Our White House Tour

Our trip to DC was Oct 6th-8th - so many things to write about, but this is one of the coolest.

On our last day in Washington DC we were lucky enough to be included in a special tour of the White House vegetable garden. One of the children we were lobbying with on the Hill is involved in a special project that she and a friend created to bring healthier lunches to her school. She has since gotten several other schools to pilot this healthy lunch program and somewhere along the way she connected with Mr. Sam Kass, the White House chef!



Mr. Kass invited Megan to come and tour the garden and Megan was kind enough to invite us along, allowing us to see a part of the White House not many are privy to.

We arrived en mass. My 3 year old already melting. There were 8 kids and their parents plus a few of the people from each of the groups being represented during the week. We met with Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who is lead staffer for the White House Food Safety Working Group; and David Lazarus, senior advisor the USDA, and Mr. Kass. They listened as we each described what had happened to our families and children during each of our experiences with food-borne illnesses.



It was certainly an interesting meeting, formal as all the rest of the meetings that week and reaffirmed my belief that my world in Bend, OR is light years away from anything happening in Washington. Of course, during the meeting, true to form, my kids were the most restless. Beck was hungry, which didn¹t really help ­ he also has absolutely no understanding of what we were doing there. The child wouldn¹t sit still to save his life and there was no way I could explain to him why he couldn¹t just run up and down the hallways! National Security truly holds no weight with a hungry 3 year old!




After an hour long meeting with 3 very serious men who probably couldn¹t wait to escape my unruly child, we were led through the house and out into the garden. And it was definitely worth the wait. Beautiful and abundant don¹t begin to describe it. Mr. Kass showed us the bee houses, ­ a first at the White House. He also told us that they have gotten 140 lbs of honey from them!



The vegetable garden was something I will always wish we could have here in Bend. Aside from the extremely short growing season, my thumb is more black than green- something that is obviously not a problem for Mr. Kass. He and the First Lady have done an amazing job with the garden and have already harvested over 700 lbs of food so far this year! What they don¹t use at the White House, they are able to donate to local soup kitchens. The variety of vegetables we saw was wonderful ­ all different kinds of tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, potatoes- it made me want to make a salad on the spot.

Thomas spotted the broccoli and launched into a story about how broccoli is actually a flower and if you don¹t cut off the center it will bloom. I was so proud of him for speaking up and sharing what he knew about the garden ­ he thought it was very cool to be able to share his knowledge.



It was an amazing two hours ­ we got to see things most people don¹t ever get to see or even know it exists ­ like the awesome play structure the Obama girls have there at the White House. Keeping Beck and Thomas from running over to climb on it was no easy feat! And of course Thomas, being a very curious 7 year old, was bound and determined to go places he shouldn¹t ­ like behind the hedges away from the garden and walking over away from the group to touch the White House.

After we got home, I looked online to learn a bit more about the garden and the projects going on around food at the White House. Interesting to see Michelle Obama involved in bringing more of a healthy approach to not only the White House and what she feeds her kids but also making it one of her projects as the First Lady. It¹s nice to see another mom who is concerned about teaching her children about healthy choices for life. As First Lady she has a position to make a difference ­ power it seems she is using wisely. On most of our trip I noticed hundreds of tourists making poor choices right and left and was beginning to feel that maybe the east coast in general eats a little differently than we do on the west coast. I was heartened to hear the story of the garden and see that the local and regional food movements are happening across the country not just in the places I¹ve been lucky enough to live in.

I was appreciative of the opportunity to see a part of our government that most people don¹t even know exists.

My day as a Lobbyist

I went to Washington DC last week to lobby for food safety and FDA Reform. I went as part of a coalition of several food safety groups, lobbying for HB875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act, as it has come to be called. In a nutshell, here a the key points:

• Mandatory recall power for the FDA – did you know they don’t have this now?
• Annual inspections of food manufacturers
• Mandatory reporting of positive test results for things like salmonella and E-coli (right now a company can test and get a positive result, throw those results away and keep testing till they get a negative test – then put it ALL on the shelves! All without telling anyone!!!))
• Adoption of science based standards for food manufacturing

There are a few other elements, but those are the ones that tipped the scales for me. I have been asked by friends and family why I went to DC. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

The CPSIA which was passed by Congress last fall says that I cannot sell a vinyl raincoat to a 12 year old because he might get lead poisoning if he eats it. However, Congress did not create a way to keep E-coli out of strawberries grown in Mexico, relabeled once across the border as “US GROWN” so they could qualify to be sold into school lunches, where Lindsey ate them and now has life-long kidney problems, is diabetic and will need a kidney transplant eventually. They did not find a way to keep spinach with e-coli off the shelves last year where it was then sold and fed to 2 year old Kyle who died within 4 days of eating it. There was no protection for the people who ate peanuts over the past year that were being processed and packaged in a rat and mice infested factory, 9 of whom have died so far.

