epski
11-13-03, 09:36 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001789203_kucinich12.html
Food for thought: Can a vegan win?
By Mark Leibovich
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Dennis Kucinich is hungry for the nation's biggest job and a plate of kidney beans.
At the moment, the kidney beans are more realistic. He walks into his favorite Capitol Hill restaurant — Taverna the Greek Islands — and orders the beans. They arrive in a few minutes, along with Kucinich's usual plate of hummus with whole wheat pita bread, sliced zucchini sautéed in olive oil, a tomato and onion relish, a Greek salad without feta cheese and a pot of boiling water with lemon wedges.
This is comfort food for the long-shot Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio. He has spent a long day of campaigning in New Hampshire followed by a flurry of votes in Congress. He is, in all likelihood, the first major party vegan to run for president. He ingests no beef, poultry, fish, dairy or other animal products.
Exact definitions vary, but by contrast, vegetarians avoid meats but not all animal products, such as eggs.
Kucinich also eschews processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and tobacco.
Does he indulge any vices? "Yes," he says, "I'm a member of Congress."
Not for long, if all goes according to Kucinich's plan. He envisions waking up in the White House on Jan. 21, 2005, and sitting down to a presidential breakfast of oat groats sprinkled with walnuts, bananas, coconut and raisins, a bowl of miso soup, whole wheat toast and a plate of fresh vegetables.
Is red-meat America ready for a vegan president? Or, more to the point, is red-meat America ready to elect a vegan president who is Dennis Kucinich, 57, a figure whose long-shot status in the presidential race is a result of many factors besides his diet. He is little-known nationally, barely shows up in polls and his signature political experience — mayor of Cleveland in the 1970s — landed the city in financial ruin.
He doesn't bring up the subject of his diet, and voters never ask him about it. But reporters do, quite a bit.
"Journalists, probably as an occupational hazard, have the worst diets," Kucinich says. "So I think that their special interest in my diet comes from some desire they have to eat better. And whenever I'm asked about my diet, compassion requires me to sit down and talk about it."
As the plates are cleared, Kucinich goes off-vegan and on-message: He reiterates his opposition to the war in Iraq, his commitment to universal health care and his prediction that the race for the Democratic nomination will not be settled until the convention.
He wipes away a smudge of hummus and concludes his testimony on self, country and diet with a question:
"Is this story running in the food section?"
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
Food for thought: Can a vegan win?
By Mark Leibovich
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Dennis Kucinich is hungry for the nation's biggest job and a plate of kidney beans.
At the moment, the kidney beans are more realistic. He walks into his favorite Capitol Hill restaurant — Taverna the Greek Islands — and orders the beans. They arrive in a few minutes, along with Kucinich's usual plate of hummus with whole wheat pita bread, sliced zucchini sautéed in olive oil, a tomato and onion relish, a Greek salad without feta cheese and a pot of boiling water with lemon wedges.
This is comfort food for the long-shot Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio. He has spent a long day of campaigning in New Hampshire followed by a flurry of votes in Congress. He is, in all likelihood, the first major party vegan to run for president. He ingests no beef, poultry, fish, dairy or other animal products.
Exact definitions vary, but by contrast, vegetarians avoid meats but not all animal products, such as eggs.
Kucinich also eschews processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and tobacco.
Does he indulge any vices? "Yes," he says, "I'm a member of Congress."
Not for long, if all goes according to Kucinich's plan. He envisions waking up in the White House on Jan. 21, 2005, and sitting down to a presidential breakfast of oat groats sprinkled with walnuts, bananas, coconut and raisins, a bowl of miso soup, whole wheat toast and a plate of fresh vegetables.
Is red-meat America ready for a vegan president? Or, more to the point, is red-meat America ready to elect a vegan president who is Dennis Kucinich, 57, a figure whose long-shot status in the presidential race is a result of many factors besides his diet. He is little-known nationally, barely shows up in polls and his signature political experience — mayor of Cleveland in the 1970s — landed the city in financial ruin.
He doesn't bring up the subject of his diet, and voters never ask him about it. But reporters do, quite a bit.
"Journalists, probably as an occupational hazard, have the worst diets," Kucinich says. "So I think that their special interest in my diet comes from some desire they have to eat better. And whenever I'm asked about my diet, compassion requires me to sit down and talk about it."
As the plates are cleared, Kucinich goes off-vegan and on-message: He reiterates his opposition to the war in Iraq, his commitment to universal health care and his prediction that the race for the Democratic nomination will not be settled until the convention.
He wipes away a smudge of hummus and concludes his testimony on self, country and diet with a question:
"Is this story running in the food section?"
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company