An e-mail from the President: "Hey"..."Let's go"... As the final hours of the campaign finance quarter loomed on Saturday, the banner on President Obama's Twitter page @BarackObama was changed to read "THE FINAL WINNER of Dinner with Barack WILL BE CHOSEN TODAY." The banner is usually a countdown clock to election day in November. Three winners for the "Dinner with Barack IV" contest have already been chosen.
A staffer Tweeted a link to the dinner contest entry form on @BarackObama, writing: "My best speeches came from having a conversation with someone." --The President at #DinnerwithBarack."
Take that, Jon Favreau! The President himself sent a simple e-mail to supporters. It had the simple subject line of "Hey." CLICK HEREto watch videos of President Obama with winners of the third Dinner with Barack contest.
The President's e-mail:
XXXX --
I need you with me on this one.
Tonight's deadline is our biggest yet, and I need everyone pitching in.
UPDATE: CLICK HEREfor the post about the 2012 Presidential Seder President Obama will join Jewish Americans across the nation in marking the start of Passover next Friday, April 6th, the White House announced today. Joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, the President will host the fourth Seder of his Administration. (Above: The President is served matzoh ball soup at the 2011 Seder) On Wednesday April 4, President Obama will host an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House, his third such event. Also on Wednesday, Mrs. Obama will visit the Fisher House at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a pre-Easter celebration with military families and children. Mrs. Obama "will join them for craft activities and bring them Easter treats from the White House Pastry Shop," the East Wing said. On Monday, April 9th the First Family will host the largest event on the Presidential social calendar: The annual White House Easter Egg Roll. This year's theme is “Let's Go! Let's Play! Let's Move!"
The 2011 Seder... Last year, the First Family held their Seder in the Old Family Dining Room. They were joined by twelve guests, including Eric Lesser andArun Chaudhary, two of the three aides who started the tradition in the basement of a hotel on the 2008 campaign trail, during the Pennsylvania Primary. (Above: The President and guests dip fingers in wine during the reading of the Haggadah)
The White House chefs cooked most of the dishes from recipes provided by attending guests, including traditional Passover favorites: Chicken soup with matzoh balls, braised beef brisket, potato kugel, carrot soufflé, and matzoh chocolate cake. The recipes were "not strictly kosher but kosher style," according to a White House aide.
The reading was from the Maxwell House Haggadah, a plain-language edition in use in America for more than 70 years. Guests included the President's body man, Reggie Love, who has now departed the White House, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and friends from Chicago.
"Me again"... With the Saturday deadline looming for campaign donations for this financial quarter, First Lady Michelle Obama--on Spring Break vacation in the western US with her daughters--sent an e-mail to supporters today, asking for a $3 donation, which includes auto entry in the Dinner with Barack IV sweepstakes. The subject line was "Me again," because Mrs. Obama e-mailed donors earlier in the week, advising that her husband stays "up late" at night, working hard.
Today's text included no Dear ____, but gets straight to the point. Mrs. Obama wrote:
"There's one thing I forgot to mention:
If you chip in to support the campaign before the big deadline tomorrow, you'll also be automatically entered to have dinner with my husband.
I had the chance to go to one of these "Dinners with Barack" just a few weeks back -- and trust me, you don't want to miss out on it.
And new videos from the "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" fundraiser... Citizens hoping to dine with President Obama at the fourth culinary fundraiser offered by Obama for America, "Dinner with Barack IV," have until midnight Saturday to enter, when this financial quarter for donations closes. There's a countdown clock on the OFA website for the event, and for this contest things were done a little differently: The four winners have been selected on a rolling basis, to inspire those who didn't win the first time to be repeat entrants, and drop more cash in the President's war chest. There's now one seat left at the Presidential table. (Above: The OFA graphic features the President at the most recent fundraising dinner)
OFA has released two new videos filmed during the third dinner contest, "Dinner with Barack and Michelle," when President Obama and First Lady Obama dined with six supporters at DC's Boundary Road restaurant on March 8, 2012.
"I'm going to order steak," the President says as the video begins, and indeed he did. Both the President and Mrs. Obama ordered the Grilled Hanger Steak as their entrees, made with chestnut puree, and served over spicy kale, with a "sauce charon," similar to a Bernaise ($22). The President started with Quark and Black Pepper Pierogi ($10), which is more like a savory ravioli than a Pierogi, while Mrs. Obama started with the Rapini Salad, chilled rappini with pickled shallots, avocado oil, and Firefly Farms Mountain Top Bleu ($6).
The President and Mrs. Obama's guests were three winners, each of whom were allowed to bring a guest. Winner ReGina Newkirk, a nonprofit executive from Nashville, TN, brought her father, Robert Newkirk Sr., a professor at Tennessee State University; Winner Cathleen Loringer, a former social worker from Wauwatosa, WI, brought her husband, John Loringer, a Wauwatosa attorney; and winner Judy Glassman, a retired school administrator from Cambridge, MA, brought her husband Mitch Glassman, a Cambridge artist.
In Video 2, the Loringers talk about themselves:
The other dinner contests... The President ate dinner with the four winners of the first "Dinner with Barack" contest in October of 2011, at The Liberty Tavern in Arlington, VA. The second dinner contest was fulfilled with a luncheon; the President took his four winners to DC's Scion restaurant on January 6, 2012. For a behind-the-scenes account, read French Fries With The Leader Of The Free World.
OFA raised $68 million in the fourth quarter of fundraising in 2011, when the Dinner with Barack and Michelle contest was being run. OFA claims that 98% of supporters in 2011 donated $250 or less, but did not release figures on how many people donated multiple times, theoretically exceeding what is identified as a "small donor" figure.
A visit to Ole Miss... Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass traveled to Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday to bring the Let's Move! campaign to the University of Mississippi. He spoke at the school's National Food Service Management Institute's "Major Cities Training Symposium." Kass discussed the National School Lunch Program and the Chefs Move to Schools project, and hailed school chefs as heroes for overcoming budget, equipment and time challenges.
