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61–527 2010

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SUSTAINABILITY FROM 

COUNTER TO COMPOST 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SELECT COMMITTEE ON 

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE 

AND GLOBAL WARMING 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

FEBRUARY 26, 2008 

Serial No. 110–26 

( 

Printed for the use of the Select Committee on 

Energy Independence and Global Warming 

globalwarming.house.gov 


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SELECT COMMITTEE ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCE 

AND GLOBAL WARMING 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts, Chairman 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

JAY INSLEE, Washington 

JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut 

HILDA L. SOLIS, California 

STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, 

South Dakota 

EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri 

JOHN J. HALL, New York 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin, Ranking Member 

JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona 

GREG WALDEN, Oregon 

CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan 

JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma 

MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee 

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

GERARD J. WALDRON, Staff Director 

ALIYA BRODSKY, Chief Clerk 

THOMAS WEIMER, Minority Staff Director 


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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hon. Edward J. Markey, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, opening statement .................................................... 1 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 3 

Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Wisconsin, opening statement .............................................................. 5 

Hon. Emanuel Cleaver II, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Missouri, opening statement ............................................................................... 6 

Hon. Jerry McNerney, a Representative in Congress from the State of California, opening statement .................................................................................... 6 

WITNESSES

Daniel P. Beard, Chief Administrative Officer, U.S. House of Representatives 7 

Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 9 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 44 

Patricia D. Millner, Research Microbiologist, Agricultural Research Service, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture .......................................................................... 13 

Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 15 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 52 

Tom Kelly, Ph.D., Chief Sustainability Officer, University of New Hampshire . 20 

Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 23 

Carina Wong, Executive Director, Chez Panisse Foundation .............................. 29 

Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 32 

Answers to submitted questions ...................................................................... 60 


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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SUSTAINABILITY FROM 

COUNTER TO COMPOST 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

AND GLOBAL WARMING, Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1100, 

Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Edward J. Markey (chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Present: Representatives Markey, Blumenauer and Cleaver. 

Staff present: Danielle Baussan. 

The CHAIRMAN. Good afternoon. Global warming has been linked 

to the cars that we drive, the energy supply, and now the food that 

we buy. From farm to fork, our food often travels long distances to 

reach our plate. The carbon dioxide emissions from these food miles 

traveled are compounded by the methane produced when food 

waste is tossed in landfills. 

We cannot continue to spite the land that feeds us. The witnesses before us today are all pursuing sustainable dining options 

that can alleviate the impact of our food consumption on global 

warming. The impact is prevalent in the three responsibilities of a 

dining facility: procurement, consumption, and disposal. Purchasing local food reduces food miles traveled. Using renewable, 

biodegradable plates and utensils reduces oil consumption and 

waste. Turning table scraps and leftover food into compost returns 

nutrients to farms and reduces global warming. 

The food Americans eat increasingly comes from greater distances. From 1970 to 1980, our food miles traveled increased 1,300 

to 1,500 miles. A 2002 World Watch Institute report stated that 

food in the United States traveled between 1,500 and 2,400 miles. 

The typical American prepared meal contains on average ingredients from at least 5 countries outside of the United States. By favoring more local fare, the CO2 emissions associated with food travel can decrease significantly. A University of Washington study 

found that a plate of Washington-sourced foods resulted in 33 percent fewer CO2 emissions than a plate of similar foods from their 

most popularly imported countries or States of origin. 

Even if a meal is entirely local, its contribution to global warming continues after the plates are cleared. Yard trimmings and food 

waste constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste 

stream, and half of the garbage at restaurants is estimated to be 

food waste. As this food rots in the landfill, it produces methane. 

If that methane escapes into the atmosphere, it traps 20 times 


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more heat than CO2. Food in landfills will continue to contribute 

to methane emissions. A 2006 study predicted that, by 2025, food 

waste will increase by 44 percent worldwide. This methane buildup is deplorable because it is preventable. Food waste can be recycled into compost, resulting in fewer emissions and in new economic products. Compost soil can be used to fertilize crops and 

landscaping and support green jobs in food waste recycling. The reduced garbage load can result in lowered disposal fees as well. 

Using materials that can be converted to compost further relieves 

the strain on our landfills and steers facilities away from petroleum-based plastic products. 

The witnesses before us today have successfully put these principles into use. I look forward to hearing from those witnesses, and 

I will introduce them at that point in the hearing. The chairman’s 

time has expired. 

I now turn to recognize the Ranking Minority Member, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Sensenbrenner. 

[The prepared statement of the Chairman follows:] 


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Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Today we are talking about the food chain and its impact on 

greenhouse gas emissions. It seems from the testimony we will 

hear today that, by making changes to the way food is delivered, 

prepared, stored and disposed of, we can create some positive environmental balances. But there are costs associated with these 

changes. In the long run, these costs may be worth it, or maybe 

they are not. It points to a larger problem with all things green 

being sold to us today. 

One of the projects we will hear a lot about today is part of 

Speaker Pelosi’s Green the Capitol Initiative. This project includes 

many changes to House food service operations, and we welcome 

Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard here to talk about them. 

But do the costs associated with these changes create worthwhile 

greenhouse gas reductions? Simply put, are we getting the most 

bang for the buck? Some changes, like serving cage-free eggs or 

hormone-free dairy—and in Wisconsin, we only produce hormonefree dairy—will result in no greenhouse gas reductions whatsoever. 

