal House' food fight..."
The White House has just posted the remarks President Obama will give tomorrow, live at Noon EST, in a nation-wide back-to-school event that will be viewed by millions of K-12 students. It's an inspiring speech, with the message for kids to work hard, listen to parents and teachers, and be responsible for their own destinies, no matter what circumstances they're in: "Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future" (...and oh yeah, wash your hands so you don't spread the flu...). The President tells the story of First Lady Michelle Obama's overcoming big odds to attend the finest educational institutions, and he also tells stories about American kids who've accomplished big things against all odds. Natch, there are foodie referents in the President's speech as he details his own difficult road to achievement:

When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

Well, we all know how that non-picnic turned out...Another foodie referent, related to the nutty controversy over President Obama addressing school kids: Previously, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs noted that "we've entered silly season" with the Fringe Con opposition to the President's speech (Gibbs, in photo). At this morning's press briefing, Sec. Gibbs noted that "It's a sad state of affairs that many in this country politically would rather start an "Animal House" food fight rather than inspire kids to stay in school, to work hard, to engage parents to stay involved, and to ensure that the millions of teachers that are making great sacrifices continue to be the best in the world. It's a sad state of affairs."

*And yeah, civil society is a thing of the past: At the Atlantic, Marc Ambinder has rapidly parsed all the possible objectionable things the nuts could get burned up about.

*The President's remarks will be livestreamed from the White House and also at C-Span at Noon, Eastern time. Photo at top of post is President Obama and his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, from Time.

Labor Day Picnic With President Obama: Thousands of AFL-CIO Members Get Visit, Speech

White House first: President Obama is the only sitting president to attend the annual AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic
President Obama will be in Cincinnati, Ohio today for the annual AFL-CIO AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic at Coney Island Park. Accompanied by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the President will make a speech around 1:15 EST, and is expected to announce the appointment of Ron Bloom as his senior counselor for manufacturing policy.

About 10,000 tickets were distributed to union members to get into the part of the park where the President will be speaking, according to AFL-CIO spokeswoman Katelyn Hartford, although the picnic usually draws 15,000 to 20,000 people. It's the 23rd year of the annual event, and you cna watch the President's remarks on C-SPAN. Also expected to disrupt: Members of the Cincinnati Tea Party.

*Unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO include workers from airline pilots to firefighters to nurses to teachers to writers to, yes, bakery and confectionery workers. Not affiliated: The people responsible for Labor Day picnic foods, such as hotdogs and hamburgers. Meat processors and packers are in a different union, the UFCW, a relatively small org with just 1.3 million members. And many meat packers and processers have un-unionized shops, even though meat processing is a very dangerous job. Could this be part of the reason for the food safety fail rate in the meat industry?

The President's weekly address on Saturday was about Labor Day and Fair Rewards For Hard Work:



*Ron Bloom was senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker.

Michael Pollan on President Obama, School Lunch Campaigns, and Political Influence

The President and Congress get served a virtual healthy lunch campaign, just days before the major food lobbies visit Capitol Hill
Bestselling author and food advocate Michael Pollan is throwing his support behind Slow Food USA's Time for Lunch campaign, which seeks to improve school lunches and introduce farm-to-table programs for the more than 30 million children covered by the federally funded National School Lunch program. Tomorrow, Slow Food USA is holding a series of Labor Day "eat ins" around the country, public potlucks that will be a "virtual march on Washington," to illustrate to Congress and the USDA that thousands of families support the need for real changes in the kinds of foods allowed in the federal feeding programs. Under past presidential administrations, the federal feeding program has been a dumping ground for surplus commodity food products, and the standards for the foods allowed in the programs have become a political hot potato (feeding programs are still receiving these commodity food dumps, as this week's $30 million USDA purchase of more pork for nutrition programs illustrates). A huge number of school lunch advocates are seeking big changes in the federal feeding program, and the movement has gained a lot of traction over the last year. (Pollan, above)

At a recent Slow Food USA press conference about the Time For Lunch campaign, Pollan told the gathered supporters: "Obama says, 'Show me the movement.' That's really what Labor Day is about -- to do something more than sign an online petition. It sends a message about democratizing a movement that has often been criticized as elitist, and to rebrand the Slow Food movement and introduce a lot of people to it."