"There is not a school chef that doesn't have very limited resources, a very limited kitchen, very little time to serve a lot of kids," Kass told Ole Miss News. "I think that they're heroes."
New England swing: Lunch, dinner and two rallies with big crowds expected... President Obama today travels to Vermont and Maine for four different fundraisers, two each in the tiny states at the top of the East Coast. The two lower-priced events, one in each state, are expected to draw thousands of donors. The other two events, a luncheon in Vermont and a dinner in Portland, are at a higher price point, and have smaller numbers of guests expected.
The events are the last fundraisers before Saturday's monthly and quarterly campaign fundraising deadline, and Obama for America has been busily pushing for donations via e-mail pleas.
President Obama is the first sitting Commander in Chief to visit Vermont since 1995. He begins his fundraising day at 1:15 PM, when he'll attend a $7,500/plate luncheon in Burlington, VT, at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel. About 100 donors are expected, according to campaign officials.
At 2:25 PM there's a college concert for the youth vote: Local rockers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals will play at a fundraiser at the University of Vermont in Burlington, which is expected to draw 4,500 supporters. General admission tickets begin at $100 and go up.
In Maine at 5:15 PM, the President will headline another big fundraiser, a rally at Portland's Southern Maine Community College. About 1,800 supporters are expected, with tickets ranging $100 for general admission to $10,000 for donors who will get to have their photo taken with the President.
At 7:20 PM the President will attend a fundraising reception and then a dinner at the Portland Museum of Art. About 120 people are expected to attend the dinner, with tickets going for $35,800. Reception tickets begin at $7,500.
Leaders from across US praised for carrying on legacy of United Farm Workers co-founder... President Obama once again has proclaimed March 31 of this year as César Chávez Day, honoring the agriculture labor leader and civil rights activist's birthday. 2012 would have been Chávez 85th birthday, and the White House celebrated early on Thursday, inviting ten leaders from across the US to be honored as César Chávez Champions of Change for doing work inspired by his legacy. The President stopped by the closed-press event to greet the honorees, and Chávez's grandchildren, Julie and César, were also on hand. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and actress America Ferrera participated in the ceremony honoring the leaders, which included a roundtable discussion. (Above: Ferrera at the White House with the Chavez family members)
"Decades after his struggle began, Cesar Chavez's legacy lives on in all who draw inspiration from the values of service, determination, and community that ignited his movement," President Obama wrote about the Chavez Champions in his Proclamation.
Chávez was born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona, and led the largest agricultural labor movement in US history, co-founding the United Farm Workers with Dolores Huerta. President Obama included Chávez as one of the heroes in his childrens book, Of Thee I Sing, published in 2010. Ferrera, formerly the star of the hit TV series "Ugly Betty," will be playing Chávez's wife, Helen F. Chávez, in the upcoming biopic "Chávez," to be filmed this spring. He died on April 23, 1993.
The honorees included Mary Jo Dudley, a faculty member in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University and the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program; Rob Williams, director of Florida's Migrant Farmworker Justice Project; Nita Gonzales, the President/CEO of Escuela Tlatelolco Centro de Estudios, a nationally recognized model for Chicano/Mexicano and indigenous education located in Denver, CO; Rogelio Lona, a farm worker, activist, community organizer and leader from California; Bernarda Wong, a founder and the President of the Chinese American Service League in Chicago, IL; Melinda Wiggins, Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers; Rev. Eve Nunez, the Founder and President of Help 4 Kidz in California; Nancy M. Cubano, a teacher from the KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy in Philadelphia, PA; Elvira Diaz, a Reno, Nevada journalist who hosts "El Pan de Cada Dia;" and Rose Garcia, Executive Director of Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation, a New Mexico nonprofit.
Last year, in May 2011, the US Navy named the USNS César Chávez in recognition of Chavez's service during World War II, and the Obama Administration has designated the Forty Acres site in Delano, California, as a National Historical Landmark, "forever commemorating" the birthplace of the United Farm Workers.
From the White House, the bios of the honorees:
1. Rose Garcia Rose Garcia is the Executive Director of Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation, a New Mexico nonprofit corporation and a leading regional affordable housing and community development organization. She has worked for over 30 years to improve the quality of life for the rural poor, minorities, farmworkers and the elderly individuals in small towns and rural areas along the United States - Mexico border. She works closely with partners in both the public and private sectors to deliver services and meet the needs of people of New Mexico and the Southwest.
2. Mary Jo Dudley Mary Jo Dudley is a faculty member in the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University and is the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program. As director of the Program her work focuses on improving the living and working conditions of farmworkers and their families by educating farmworkers and their employers on health, safety, cultural, and immigration issues and by conducting research that examines the contributions of farmworkers to the economic and social fabric of New York State. She directs a summer internship program through which Cornell and other students conduct research, prepare educational materials, and conducting trainings with farmworkers. She is a founding member of the Tompkins County Immigrants' Rights Coalition, and is a member of the New York State Governor's Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. In 2010 she received the James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony, and the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Service-Learning Award, both from Cornell University. Rob Williams
3. Rob Williams Rob Williams is the director of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project. Established by Florida Legal Services in 1996 and funded by the Florida Bar Foundation, the Project's mission is to provide access to justice for the more than 150,000 farmworkers who live and work in Florida. Williams began his career as a legal services lawyer in Immokalee, Florida in 1975. For more than a decade he has represented the United Farm Workers in their campaign to enact the AgJOBS immigration reform legislation which would benefit the one million undocumented workers and their families who harvest America's crops. The Migrant Farmworker Justice Project also vigorously defends the rights of US workers and guest workers under the H-2A program, and has litigated dozens of cases in federal and state courts to enforce farmworkers' rights to fair wages and working conditions. Nita Gonzales, M.ED.
