So, the Democratic Convention is in Denver from August 25 through August 28. Turns out the Dems are VIrgos. (The Republicans are too, meeting in St. Paul from September 1 through 4.) Yep, it is late August and high political drama is out there just waiting for us. I have eaten in Denver (and I confess, St. Paul; for the former, click here) and can tell you, there is most definitely swell food available. So, what about all those people descending on Denver, eating, drinking, protesting, hoping? Will they eat, too? I suspect so. I had no idea until I started trawling the internet, though, that the topic of political conventions and food went together in such silly (and perhaps, just perhaps, serious) ways.
Will they eat fried food in Denver? Rumor has it, the answer is: NO. This according to an article entitled: "Southern shocker: No fried food at the Democratic Convention" available here. The subtitle is less regionally loaded: "Party's guidelines for Denver specify nutritious,colorful meals." The issue of the colors is particularly entertaining (no, not red, white and blue); for more on this, eat with your eyes and check this out. And then, there's the effort to be green - environmentally friendly, of course -- which led to peaches versus pineapples as a topic. (Click here.) Worries about "food police" led Denver politicos, of course, to say such guidelines are "voluntary." But, hey, so is tipping, right?
And, yes, the Republicans have used all this to claim that the Dems are elitist and/or out of touch. (Not so much, I say, or at least most definitely not more than the party of even-more-privilege, the Republicans -- but the media certainly makes it sound that way. Wonder why? A rightward tilt?)
Of course, you can spend your time wondering what Obama eats -- and/or what his chef would do when installed in the White House. If that's your gig, click here. Or, ask if Obama and McCain were food what would they be as this blogger has. Or compare their favorite foods by clicking here or consider this article on what there favorite restaurants have to say about them. Yes, there is, though, much much more to the notion of food and politics than all this, entertaining though it is. There are, for example, Obama's and McCain's policies around food and agriculture (click here for part of Wiki the Vote's views on this or here for an Obama bill on food safety and here for a critique of it). Or try here for their connection to the matter of food prices. Or here for McCain's farm policies (and his opposition to subsidies) and the Midwest perspective on his candidacy. Or here for which of the two (oh, what a mess) is more or less for the corn monoculture.
Read away. And then get out there and eat the vote.
