That was some spread Barack and Michelle Obama put out the other night for François Hollande — a feast fit for the leader of a nation that gave the world haute cuisine. Even so, it has one Republican congressman steaming.
Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis wants to know what example the White House is setting with a 2,500-calorie dinner (with 153 grams of fat to boot). Because that’s a day’s worth of calories the USDA recommends for an average man. And it’s three times the calories the USDA allows American students in the school lunch program.
Let’s put it this way: The dinner menu — which featured dry-aged ribeye steak with blue cheese, 12 kinds of potatoes, quail eggs, caviar and a smorgasbord of cakes, fudge, ice cream, cookies and cotton candy — pretty much spits in the eye of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” anti-obesity campaign.
In response, Davis has introduced a bill requiring that all White House meals, from staff cafeterias to state dinners, follow the same USDA rules the government now imposes on the nation’s schools.
Truth be told, Davis is less interested in tightening White House waistlines than in lifting the unpopular school regs. Because since the regulations were imposed, the number of students taking part in lunch programs has dropped by one million, sending many once-profitable school lunch programs into the red.
The Obamas have been caught numerous times not practicing what they preach. This week’s fête on the South Lawn of the White House on is just another example. When it comes to standing up for veggies and fruit, a state dinner for a visiting French president has exposed yet another unenforced Obama red line.