4. Nita Gonzales Nita Gonzales, of Denver, Colorado, is a noted community activist, educator, and nationally recognized leader in the struggle for social justice and equality. Nita is the President/CEO of Escuela Tlatelolco Centro de Estudios, a nationally recognized model for Chicano/Mexicano and indigenous education located in Denver, CO. Escuela Tlatelolco was originally founded over forty one years ago to provide culturally competent and socially conscious education to predominantly Latino youth. Nita also has a long record of supporting causes and activities that promote the economic, political, social, and educational strength of Latinos and underserved populations. She is a founder of the Chicano/Mexicano Education Coalition, the Denver Youth Employment and Education Task Force, and co-founder of the Colorado Latino Forum. She also is a board member of numerous organizations working to promote the welfare of the Latino community including Clinica Tepayac, the Denver City and County Community Oversight Board, and a member of the President's Cabinet for Metropolitan State College.
5. Rogelio Lona Rogelio Lona is a farm worker, activist, community organizer and a leader. He has worked in the fields of California for more than 47 years and for 32 of those years he has been a member of the United Farm Workers. Just like his mentor, Cesar Chavez, Lona experienced and lived the struggles of the early farm worker movement. And, although the struggle is not over, Lona has also been able to savor some of the victories that farm workers had been able to accomplish through the work of the UFW to improve the working conditions of the men and women who labor in the fields. Until this day, Lona practices the legacy and values that Cesar Chavez left him: non-violence, respect, dignity, organization and empowerment of others.
6. Bernarda Wong Bernarda Wong, better known as "Bernie," is a founder and the President of the Chinese American Service League (CASL). Under Bernie's leadership, CASL has grown from a one-person shop in 1979 with an annual budget of $30,000 to $12 million. She spearheaded the initiative to build a $6.7 million Senior Housing facility as well as CASL's new adjacent facility, the $7 million Kam L. Liu Building, a community service center that combined all of CASL's disparate sites. Prior to founding CASL, Bernie served as Director of Social Services for a community center and a Head Start Day Care Program in a predominantly African American community.
Bernie built the Chinese American Service League from the ground up in 1979. Bernie chaired the Chicago Mayor's Advisory Council on Asian Affairs and was the first Asian appointed to the Boards of United Way of Chicago and the Chicago Public Library. She also served on the Governor's Asian Advisory Council and the Leadership of Greater Chicago Board. Currently, Bernie serves on committees including the Chicago Commission Human Relations (CCHR), the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) Board, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) Board, and Council for the Illinois Department on Aging. Bernie is also founding member of Chinese Immigrant Service Agencies Network International (CISANI).
7. Melinda Wiggins For over 15 years, Melinda Wiggins has served as the Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), a nonprofit whose mission is to bring students and farmworkers together to learn about each other's lives, share resources and skills, improve conditions for farmworkers, and build diverse coalitions working for social change. Before that time, she coordinated SAF's summer internship program and was a SAF intern with the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. Melinda has taken the lead in creating and developing two key statewide immigrant and farmworker coalitions: The Adelante Education Coalition and the Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN). She has brought her core values of transparency, accountability and profound systemic change to these coalitions, and as a result SAF has a very strong network of individual and organizational allies from around the state. Melinda is also active with several other social justice groups such as Zomppa and the Windcall Residency Program.
8. Nancy M. Cubano Nancy M. Cubano is a native of Puerto Rico. She was born in Arecibo but grew up in the small town of Utuado where she lived with her family. She is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico and Shippensburg University. Prior to coming to KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program, a network of public charter schools), Philadelphia, Nancy taught for 13 years as a Spanish teacher in Harrisburg where she taught Spanish to elementary school students, and in Gettysburg where she became passionate about her community and her teaching. She volunteered as an English tutor and advocated for the Gettysburg area's migrant-workers. After a few years she moved to Philadelphia where she gain experience teaching elementary, middle and high school. In 2005 she became an Educational Advisor to the National Youth Leaders State Conference (NYLSC) in Pennsylvania. Nancy is a founding member of the KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy faculty. Nancy now serves as the Foreign Language Department Leader and Spanish II, III and AP teacher for KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy. Her goal and big project is to see her Chavez Advisory Students make it "To and Through College". The mission is to prepare students with the academic skills, intellectual habits, and character traits that are necessary for success in high school, college, and the competitive world beyond. In pursuing this mission, she aims to serve her community as a whole by educating students who will make a difference in our community and the world. 9. Elvira Diaz Elvira Diaz was born in México City, immigrated to the United States in 1986 and became a US citizen in 1992. She has been working for the pharmaceutical industry and involved in the Catholic Church for several years. She has a Spanish TV show "El Pan de Cada Dia" and has been a radio personality in two local radio stations in Reno, Nevada. She also writes a Spanish column in a local newspaper, Ahora Latino Journal. She has been working at PLAN (Progressive League Alliance of Nevada) since 2010 organizing health care events, advocating on behalf of immigration and LGTB communities, and works to help Latinos register to vote.
10. Rev. Eve Nunez Rev. Eve Nunez has dedicated her life to public service and has embodied the values of Cesar Chavez since she was a young adult. At the age of 17, Rev. Nunez volunteered and protested alongside Cesar Chavez. Even in her adolescence, she understood the importance of human rights, and public service. Since her early years of volunteering with Chavez, she has led a life devoted to public service, the fight for human rights, and faith. Rev. Eve Nunez is the Founder and President of Help 4 Kidz, which is an organization she founded after the passing of her beloved son Frankie. This non-profit organization has received local and national awards for her work with at risk children and young adults. Help for Kidz is a National Partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has a SNAP satellite that also provides food boxes for homeless families in the valley.
Help 4 Kidz served approximately 1,680 meals per week last summer for The First Lady's "Let's Move" Initiative. Help 4 Kidz is also a HUD approved site. The Help 4 Kidz HUD office provides services where clients can apply for, and participate in, Rental Assistance, First-Time Home Buyers Program, Foreclosure Prevention, Loan modifications, HARP AND HEMC.