This is why I went to DC. Congress needs to get up and change things in the FDA. They acted more swiftly than most have seen in their lifetime when it came to lead in kids clothes….why not food? Isn’t food a more basic need? Going out on a limb here, but I feel 99.9% certain that I can keep a vinyl raincoat out of my 7 & 2 year olds mouth. Exactly how do I keep them from eating strawberries, spinach, orange juice, veggie booty, etc? And why would I want them to avoid those things? Am I supposed to live in fear that they might get sick if I don’t cook everything they eat in scalding water to hopefully kill any e-coli? And isn’t raw spinach better for you vitamin-wise? What’s a mom to do?

On my first day there, I sat with my fellow “lobbyists”, a room full of victims. I have never owned the word “victim” – I just can’t. It’ not that I don’t understand the word, I just don’t accept it. I tend more towards the “get over it” side of camp, but as I sat in this room of people who had traveled from all over the country to rally together for a cause, I found that the word “victim” was oddly applicable here. None of us chose this. Especially not the couple from Idaho whose son Kyle is gone. He died at the same age that my son Beck is now.

Capital Hill is overwhelming if you are there to participate. How does anything actually get done up there and how do those people know who their constituents actually are and what they want? How could they possibly?

I am not sure about the answer to those questions, but after spending a full day up there with a professional lobbyist as my “sherpa and guide”, I at least have a better understanding of how it all works. I went from meeting to meeting, telling the story of Beck and how he got sick. I told my Congressman that I just didn’t think it was right that I should have to wonder if what I am bringing home from the grocery store will actually make him sick, not provide for his nutrition and growth. I met with 4 of our leaders and their staff – in meetings that ranged from welcoming and understanding to dismissive and rude. Quite an experience to say the least.

Throughout my day the School House Rock – “I’m Just a Bill” ran though my head. To see it in action was educational. And maybe a little disheartening – I just don’t know how those guys muddle through the issues presented to them and come up with the ones that truly have depth and substance and are really important. I do not envy them that job and I did leave the Hill that day with a deeper respect for the job of our representatives.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I can’t go through life without knowing I haven’t done everything I can to ensure that my kids grow up healthy and happy and this particular issue falls into that category. I hope someday they can know and appreciate the work being done on their behalf.

FDA and me....

I head to Washington DC next Monday. Me and the government are going to go at it again. Maybe this time I'll win? Didn't really get too far with the CPSIA but I am eternally optimistic.

The newest issue in my world is the FDA reform - dubbed the Food Safety Modernization Act. I am supposedly meeting with some of the powers that be in Washington DC to try and convince them that our FDA is broken and needs to be fixed. I have been asked several times now - why are you doing this? Why are you going to DC - it is because you just like to get involved in causes? Do you feel really strongly about this issue?

And I have been asking myself the same questions. I suppose that before Monday, I need a clear answer. But the fact is that there are a lot of reasons to do this. I have to at least admit that on some level - the shallowest and least important reason is - it's a really cool way to get to see how the government works and to get to go to DC on someone else's dime.

BUT.... there are also important reasons.... like the fact that I have now seen first hand what a bad law does to good people. Having personal up close experience with the CPSIA, I know what bad government can do. I realize I am small potatoes compared to some of the biggies out there - but if I can make the smallest amount of difference, it's worth it.

It is not OK with me to think that we cannot rely on our government and it's agencies to take care of our food supply. Eating is NOT an option. We have to get our food from somewhere and since no one I know has the ability to eat 100% from their own backyard, we need to rely on grocery stores and other food sources. I need to know that when I go to my local store, the items I choose to buy for my family will not make the sick, give them long-term health problems or even cause them to be hospitalized or God-forbid, cause death.

So - I am off to DC... and our local News station picked it up. More press on it's way - this was just the first. We had the crew in the living room this morning before school - nothing like a news crew to start your day!

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