The re-branding of Slow Food is critical; although the national group has a big base of support and very active state and local chapters, the idea of good food that's sustainably produced has long been perceived as a projects of elitists, rather than of "regular people." Ideas about food are rapidly changing in the larger culture, however, thanks in part to the school lunch activists and to First Lady Michelle Obama's focus on food initiatives. Over the last four months, she's been steadily raising awareness that eating healthier foods and planting food gardens and teaching children food and Ag literacy is a critical, everyday part of citizenship, rather than something that's confined to the realm of gourmands who are willing to drop big bucks on artisan cheeses.

So "showing" President Obama the movement is only part of the solution; the President isn't the institutional blockade to better foods in school lunches. Along with Mrs. Obama, President Obama has lately gone on the record about the critical need for changes in school nutrition programs--it's pretty obvious he's an advocate for better nutrition programs. And Mrs. Obama's food agenda is about as enlightened as it gets at the moment, a paradigm shift from past administrations. The real stopper for change in federal nutrition programs is Congress--which votes on the amount of funding that children's nutrition programs receive, as well as the kinds of foods that are allowed to into the programs. Pollan also pointed this out at the Slow Food press conference:

"There's a gap between media and reality -- 2 or 3 percent of US food production is sustainable. Congress sees this as a gnat or a fly on a behemoth of an industry. In connecting farms to schools, the tremendous impediment is Congress. The food industry is the biggest lobby on the hill."

All of this is true, and something that Pollan has been calling attention to for years in his work; his advocacy and dot connecting has been critical to truly getting the sustainable food and Ag movement into the national conversation, both politically and culturally, and Mrs. Obama's food policy agenda would not be possible without it. Nor would changes on Capitol Hill. This week, starting on Wednesday, just one day after Congress goes back into session, all the major players in the food lobbies will be convening on the Hill, to meet with lawmakers at two different conferences that will focus on the two most important food subjects at hand: Food safety and the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. The major food/Ag players from the Obama administration will be speaking at these conferences, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Ag Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Secretary of Helath and Human Services Kathleen Sibelius, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Food Safety czar Michael Taylor. But equally represented at these conferences this year are advocates of smaller and sustainable food production, and farm to school campaigns, and school lunch campaigns. Dave Murphy, one of the founders of ag-tivist organization Food Democracy Now! will be speaking, as will Mark Bishop, exec director of Healthy Schools Campaign, and Russell Libby of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and Margo Wootan, the Director of Nutrition Policy at Center for Science in the Public Interest, among others. The food lobbies are beginning to embrace and represent a confluence of voices as the sustainable, good food movement grows---and that's a good thing for everybody. And it's particularly good to raise the awareness of those on the Hill.

*Ob Fo will be at both conferences this week. There will be live tweeting when possible, as well as blogposts. The two DC conferences are: United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference and the National Food Policy Conference '09.

*The Time for Lunch campaign is holding events in all 50 states, and it's not too late to attend. Go here for more info and guidance for your area.
*BrocObama created during Election Season. H/T to Meredith Brody at SF Weekly.

A New Low in Civil Discourse is Achieved as Van Jones is Forced to Resign From the White House

1:00 AM Eastern Time
Shortly after midnight Eastern time, White House Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Van Jones submitted his resignation to Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. It was immediately accepted. Jones was appointed to the White House on March 10, 2008, but over the last ten days, as a GOP smear campaign against him has built, it's become clear to White House observers that tonight's resignation was likely. In his resignation letter, Jones wrote:

On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide. I have been inundated with calls -- from across the political spectrum -- urging me to 'stay and fight.' But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future.