Nunez is also a Founder and President of Arizona Latino Commission, which is also a non-profit. Arizona Latino Commission is a HUD approved agency that serves clients with housing needs and foreclosure prevention/ first time home buyers program, and HARP. Rev. Eve Nunez is Vice President of Networking for National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference NHCLC which has over 34,000 churches and 16 million members. She is also an Executive Board member for NHCLC. She has recently become a member and citizen lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. She received the National Service Award from Former President George W. Bush 2001 and Volunteer Service Award from President Obama 2012.
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*Photo by America Ferrera; she tweeted it @AmericaFerrera
The Obama Family Chili Recipe in the spotlight... President Obama's campaign HQ on Wednesday unveiled its own series of boards on the fast-growing social network site Pinterest, which has seen an explosion of interest in the last few months. The Obama project has 7 different boards, including one devoted to "Obama-inspired recipes."(Above: A screenshot of the food board)
The board includes the Obama Family Chili Recipe, unveiled during the 2008 campaign and put to good use during this year's Super Bowl as part of a pigskin-themed fundraiser. There are also photos of foods carrying the Obama campaign logo. There are currently no recipes pinned that were created by the White House chefs--which could possibly be a violation of federal election rules. Obama for America tweeted the new project to followers: "Organizers, infographics, murals, and cake - now pinning all of the above for #Obama2012 on Pinterest."
Fundraising through Pinterest... The 8 different boards include one devoted to campaign merchandise, and one devoted to the First Family--which includes a photo of President Obama and his favorite toy, the marshmallow cannon, and First Lady Obama dancing on TV with Ellen DeGeneres. (Above: The Chili Recipe; click to enlarge for readability)
There's also a photo of the President and Mrs. Obama dining with supporters during one of the "Dinner with Barack" fundraisers. There's currently one of these contests open, and the caption reads "The Obamas sit down for a meal with supporters during Dinner with Barack. Have you put in your name for a seat at the next one?"
There's a merchandise board, and a page devoted to ObamArt--which has a photo of one supporter's manicure. Joining Pinterest requires an "invite" from the publisher.
Ann Romney's Pinterest... GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's wife, Ann Romney, has been avidly pinning since February. Romney has a board devoted to recipes, with 11 delights the Romney family loves, including Mitt's Meatball Cakes, his favorite birthday treat.
Obama for America has experimented with social media, and has also joined Instagram and Tumblr, those these aren't updated very frequently. The most success has come with Twitter, where the President and First Lady Obama both have accounts. The President now has 13,515,114 followers, while Mrs. Obama, who joined earlier this year, has 701,568 followers. Tweets are posted by staff unless the accoutns are signed "-bo" and "-mo" respectively.
Sam Kass gives the chefs a personal tour of the Kitchen Garden...and they Tweet their visit... Anne Burrell and Claire Robinson, two chefs with popular shows on the Food Network, visited Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass at the White House on Tuesday. They got a personal tour of the Kitchen Garden, newly replanted for Spring by First Lady Michelle Obama. The two tweeted their visit, including the above photo of themselves on the South Lawn. Burrell is at left.
"Are y kidding me? With @chefanneburrell chilling on the front lawn of the white house! amazing!!!" Robinson, host of 5Ingredient Fix, tweeted.
Burrell, host of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, has visited the White House before, but she was still excited: "Omg!!! I'm IN the white house!!!" Burrell tweeted.
In another tweet, Burrell posted the above photo of Kass leading the tour through the Kitchen Garden. "Sam Kass in his white house garden!" Burrell tweeted.
The two were in Washington for a gala dinner in support of America's military service members, according to their tweets: "On the way to the "Armed Forces" dinner- it benefits wounded vets and their families @supportAFF," Burrell tweeted.
The White House chefs frequently host guests: New York chef Maria Loi visited last week, to cook forPresident Obama's closed-press Greek Independence Day reception.
Burrell also visited the White House in June of 201o, joining Mr. Obama and Kass for the massive South Lawn launch event for the Chefs Move to Schools project, a component of the Let's Move! campaign. Above, Burrell Tweeted this photo of herself in the Kitchen Garden during her 2010 visit.
Secretary travels to Iowa for press conference to affirm safety of lean, finely textured beef; notes that it's in the National School Lunch Program because it's cheap; and says product doesn't require labeling because it's "safe"... Though the White House does not serve it on its menus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday to join Governor Terry Branstad for a special press conference to defend the safety of "lean, finely textured beef," aka "Pink Slime." The subject of a national firestorm of negative media attention, Vilsack and Branstad reaffirmed the safety of the cheap, chemically treated ground beef filler, following the Monday announcement by the producer, Beef Products Inc. (BPI), that it is closing three of its four production facilities due to a drop in demand. (Above: Vilsack and Branstad at the presser)
Vilsack made the argument that the product is crucial to fighting childhood obesity, the signature initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama.
"This product is safe," Vilsack said. "There's no question about it. We've said that hundreds of times and we'll continue to say it." "We're here today to stand together to clear up some misinformation that's been circulated in the media about lean, finely textured beef produced by BPI," said Branstad, a Republican who has received much attention from the White House. He branded media coverage as "a smear campaign."
"Concern over the safety of this product is simply unfounded," Branstad said.
Let's Move! and beef filler... Vilsack himself helped fuel consumer fears and the media frenzy over the product by announcing last week that USDA will make it possible for school districts to opt out of purchasing ground beef containing the product. But he said on Wednesday that USDA would never have allowed the product in the school lunch program if it were not safe, and said it is a "leaner product" than regular ground beef, and crucial for the battle to end childhood obesity.
"That's one of the reasons we've made it a staple of the school lunch program," Vilsack said.
"We are...concerned about obesity levels, and this is an opportunity for us to ensure that youngsters are receiving a product that is lean and contains less fat."
He also noted that "historically" the product is less expensive than other products.
"For that reason it's been part of the school lunch program," Vilsack said.
He defended his opt-out program decision, noting that USDA had received “hundreds” of messages from school districts, and adding that the Agency believes in "consumer choice." 32 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program. About 17% of American children are obese.
An impact on all of US agriculture.... Both Vilsack and Branstad said meat buyers should make their decisions based on science, noting that the product is safe, low in fat and a cheap ingredient. Branstad and his family have eaten the product for more than three decades, he said, and noted that it is “100 percent beef.” It's safer than beef that's not treated with ammonia, Branstad said, something critics dispute. Indeed, "Pink Slime" may be 100 percent beef, but it is made of beef fat and trimmings, and treated with ammonia gas designed to kill harmful bacteria, including E. Coli and salmonella.
Branstad blamed a “poisonous tone” in the media for consumer rejection of the product, which has included major supermarket chains, including Safeway and Hy-Vee announcing they will not carry meat containing the product. Hy-Vee has now revesred its decision, Branstad said.
He warned that Americans rejecting lean, finely textured beef will "effect all of Agriculture," by causing a decline in sales of corn and soy. "There's a ripple effect," Branstad said.
Vilsack agreed, warning that exports could be impacted. The US Ag sector is currently one of the strongest parts of the economy.
No labeling is necessary, and a plant visit by FSIS chief... Today, Vilsack is sending Agriculture Undersecretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen to tour the Beef Products Inc. plant in South Sioux City, Neb., with Branstad and other governors, to again affirm the safety of the product.
"She's an MD," Vilsack said of Hagen, adding that "she's a mother of two small children, too."
Vilsack also said that lean, finely textured beef doesn't have to be labeled when it is included in ground beef because "it is safe."
Vilsack's last effort to defend a specific American food product came in 2009, during the outbreak of swine flu, when Americans stopped eating pork amidst worries that it would make them ill with the fatal virus, and the swine industry saw a rapid decline in sales. Vilsack assured the nation that he was consuming plenty of pork, and urged media to stop using the term "swine flu," instead demanding that it be called by its clinical name, H1N1 flu. He noted this effort during the press conference.
Somewhat disappointingly, the Secretary's efforts to defend lean, finely textured beef did not include him digging into a plate of the product and eating it on camera.
Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and chef Joan Nathan demonstrate two Seder favorites: Matzo Chremsel and Haroset; with recipes... President Obama has made celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover a tradition at the White House, hosting a private Seder for family and friends each year. Next week on the first night of Passover, Friday, April 6, the President will again host a Seder. On Wednesday, Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and acclaimed cookbook author and Jewish food authority Joan Nathan demonstrated two Passover recipes to a crowd gathered at the White House for a livestream event about Jewish food and Passover traditions, "The Chosen Food." (Above: Nathan, l, and Yosses make Haroset)
Yosses and Nathan cooked Nathan's Matzo Chremsel, a fried fruit and Matzo cake that is typically dusted with powdered sugar, and Arkansas Pear Haroset, a regional take on the tart dish that is a centerpiece of the Seder meal. The recipes are below.
The livestream event was in conjunction with an exhibit of the same name, 'The Chosen Food,' at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The chefs were joined by curators from the museum, and the cooking demos come almost an hour into the video, after a discussion of Jewish food culture and Passover traditions.
More Passover recipes: In 2011, the White House gathered regional Passover recipes from Nathan and other well-know chefs, and posted the collection, which ranges from meat dishes to treats. CLICK HERE to download.
The recipes Yosses and Nathan demonstrated:
My Matzo Chremsel
Adapted from "Jewish Cooking in America" by Joan Nathan
Ingredients 3 matzos, broken in bite size pieces, soaked in cold water very briefly, and gently squeezed dry
2 tablespoons currants
2 tablespoons almonds, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons dried apricots or prunes, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup matzo meal
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Kosher-for-Passover vegetable oil, for frying
Sugar or Kosher for Passover confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
Method 1. Lightly mix the matzos, currants, almonds, dried apricots or prunes, the egg yolks, the matzo meal, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and the grated zest and juice of a lemon in a medium bowl.
2. Mix the egg whites until stiff in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Fold the beaten egg whites into the matzo mixture. Refrigerate for about a half hour.
3. Line a plate with paper towels and heat 2 inches of kosher for Passover vegetable oil to 375 degrees in a wok or other low-sided medium stockpot. Carefully spoon the batter, 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, into the hot oil without crowding the pan. Fry until golden and crisp, about 1 minute on each side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the paper towels to drain.
Serve warm, if possible, sprinkled with the sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Leftovers can be reheated in a 350 degree oven just before serving.
Yield: 12 to 15 Chremsel
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Arkansas Pear Haroset
Adapted from Michael Selig of Little Rock, AR
Ingredients 1 Cup toasted pecans
1 Cup dried figs
1 ½ just-ripe finely chopped pears, about 2 cups
1/2 medium Arkansas Black apple or other crisp, slightly tart variety, peeled and finely chopped, about ½ cup
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tblsp honey
3 Tblsp Passover sweet wine
The grated zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
Method 1. Finely chop the pecans and the figs with a hand chopper or knife in a wooden bowl.
2. Stir them in with the pears and apple. Add the cinnamon, honey, sweet wine, and the grated lemon zest and juice. Toss together and store in a glass or ceramic bowl.
An ice cream and fudge stop during private tour through Western states; Secret Service in South Dakota days ahead of the trip... On vacation in the Western US, First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday sampled sweet treats from the Black Hills of South Dakota with daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10. The trio made two stops on Wednesday, including a visit to Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, SD, and a stop in Las Vegas, NV. They traveled by plane and in a ten-plus vehicle motorcade, withoutPresident Obama, who has just returned home from Korea.(Above: Mrs. Obama is visible through the window of her Suburban in Keystone, SD)
“Mrs. Obama and her daughters are taking a private family trip to the western United States,” said Mrs. Obama's Communications Director, Kristina Schake.