Connecting the dots: The green economy, the food economy, sustainability and social justice...
Jones is making the correct, noble choice in the interest of the attainment of President Obama's policy objectives, but Jones' exit from the White House is a huge loss for the ongoing, pathbreaking project of simultaneously greening the economy and achieving social justice. Jones was terrific at connecting the policy dots, and his work at the White House Council on Environmental Quality would have eventually had big implications for public housing and community projects--and their obvious side components, urban farming projects and edible landscaping, and farmers markets--in addition to providing a critical economic boost through job creation and helping break the cycle of poverty by training workers with 21st century skills. Jones also had (has) a vision for urban landscapes that's a critical component to changing our over-all understanding of what sustainable really means--and it's an important part of our ongoing conversation on the connections between food, the environment and health. Just one Jones project highlights this: Jones' advocacy for greenroof projects stood to be a huge transformation in American urban landscapes, and among these greenroof projects would have been food gardens. At a time when we're wondering how to rapidly get healthier foods into areas that are swamped with bad, processed foods, transforming urban environments with edible landscaping--and accessing the completely unused real estate of rooftops for food gardens--would've been a game changer that had all kinds of other policy effects--such as helping to reduce the prevalence of obesity, creating a dynamic local food economy in places that were far from farms, teaching children about where food comes from, creating food literacy in general....

Jones' resignation is also a major win for hate, racism, fear mongering, and the further unraveling of civil discourse in the larger culture. Over the last week, it was disappointing to watch as Jones became a regular feature in the 15-minute TV news cycle. Worse, simultaneous with the Jones attacks have been the Republican protests over President Obama speaking on Tuesday to school children. We've entered a political era when all hope may well be demolished, if charges of "danger" and "socialist indoctrination" thrown at a sitting President who is simply addressing school children can be taken seriously; this issue has also entered the 15-minute TV rotation. And all of this comes hard on the heels of rise of the Birthers, the Death Panelers, and the Tea Baggers, who rely on literally screaming and spreading misinformation to rally support. Despite President Obama's exhaustive efforts to create a climate of bipartisanship, we've rapidly degraded from having a noble opposition that is worth listening to and compromising with to having an opposition that is immediately swayed by emotional appeals and lies, and whom the mainstream media courts, promotes, and incites, to the detriment of the larger interests of society as a whole. It's a sad day for the green, sustainable movement today, and it's a sad day for civil society and democracy, too.

*This year, Van Jones was on the Time 100 list, alongside President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, French president Nikolas Sarkozy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Edward M. Kennedy...among others. Photo, at top of post, is from the Time 100 gala. Jones is the author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, and the founder of Green For All.

*Update: White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod discusses Van Jones' decision to resign, with David Gregory on Meet the Press:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Got What It Takes To Work At The White House? Internships Available For Spring 2010...

The application deadline is September 20
The White House Internship Program is looking for talented, inspired, creative, hard working individuals with a commitment to public service for the Spring 2010 class, and applications are now being taken, with the deadline fast approaching. Interns work on varied and exciting projects at the White House and get plenty of hands-on experience and leadership training, with assignments in many of the Presidential departments, from Advance teams to the Office of the First Lady to the Office of White House Counsel to the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change, among others. Interns also participate in a long-term group project, and work in the DC community. Plus, there's a special speakers series for interns--which means they get to hear the inside story of the policy making process, and what it's really like to be deeply involved in the charged atmosphere of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As an added bonus, there are field trips around DC, too. The selection process is highly competitive, and a completed application includes two essay questions, three letters of recommendation, and a resume. Internships are unpaid, and interns must provide their own housing, transportation and meals, but it's a priceless opportunity, offering priceless experience. Check the calendar on the White House site for deadlines for Summer and Fall internships, too. (Photo at top of post: President Obama with the current class of White House interns)

*Eligibility
Applicants must be US citizens, 18 years or older, and enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a college, community college, or university (two-to-four year institution), or must have graduated in the past two years from undergraduate or graduate school. Veterans of the Armed Forces who possesses a high school diploma or its equivalent and has served on active duty anytime over the past two years are also eligible. Applicants for the Spring 2010 class will be notified the week of November 15.

*Are White House Kitchen Internships Available?
Yes, but at the moment these are "closed;" selections for interns and volunteers in the White House Kitchen are not currently done by application. However, Restaurant Associates, which provides Congressional food services and White House catering services, has an internship program for culinary students. Their Culinary Internship Program is taking applications for 2010 now, from sophomore and junior culinary students; go here for more information. These internships are paid, and while interns will be on the Hill, there's no guarantee of an assignment in the White House--but it's entirely possible. Franchesca Gibson (in photo), a culi student at John Folse Culinary Institute in Louisiana, was an RA intern this summer, and worked on the Hill and in the White House Kitchen. Franchesca tells all about it in her hometown newspaper.