Mrs. Obama's trip was not announced to reporters as part of her schedule. Schake confirmed the trip with the Las Vegas Sun after the paper queried about a scheduled special closure at the local airport. Malia is newly reunited with her mother after a class trip to Mexico that was "interrupted" by a huge earthquake. Mrs. Obama and the girls last traveled out west over the Presidents Day holiday in February for a ski trip to Colorado.
Ice Cream, Fudge, and Mt. Rushmore... After visiting Mt. Rushmore early on Wednesday, Mrs. Obama and the girls stopped at Turtle Town, a sweet shop in Keystone, located on the town's main drag, Winter Street. The homey place serves "old fashioned" ice cream and "the finest" fudge. Manager Deb Splinterdished all to the Rapid City Journal, which also reported that Secret Service agents had been in the town for days ahead of the visit.
Mrs. Obama and the girls arrived at Turtle Town at 3:45 PM and stayed for about half an hour.
“It was nice, really nice seeing her and the girls,” Splinter said minutes after Mrs. Obama departed. “We had fudge and ice cream, and we all sat and visited. The girls were very sweet.”
“I’d had a strange call earlier asking if we were open and when we closed,” Splinter said. “And they asked if they got here at 3:30 they’d be OK. I said sure.”
But nobody arrived at 3:30. And when 3:45 arrived, Splinter decided to close up shop. She had taken out the trash and was cleaning up when the First Lady's motorcade pulled up, she said.
As the First Lady and the girls dined in "the cozy eating area of the store," two gray Suburbans waited outside the front door, along with other SUVs, as Secret Service agents stood in the street watching people and traffic and scanning the rooftops. Members of the Rapid City-Pennington County special response team stood nearby, and deputies and state troopers managed traffic. A van marked DCI Bomb Squad pulling a trailer drove past the shop heading back toward Rapid City.
The treat stop came after a visit to Mount Rushmore that restricted access to parts of the memorial and required visitors during that period to go through security checkpoints. The Obamas flew into Ellsworth Air Force Base earlier in the day and rode in a gray Suburban that was part of a motorcade of about 10 vehicles. Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said after the Obamas had departed that Secret Service agents were in town days in advance preparing for the visit.
Mrs. Obama will be in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday to attend the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
Info: Turtle Town is at 117 Winter Street, Keystone, South Dakota, 57752. Phone: 605-666-4675
IACP hosts day-long workshop on Sunday, April 1; tickets still available... First Lady Michelle Obama's Chefs Move to Schools project, which pairs professional chefs with public schools, now has more than 3,200 schools and chefs participating. As of February, the project is being run by a collective of partners, including The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). White House Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses will speak this Sunday, April 1st, at a day-long Chefs Move workshop in New York City, hosted by IACP's foundation The Culinary Trust. (Above: Yosses and Assistant Pastry Chef Susie Morrison at Monday's Kitchen Garden planting event)
Tickets for the events at 82 Mercer Street are still available; there is a morning and afternoon session, as well as a luncheon. CLICK HERE FOR INFO & TICKETS.
Yosses will speak at the morning session. He has personal experience with Chefs Move: At the First Lady's behest, Yosses and Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Assistant Chef Sam Kass have adopted DC's Harriet Tubman Elementary School, and have worked with kids, parents, staff and administration.
Also participating on Sunday will be Food Network'sEllie Krieger; Cornell Food Brand Labs' Brian Wansink; Pew Charitable Trust's Megan Lott; Chef Bobo aka Robert Surles and others. Acclaimed NY chef Bill Telepan, the executive chef for the city's Wellness In The Schools foundation, will cook lunch for participants.
*Websites: Visit ChefsMovetoSchools.org for more info on the project. Visit LetsMove.gov for more information on Mrs. Obama's childhood obesity initiative.
During tree planting, Mrs. Obama suggests a woman will be President in 2112... It has been 100 years since Cherry trees arrived in Washington, DC, and First Lady Michelle Obama marked the centennial on Tuesday morning during a ceremony at the Tidal Basin, where she planted a sapling. She was joined for the very chilly event by Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and William H. Taft IV, the great-grandson of President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Taft. (Above: Mrs. Obama prepares shovels dirt around the new sapling)
A century ago, Mrs. Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, planted the first of 3,000 Cherry trees presented by the city of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC as a symbol of friendship.
Before she picked up her shovel, Mrs. Obama postulated that perhaps a woman will be President when her new sapling is 100 years old; she said she hoped that "the First Lady--or the First Gentleman--of 2112 will also have the privilege of joining with our friends from Japan, and planting another tree which will bloom for yet another one hundred years and beyond."
The District's annual Cherry Blossom Festival came early this year, thanks to very warm weather, and the trees are almost done with their gorgeous display. Mrs. Obama noted the trees' resilience in her remarks, and said it reminds her of the resilience of the Japanese people following last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami:
People from both of our nations worked together for years to bring these trees here to Washington. And over the past century, people of all ages from the U.S. and Japan and so many other nations have come to this Tidal Basin each spring to marvel at their beauty. And year after year, even after the coldest, darkest, stormiest winters, these trees have continued to bloom.
So on this historic anniversary, we don’t just admire the beauty of these trees, we also admire their resilience. And in so doing, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience of the Japanese people. Over the past year, we have all witnessed their courage, unity and grace as they have come together and begun the very hard work of rebuilding their nation.
First Lady didn't wade into school lunch controversies over white potatoes, or pizza qualifying as a vegetable, either... The White House serves thousands of hamburgers annually at various events hosted by President Obama and First Lady Obama, including the Independence Day Barbecue and the Congressional Picnic. But the chefs do not use ground beef containing the cheap, ammonia-treated filler now popularly known as "Pink Slime," Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass told Obama Foodorama.
"We don't serve that here," Kass said on Monday at the White House, when asked about the high-profile controversy surrounding "Pink Slime" being allowed in the ground beef that is served in the National School Lunch Program. The White House kitchen grinds its own beef, according to Kass. Thus there is no chance that "Pink Slime," which requires no labeling when it is in ground beef, is accidentally used.
Known in the meat industry as "lean, finely textured beef," the product is currently a public relations nightmare for its producer, Beef Products Inc., which, supported by the US Department of Agriculture, claims it is entirely safe. Members of Congress and hundreds of thousand of citizens, through a petition on Change.org, are now calling for USDA to ban ground beef containing the product from America's school cafeterias. But when asked if First Lady Michelle Obama, the nation's foremost healthy eating advocate, will speak out and join parents and schools in lobbying for a ban, Kasschanged the subject. (Kass, above)
"Look at how beautiful this garden is," Kass said, and pointed to Mrs. Obama's South Lawn vegetable plot, where the First Lady was due to arrive any minute for a Spring planting party. He suggested discussing the subject with USDA.
Mrs. Obama last year declined to wade into school lunch controversies when Congress was legislating the unrestricted serving of white potatoes on cafeteria menus, and she also remained mum when lawmakers declared that pizza could qualify as a vegetable in the National School Lunch Program, which serves 32 million children. The First Lady was the most high-profile champion of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010, which improved the nutrition standards for the federal program.
The legislative centerpiece of the Let's Move! campaign, the measure does not ban the product from schools. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week announced that "lean, finely textured beef" is safe for children and all consumers to eat, but initiated a program beginning this Fall in which schools may opt out of purchasing ground beef containing the product. The program was due to a request from school districts across the nation, Vilsack said. But critics still say that is not good enough.
Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME) both separately called on Vilsack to ban the product from school meals, and to require labeling when it is added to ground beef. They have now been joined by more than forty Democratic House Members.
"It is wrong to feed children a slurry that was formerly only used for dog food," Pingree wrote to Vilsack in his letter calling for a ban.
Major fast food chains, including McDonald's, do not use the product. In recent weeks, following a media and social media firestorm, major grocery chains, including Safeway and Hy-Vee, have announced they will not sell ground beef containing the filler. On Monday, Beef Products Inc., announced the temporary closing of three of its four facilities. The company said it is suspending all operations at plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa. Its headquarters in Sioux City, S.D., will remain open. Workers will be paid for 60 days as the company launches a public relations program designed to restore confidence in its product.
Though there's no "Pink Slime" in White House ground beef, the President could well have eaten it elsewhere, since burger runs--including with fellow world leaders, such as Russia's Dmitri Medvedev-- have become a regular part of his food adventures. Mrs. Obama has also been known to go on burger runs.
*In the photo at top, the President enjoys a cheeseburger as he dines outside the White House at DC's Scion restaurant, with the winners of the second "Dinner with Barack" contest.
*Kass photo by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; President Obama photo by Obama for America
On the heels of school lunch battle, the National Potato Council is thrilled that spuds are now growing at the White House;regional TV outlets invited to interview First Lady and her swing-state helpers... Washington was gloriously sunny on Monday as First Lady Michelle Obama refurbished the White House Kitchen Garden for the fourth time since breaking ground in 2009 for the project she has hailed as "the most important achievement of my life." For the last Spring planting of President Obama's first term, Mrs. Obama was joined by the largest number of groups--six--that have ever participated at one time in a garden event: 31 kids selected from New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and the District joined Mrs. Obama as she hit her crop rows in mid-afternoon. (Above: Planting Mustard Greens with helpers)
White House chefs including Executive Chef Cris Comerford, Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass were on hand, as was the First Lady's chief of staff, Tina Tchen. Mrs. Obama arrived gardenside just after 2:15 PM, striding down from the residence as heavily armed security agents ducked into the surrounding trees and bushes to keep watch. The First Lady, greeted with cheers and applause, was clad in black slacks, a black cardigan, a "vintage" orange J. Crew t-shirt, and blue Superga low-tops, her hair rolled back. Minutes before, the guests had been put through a dress rehearsal for their planting duties by Kass. Clad in a chefs jacket and jeans, he stood to the side, beaming, as Mrs. Obama welcomed all.
"Yay! It's so exciting!" Mrs. Obama said. The garden, she explained, is part of her Let's Move! campaign, and "an important way to have a good conversation about your health."
Although building supermarkets in areas identified as food deserts is a pillar of the Let's Move! campaign, Mrs. Obama expressed little faith in store-bought crops.
"A lot of times when you grow your own vegetables and fruits, they taste really good," Mrs. Obama said. "They taste better than a lot of stuff you’ll get in a grocery store -- trust me."
She kicked off the action simply: "Let's plant!"
Potatoes and controversy... Cold-season crops were the order for the day, in case of late frost: Before an hour had passed, Mrs. Obama and her crew had installed spinach, lettuces, radish, bok choy, broccoli, chard, rappini, carrots, and onions in the boxed beds in the 1,500 square-foot garden. Mrs. Obama personally planted Mustard Greens--"Southern Giant Curled"--and Dill seed, and five varieties of potatoes, which was something of an historic and controversial moment. (Above: Mrs. Obama slices seed potatoes with helpers)
"These are the first potatoes we've had," Mrs. Obama told her three Girl Scout helpers, who came from Troop 60325 in Fairport, NY. "I can't wait to see what happens."
Mrs. Obama knelt and sliced seed potatoes in half, handing these to the Scouts, who dug them into a boxed bed at the front of the garden, situated directly in front of the huge crowd of media covering the event. The varieties included red Sangre, purple fingerlings from Peru called Purple Sion; Mountain Rose, Red Thumb and Canola Russet. Controversy: Last year, Congress passed a law mandating that servings of white potatoes and other starchy vegetables could not be restricted under the US Department of Agriculture's upgraded nutritional guidelines for the National School Lunch Program, legislation Mrs. Obama vocally championed.