*The application process for White House Fellows opens October 1. The Fellows program is a year-long paid service opportunity for professionals who are well established in their careers. Go here for more details.

Connections: Tom Vilsack's Campaign to "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food"...And President Obama Under Pressure to "Know Your Tires"

Ag Secretary Vilsack rolls out a legacy-making campaign, while the President faces pressure from competing interests...and somehow it's all connected to pork
President Obama is being warned by an ad hoc coalition of Ag interests that restricting imports of Chinese tires will seriously impact US agricultural exports to China: If we don't buy Chinese tires, they ain't gonna buy our Ag products is the thinking here. China is one of the biggest US markets for poultry, pork and soybeans, and companies like Hormel and Tyson foods have asked US trade rep Ron Kirk to advise President Obama to not restrict imports of Chinese tires, to ensure that China continues to buy American Ag products. It's a dicey situation, because Ag sales in the US are down in general, and the US pork market in particular has been dropping for the last two years, and experienced a further drop when countries around the globe banned US pork imports on fears of Swine Flu contamination in the Spring. --Our porkonomy is so down, in fact, that Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday that he's going to spend $30 million more for pork purchases with USDA funds, to put pork into federal feeding programs, such as school breakfast and lunch programs. Last month, Sec. Vilsack said that USDA was out of money for pork commodity purchases until October; USDA has already purchased millions of dollars in pork products this year. But Iowa Governor Chet Culver and eight other governors petitioned Sec. Vilsack for a $50 million pork purchase in July, and they've kept the pressure on through August. Sec. Vilsack's new announcement is being regarded as a meet-in-the-middle win-win. Iowa, the largest pork producing state, is especially happy with Sec. Vilsack's latest announcement. (Photo: The President listens to Sec. Vilsack speak, back in December, when POTUS first announced Vilsack's nom as Ag Secretary)

Is tossing $30 million in pork products into school nutrition programs the best use of USDA funds? At the moment, pork as a food group is extremely over represented in the federal feeding programs, and there are all kinds of school lunch advocacy groups across the country lobbying Congress to get better, fresher, minimally processed and locally-sourced foods into school lunch programs, as well as to boost federal spending on school food programs. And there's lots of interest on the Hill in this, too (Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand (D-NY) come immediately to mind) Past commodity pork purchases for the feeding programs have included plenty of canned and highly processed meat, from big companies that centralize production rather than rely on local and regional production. Yet this summer, Sec.Vilsack himself has been touring the country talking up his new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food campaign, which theoretically emphasizes the healthiest of foods, and supports smaller and family farmers by encouraging things like farm to school programs, farmers markets, and community access to fresher, more nutritious foods, and has the added benefit of keeping local cash in local economies. Bigger Ag companies have been liking this campaign, too, because they actually source from smaller farmers, too. Sec. Vilsack will make a big announcement about Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food shortly, with a major roll out of the campaign and lots of high-profile people showing up for a week-long series of events, according to USDA insiders. Secretary Vilsack stands to leave a lasting legacy of progressive, much-needed change in the fundamental ways Americans understand the Ag economy and how we participate in it, whether this involves working in it or enjoying its products. But at the moment the campaign seems to be skewing a little too much toward Know Your Hog Farmer, Know Your Pork. Sec. Vilsack has been doing a terrific job of trying to meet the needs of all segments of the Ag economy, large and small, but your intrepid blogger is getting whiplash from keeping up with him.

President Obama, BTW, has until Sept. 17 to make a decision on the China tire trade issue...and he's getting a lot of pressure from groups outside the Ag sector to reduce these imports.

Rodale Magazines Become rOBAMAdale With Lots of Obama Coverage...And "Men's Health" Will Run The First Big Sam Kass Interview

The Rodale publishing group is going entirely Obama centric in October, with three different magazines featuring stories about President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
The Rodale publishing empire is devoted to promoting health and fitness, with titles that include everything from healthy lifestyles to gardening to fitness, so Rodale becoming a joint East Wing and West Wing publication outfit makes sense for the Obama admin, as a way of getting positive health care reform messages and Mrs. Obama's health and nutrition agenda out to citizens who don't utilize electronic media. Two of Rodale's magazines will have Obama covers in October, and the November issue of Prevention will also have an Obama cover. According to Rodale's own stats, Men’s Health, which will have the President on the October cover, has a global readership of over 20 million. Rodale maintains that their Women’s Health is one of the fastest-growing magazines in the US, and it will feature an interview with Mrs. Obama in the October issue--although she's not on the cover. Prevention, with the November Obama cover story, is the the 11th largest magazine in the US, according to Rodale (the New York Times does an excellent recap of what all this means for advertising bucks, here).

The Obama Diet--?
Rodale is also premiering a new title in October, Children's Health, which does have Mrs. Obama on the cover (photo at top of post), as well as an interview in which Mrs. Obama discusses Obama family eating habits. Rodale is calling this The Obama Diet, but it remains to be seen if Mrs. Obama will go on the record with concrete specifics about exactly what to eat; her nutrition campaign, to date, has been all about discouraging sugary and processed foods, avoiding fast foods except as an occasional "treat," and encouraging lots of fruit and veggies--all while amping up physical activity. The White House doesn't like the term "diet," but prefers the idea of "lifestyle balance," because it implies a healthier approach to eating, rather than restriction. In any case, certainly Mrs. Obama on the cover will assure a strong kickoff for the mag, since her poll numbers remain stratospheric. And it's a great way to spread the word about the First Lady's nutrition and health campaign.

Of course there'll be a lot of insider info from the White House Kitchen scattered among the Obama stories...And the first in-depth Sam Kass profile
Mrs. Obama does discuss "keeping calories down in the White House kitchen" in her various interviews--she and the President have repeatedly mentioned the "dangers" of Exec Pastry Chef Bill Yosses's pies in other interviews, and the challenges of raising healthy kids--but Rodale is also publishing the very first in-depth interview with Mrs. Obama's Food Initiative Coordinator, Sam Kass, which will run at the same time as the President's October cover story in Men's Health. Kass, for those new to this blog, is the White House chef who joined the Obamas in DC after working with them in Chicago, and the man in charge of Mrs. Obama's food policy agenda, as well as the White House Kitchen Garden. Although Kass has been seen talking about the White House Kitchen Garden and cooking on global TV and in Youtube videos (such as the awesome new The Story of the Garden video)--and he frequently has tiny sound bytes in print media--the White House has held off on allowing print media to get Kass deeply on the record. Mark Bittman, best-selling cookbook author and high-profile New York Times food columnist, wrote the Kass story for Men's Health, and he gets all the deets. Bittman also interviewed other members of Mrs. Obama's food policy team, including Melody Barnes and Jocelyn Frye--although it remains to be seen what actually makes it into the final edit. In addition to being an incredible chef, Ag policy wonk and master gardener, Kass is also a big fitness buff, and Men's Health did a big photo shoot at the White House. So look for Kass pix in the White House Kitchen and in the garden--and maybe even shooting hoops with the President on the tennis court, which has a regulation-height basketball hoop installed, for giddy half-court games of Horse. There'll be no golf pix of Kass, though, wink wink wink. The October issues hit news stands on Sept. 15. (Top: Mrs. Obama and Kass in the White House Kitchen, Bottom: Kass talking about the garden...in the garden)

An amusing Kass print media side note: This winter, he was on People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People list, in the special section called Barack's Beauties, which starred Mrs. Obama and featured other White House staff, including Rahm Emanuel. Kass was the first White House chef to ever be on People's list, although other, regular ol' chefs have made appearances on previous lists.

Rodale doesn't stop with the East Wing and West Wing: Rodale has also been handy dandy helpers with the USDA, too. The Rodale Institute, the non-profit arm of the publishing empire, donated hundreds of pounds of organic compost to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's People's Garden project at USDA headquarters on the National Mall. Nice!