The measure followed an aggressive PR campaign from potato state lawmakers and the National Potato Council (NPC), which included a special website and a petition urging Congress to keep spuds on lunchtrays; USDA wanted to restrict servings to make more room on menus for other vegetables. An East Wing spokesman said the First Lady's potato planting had nothing to do with the controversy, though previously only Sweet Potatoes were grown in the Kitchen Garden. (Above: Bed markers for two kinds of potato varieties)
Still, Mrs. Obama had hardly finished planting when the National Potato Council issued a press release, alerted through social media that their product was front and center in the White House garden:"America's potato growers are excited the first lady is helping educate children that healthy eating includes nutrient-rich potatoes," said NPC Executive Vice President and CEO John Keeling.
For their school lunch campaign, the NPC had made much of Mrs. Obama's declaration that French fries are her favorite food. She'll have heady gourmet fries when the new potatoes come in.
Mrs. Obama and her helpers were of course unaware of any controversy as they continued on with young Mustard Greens, and scattered Dill seed. The First Lady poured the seeds into the kids' hands, and watched as they worked these into the dirt. (Above: With Kass and helpers by a Dill bed)
"If we don't get a ton of dill from that, I'll be surprised," Mrs. Obama said.
She chatted easily with the girls as they worked; ages 10 and 11, they quizzed Mrs. Obama about daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10. Mrs. Obama admitted that getting both to enjoy their vegetables has sometimes been a challenge.
Swing state helpers...and special TV interviews with Mrs. Obama... Politics were in the air for reasons other than potatoes, too: Some of the invited kids just happen to be from battleground states critical for President Obama's2012 re-election: Iowa (students from Mitchell Elementary School in Ames); North Carolina (Sumner Elementary in Greensboro); and Pennsylvania (Stetser Elementary in Chester). They were accompanied on their White House visit by local-market TV crews from their home states. (Above: The First Lady pours Dill seed into the hands of a helper)
The Let's Move! campaign, which now has a huge national audience, has been a terrific way to spread President Obama's message about "winning the future," and revitalizing communities. The White House has previously invited local TV stations to visit for "media days" for the President, and the crews on hand for Monday's planting were given the rare opportunity to interview the First Lady. --Rare for local outlets; Mrs. Obama has become an almost weekly staple on the talk show circuit as the 2012 Campaign has ramped up. There's more to come shortly, when she appears in NBC's The Biggest Loser, in scenes filmed at the White House.
Mrs. Obama's second anniversary tour for the campaign in February also included stops in battleground states: She kicked off the tour in Des Moines, Iowa, and had four different events in Florida. The East Wing said the children were invited to the White House because they'd written to the First Lady about their own healthy eating projects, including school gardens.
"You guys wrote some really nice letters telling us about stories of the work that you're doing in your schools, in your communities," Mrs. Obama said as she welcomed the kids.
Junior gardeners from DC's Bancroft and Harriet Tubman Elementary Schools also helped. The two schools have previously supplied students to work in the Kitchen Garden, and Tubman has been adopted by the White House chefs as part of the Chefs Move to Schools program.
An international garden... The Kitchen garden contains two beds that pay homage to President Thomas Jefferson's kitchen garden at his plantation home of Monticello, located in Albemarle County, VA. Peter J. Hatch(l) the master gardener who oversees it, and who ran the decades-long historic re-build, brought a wide variety of starter plants for the Kitchen Garden, as he has each year since 2009. Hatch and his wife Lou brought Brown Dutch and Tennis Ball lettuce, Sea Kale, Brussels Sprouts, and Caracalla and tree onions. These are also called "walking onions," Hatch said, because bulbs grow at the top and the bottom, and the top bulbs fall over and re-plant themselves in the earth.
"Brown Dutch and Tennis Ball were Jefferson's favorite lettuces," Hatch said. The Sea Kale, he said, is an heirloom British variety, grown in seaside areas, and relatively rare.
"Jefferson harvested it early, and prepared it like asparagus shoots," Hatch said.
With this Spring planting, Mrs. Obama's garden is very international, Hatch added: The five varieties of potatoes are the only crop that originate in the New World, the only vegetables that weren't originally imported from Europe and other continents. Yale University Press has just published Hatch's beautiful new book about Jefferson's garden, A Rich Spot of Earth, and it includes descriptions of his work with Mrs. Obama.
The Kitchen Garden, while not certified organic, does not use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. The soil is "seething with life," Hatch said, rich with earthworms and beneficial insects. A special composter, called a biocycler, sits at the back of the garden, and food scraps from the kitchen are used. (Above: A long view of the planting action)
After forty minutes of planting, Mrs. Obama and her helpers were done. As she gathered the kids for farewells, she autographed the shoulders of their t-shirts before handing out hugs.
Mrs. Obama's forthcoming book about her garden, American Grown, will be published at the end of May. A combination Kitchen Garden memoir and how-to guide, the $30 hardcover will include instructions for all kinds of gardens, from windowsill herb gardens to back-yard plots. Though Mrs. Obama has been encouraging gardening for three years, the White House has never put out its own set of instructions on how citizens can participate. The book will include recipes, too. (The book jacket, above) CLICK HERE for links to all posts about the event. The transcript of Mrs. Obama's remarks.
*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; book jacket photo courtesy of Crown Publishing Group
First Lady Michelle Obamareplanted the Kitchen Garden for Spring on Monday afternoon, joined by the White House chefs and 31 kids invited from four states and DC. Above: The garden before the planting. Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass is center left. Click on the photo to view it in larger form.
The young plants and seeds that were dug into the planting boxes in the 1,500 square-foot garden included spinach, lettuces, radish, bok choy, broccoli, chard, rappini, carrots, and onions in the boxed beds in the 1,500 square-foot garden.
Mrs. Obama personally planted Mustard Greens, Dill seed, and five varieties of potatoes, including red Sangre, purple fingerlings from Peru called Purple Sion; Mountain Rose, Red Thumb and Canola Russet. Above: The garden after the planting.
An e-mail from the President: "Hey"..."Let's go"...