*Photos: Mrs. Obama and Kass in the kitchen and Kass in the garden from White House; bottom Kass photo by Obama Foodorama

Miyuki Hatoyama, Japan's Next First Lady, Has Her Own Progressive Food Agenda...and She's Looking Forward to Meeting Michelle Obama

First Lady-to-be Miyuki Hatoyama is a cookbook author, pickling hobbyist, sunshine eater...is there a Tokyo version of the White House Kitchen Garden in the future?
President Obama spoke by telephone today with Japan's next Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan scored a landslide victory in Sunday's general election, ending a half-century of domination by the opposing party. Mr. Hatoyama is not expected to be sworn in until Sept. 16, but the President is already doing outreach, because Mr. Hatoyama recently published an essay in which he attacked the "unrestrained market fundamentalism" of U.S.-led globalization. (At top of post: The Hatoyamas, following the election on Sunday. We're assuming you know who the guy on the phone is...)

But now Mr. Hatoyama is crediting his election victory to American citizens, and to President Obama. Following the phone call today with President Obama, Mr. Hatoyama advised reporters:

"I told him that the Democratic Party's victory is thanks to President Obama, and that Japan has seen its first change in the government through the democratic process. That change required courage, and U.S. citizens and President Obama across the ocean gave the Japanese people that courage."

Mr. Hatoyama's agressive grassroots campaign was very similar to President Obama's, and the similarities don't end there. Like the President, Mr. Hatoyama has already been the subject of dozens of books, and his wife, Miyuki Hatoyama, is a celeb in her own right, and the object of near obsession by many Japanese, just like First Lady Michelle Obama. The Hatoyamas met in the US when Mr. Hatoyama was a PhD student at Stanford University, and they've been involved ever since (he's 62; she's 66). The PM-to-be refers to his wife as "the bedrock" of his life, just like the President refers to Mrs. Obama. And the Hatoyama family is often likened to the Kennedy family, because of their long involvement in Japanese politics; Mr. Hatoyama's grandfather was also Prime Minister. (Photo is the Hatoyamas, as young lovebirds)

Like Mrs. Obama, Mrs. Hatoyama has a well-developed nutrition and health agenda.
She's the author of Miyuki Hatoyama's Spiritual Food, a cookbook of Hawaiian macrobiotic recipes (in photo), she speaks frequently in public about food policy, and she pickles vegetables as a hobby. Mrs. Obama's forthcoming cookbook will be co-authored with White House Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass, and she 'likes' to cook and discuss nutrition, too. Mrs. Hatoyama has already gone on the record about how much she has in common with Mrs. Obama, and how much she's looking forward to their first meeting:

"I think she [Mrs. Obama] is so natural and has a kind of sensibility similar to mine," Mrs. Miyuki said in a recent interview with Kyodo News Agency.

Both the First Ladies make regular appearances on TV shows, discussing everything from cooking to fashion to politics (although Mrs. Hatoyama doesn't have her own Youtube videos yet...). During a recent TV appearance, Mrs. Hatoyama was dressed in a skirt made of hemp coffee sacks, which got as much attention as Mrs. Obama's Lanvin sneakers; she has an avid following in the Eastern fashion world that's equivalent to Mrs. Obama's in the West. And also like Mrs. Obama, who's gone on the record about President Obama's attire, Mrs. Hatoyama is credited with cleaning up her husband's act for their campaign season, in a move she calls "life composing."

Mrs. Hatoyama also frequently mentions that she eats the sun...for energy, so she's kind of fab as a pal for President Obama, too, with his big interest in alternative energy resources. Both have a big interest in outer space, too. Mrs. Hatoyama recently described riding a triangular spacecraft to the "green" planet of Venus...which is somewhat akin to the President's desire for a Mars landing. No doubt when the two First Couples meet later this year, much fun will ensue. After all, Mr. Hatoyama's nickname is "The Alien," which is just alarmingly close to some of President Obama's nicknames in America....

Barack'n Ramadan: President Obama Hosts a Traditional Iftar Dinner at The White House

President Obama praises the global Muslim community during his first White House Iftar dinner, and...does excellent sports commentary, too. With the menu, of course!
Last night at the White House, President Obama hosted a traditional Iftar dinner to celebrate Ramadan, the holiest month on the Muslim calendar. Ramadan began on Aug. 22 and ends on Sept. 20, and commemorates the revelation of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammed. Observant Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, and break the daily fast with a communal dinner known as an Iftar. The post-sunset White House Iftar was held in the State Dining Room, and attended by American Muslims as well as politicos. The President welcomed his guests by noting that the many contributions made by American Muslims to US culture were too numerous to mention, and added that "Tonight's Iftar is a ritual that is also being carried out this Ramadan at kitchen tables and mosques in all fifty states. Islam, as we know, is part of America. And like the broader American citizenry, the American Muslim community is one of extraordinary dynamism and diversity -- with families that stretch back generations and more recent immigrants; with Muslims of countless races and ethnicities, and with roots in every corner of the world."

The dinner menu blended Muslim tradition with the Modern White House Kitchen aesthetic:

*Dates (In Islamic observance, a Date is usually the first thing eaten to break the day-long fast)
*Spiced Marcona almonds
*Kitchen Garden green salad
*Organic chicken with potato-and-leek puree and late-summer peas

High-profile guests included the two Muslim members of Congress--Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn), as well as Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind), Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Senior Adviser David Axelrod, and money man Peter Orszag....as well as about two dozen foreign diplomats, and 33 Muslim community leaders. Because President Obama is a huge sports fan, he had to mention possibly the most famous Muslim American: Boxer Muhammad Ali, who was not in attendance. The President referred to Ali as The Greatest, and used an Ali quote to explain religious tolerance:

"A few years ago," President Obama said, "He explained this view--and this is part of why he's The Greatest--saying, 'Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams--they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do--they all contain truths.'"

There was another sports angle, too: The President noted the achievement of Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a University of Memphis student, who as a high school student in Massachusetts broke WNBA star Rebecca Lobo's high school career points record in basketball--while wearing the traditional Muslim head covering, the Hijab--and while being less than 5'5" tall. The President called Bilqis an "inspiration" not just for Muslim women, but for all women. (President Obama with Bilqis, above)

*President Obama's full remarks are here.

*On Aug. 21, the President released a video "sending best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world." The Obama Iftar joins President Obama's White House Seder, held on April 10, as another White House First. Last night's Iftar was a first for President Obama, but it wasn't the first Iftar held at the White House. Here's a post about a Bush-era Iftar, at which Muslim members of the American military joined then-President George Bush for an Iftar in 2006--one of many he had during his two terms in office.

*AP press pool photos

Masked Obama Protesters: It's Always About Food & Agriculture

Protesters wearing President Obama masks and doing something food and Ag related is turning into a cultural meme.
Yesterday, Mexican Farmers in Veracruz held a protest about government take over of their lands--and all had on (really bad) Obama masks. The farmers are members of the 400 Pueblos group, and donned the masks because they were demanding that they be treated with the same amount of respect shown to President Obama during his recent visit to Mexico City--and because yeah, it makes a good photo op. There were a lot of the masked farmers yesterday. In July during the G8 in Rome, Oxfam also staged an awesome foodcentric protest in front of Saint Giovanni in Laterano Basilica, with a masked Obama in the center of his fellow masked G8 leaders (below). During the same week, Oxfam also held a Climate Change Cookout protest, with a different masked President Obama in a chef's toque and apron. Oxfam is preparing for protests for the G20 in Pittsburgh, as well as the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen. They've just released a devastating new report on climate change and agriculture in the Global South.

--Posted by Shawna and Gabe, who are positive there will be this kind of excellent political theatre at the G20 in Pittsburgh, and are bugging Ob Fo to go. Pretty please?

Pete Souza Gets More Arty & More Foodie in New Photos From White House Flickr...

Tequila, pie, & invisible fish featured in latest from official image chronicler...
The Official White House Flickr has just been updated again, and there are some swell new pix. Official presidential photog Pete Souza is really getting better with the food shots; above, President Obama and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, right, look at a display on the making of tequila at the Cabanas Cultural Center in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Aug. 10.

Above, during President Obama's birthday party in the Roosevelt Room on August 4, the President looks at a card given to him by daughter Sasha, while First Lady Michelle Obama and Malia watch. In the background are Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses. On the table are some of the "dangerous pies" that Yosses, whom the President calls "the crust master," is now famous for making...and which were a big part of the b'day celebration. Peach, Key lime, apple, and chocolate cream pies were on the menu.

And last, but certainly not least...in the photo above, President Obama almost catches a trout while fly fishing in Montana on the East Gallatin river on August 14...and guide Dan Vermillion (who chats up his tour de fish with the President here )...gets decidely un zen in response. Isn't fly fishing a meditative "sport?" Isn't Dan scaring the fishies away? No wonder POTUS didn't catch anything...and no wonder he was waxing poetic about Chef Yosses's dangerous pie during the three hours in the river.

*Photos by Pete Souza, official almost foodie photographer for the White House

Notes On Fire...

In a hyper-modern experiment, Ob Fo's editorial assistant, Shawna Burrows, will be minding Obama Foodorama for the next few days, while your intrepid blogger deals with the fire sitch in LA, rather than having the blog go off the air for a few days, as noted in a previous post. Shawna will be helped by Gabriel Lee, whose name some readers might recognize, because he frequently answers e mail. Thanks, kids!

Garden Homage: Burpee Seeds Creates Replica of the White House Kitchen Garden in Honor of First Lady Michelle Obama

President Obama gets foodie homage; the First Lady gets garden homage...
Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama, the W. Atlee Burpee & Co. seed company has created an excellent replica of the White House Kitchen Garden at Fordhook Farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The greeny sanctuary is a test site for the company's cultivars, and this year, CEO George Ball decided that re-creating Mrs. Obama's garden was a swell idea. (Above: Ball, in the replica White House Kitchen Garden)

Ball has repeatedly praised Mrs. Obama and the White House for bringing such big attention to gardening, and credits the First Lady with sending his seed sales soaring. To replicate the White House garden, Ball says that his gardeners used the now-widely available diagram of the South Lawn Kitchen Garden plot, but also tossed in some heirloom veggies, and took into account Pennsylvania's soil and weather conditions.

Ball likens Mrs. Obama's food agenda to President John F. Kennedy's physical fitness initiative.

"It is the kind of program that should please people across the political spectrum. It is inexpensive to implement, and the return on investment is extraordinary," Ball said.

Ball is so fun he even took a photo in the replica Kitchen Garden with his own dog, Nathan, as a stand-in for the ever-popular First Dog Bo. (Above)

The replica Kitchen Garden will be open to the public for viewing on September 25-26. Also scheduled for the event is a planned "Presidential Luncheon," and yes, President and Mrs. Obama have been invited. UPDATE: The President and First Lady did not attend.

Related: Another White House Kitchen Garden replica was created in May this year for Bloom 2009, Europe's largest horticultural fest, held in Ireland each year. The White House has just released an excellent new video on the Kitchen Garden; watch it here.

Move On #&%?! Birthers: President Obama's Birth Certificate in Seed Art

Seeds of change, seeds of discontent...
Featured at the Minnesota State Fair's crop art exhibit: President Obama's birth certificate, made of seeds, which surely wins the award for Best Obama Food Art, post-election season. Artist Mark Dahlager, who with his family has made tons of other works of seed art--many with timely political commentary-- told the Minnesota Independent that he created this particular foodie homage because he was "increasingly irritated by the birther nut jobs...It’s just an expression of my wonderment at a depth of ignorance that is unfathomable."

Move On #&%?! Birthers! is made of thousands of seeds, most native to Minnesota. In the big photo, above: Dahlager's work on display at the fair, with a card at the bottom lists the kind of seeds used. A detail of the critical commentary:







President Obama has been memorialized in seeds before. At left, Seeds of Hope is an awesome Obama seed portrait created by Colorado artist Manick Sorcar, during the Inauguration. Seeds of Hope is made with lentils, fennel seeds, cumin, barley, and orange peel.

*Photos of Move On #&%?! Birthers! by Mark Dahlager

Dahlager's piece merited a mention on the Rachel Maddow Show last night, but was sent in to Ob Fo last week by Ken Green of the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Check out Ken's site for all kinds of fantastic info on seed saving and other heritage gardening techniques...as well as to buy seeds! He tweets, too: @seedlibrary.