One of my four guiding principles in evaluating any global warming policy is: Will it produce tangible, measurable environmental 

benefit? The House food service project seems to leave that question open, which concerns me. 

If the point is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, could the 

money spent making wholesale changes to House food services be 

better focused on creating more energy efficiency in the House? It 

is unclear to me if there is enough transparency in this process to 

actually measure if these changes are worth it. Mr. Beard’s testimony points toward many simple changes in lighting, heating, and 

cooling that could end up saving the taxpayers $20,000. And that 

is a good thing. It is just too bad that $89,000 in taxpayers’ money 

has apparently gone towards questionable carbon offsets, in an effort for the House to reach its goals of its Green the Capitol Initiative. 

As the Washington Post reported in late January, it seems that 

some of these offsets are very questionable. The report showed that 

these offsets produced very little in the way of additionality; that 

is, it was difficult to show how those taxpayers’ dollars did anything to create greenhouse gas reductions that would not have occurred anyway. 

This article shows to me there needs to be more transparency in 

dealing with all things green. It seems obvious that there are many 

opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse or questionable actions to 

be hidden in a green cloak. Do changes in the House cafeteria 

produce more and better environmental benefits for the dollar than 

improvements in energy efficiency? Do offsets really produce greenhouse gas reductions? And, if so, how much? These are questions 

that both policymakers and consumers should have answers to. 

Many of the changes talked about today in the food service industry will come down to consumer choice. Living in a carbon-free 

environment will have significant costs and trade offs associated 

with them. It will take consumers, and not Congress, to tell us if 

these lifestyle changes are worth it. 

I thank the Chair. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman’s time has expired. 


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The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Cleaver. 

Mr. CLEAVER. Thank you very much for being here. And I am extremely interested in having a dialogical exchange with you after 

your presentations. I am very much interested in sustainable eating and sustainable agriculture that could separate us from the 

rest of the world that, frankly, is already ahead of us in so many 

ways with regard to dealing with the greenhouse gases because of 

our geography. This Nation is a mammoth piece of property, and 

I think, if used wisely, we could demonstrate to the rest of the 

world what kinds of things can be done on a local level that could 

sustain life and the environment at the same time. So, I look forward to our exchange later on. And thank you so much for being 

here. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

The gentleman from California, Mr. McNerney, is recognized. 

Mr. MCNERNEY. This is an excellent topic, because it illustrates 

one of the ways that our daily activities that we take for granted 

contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas issue. In my district, 

which includes portions of the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the 

most interesting approaches I have seen is the grease recycling 

project in the East Bay. Innovative ideas such as this are small yet 

can be effective, and these are initiatives which will lower greenhouse gas emissions. 

I am interested in hearing remarks from Chez Panisse Foundation, which is based in the Bay Area, and all of the witnesses. 

Thank you very much. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman’s time has expired. All time for 

opening statements from Members has expired, although they will 

be allowed to place their opening statements in the record. We now 

turn to our panel. 

STATEMENTS OF DANIEL P. BEARD, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE 

OFFICER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; PATRICIA D. 

MILLNER, RESEARCH MICROBIOLOGIST, AGRICULTURAL 

RESEARCH SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE; 

TOM KELLY, PH.D., CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE; AND CARINA WONG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHEZ PANISSE FOUNDATION 

The CHAIRMAN. Our first witness, Daniel Beard, is the Chief Administrative Officer for the House of Representatives. Mr. Beard 

spent 10 years on the staff of the House Appropriations and Natural Resources Committee. He returned to the Hill at Speaker 

Pelosi’s request to become the Chief Administrative Officer. He is 

well suited to Speaker Pelosi’s Green the Capitol Initiative with his 

extensive background managing environmental issues with the Department of the Interior and the National Audubon Society. His 

work on Greening the Capital and the House cafeteria system has 

been noted by food writers for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle. 

We welcome you, Mr. Beard. Whenever you are ready, please 

begin. 


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STATEMENT OF DANIEL P. BEARD 

Mr. BEARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with you today. 

Our goal with the House Food Service Operation has been to 

make it a premier showcase of sustainable, green, and healthy food 

operations. We have worked closely with our new food service vendor, Restaurant Associates of New York, to implement our changes 

with each of the 240,000 meals we serve each month in our cafeterias, carry outs, and other facilities. 

Our highest priority was the banning of all plastic and Styrofoam 

from the cafeterias. In addition, we wanted to make nearly all of 

our waste stream compostable. As a result, all of the knives, forks, 

and spoons, which are in use in the cafeteria, as well as our sandwich clamshells, which has a delicious desert in it, are made from 

corn-based products. The plates and coffee cups are from paper. 

And the entree containers, which are shown here, are made from 

sugar cane. This material in front of me will become compost in 90 

days. 

The House is demonstrating, I think, with this effort and with 

every meal that we serve, that there is a market for U.S. manufacturers to provide green, sustainable, recyclable products. Our biodegradable items, for example, come from companies in Maine, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. 

We send the compostable food service items, along with all of the 

food waste in the front of the cafeteria and from the kitchens, to 

a pulper which was purchased on the Longworth loading dock. The 

pulper then breaks down the compost into this material, which 

looks a lot like coleslaw or a moist confetti. So all of these items 

plus all the food from the front and back of the House plus all 

these are then ground into this kind of a mix. It is picked up once 

a day, and it is sent to compost facilities in suburban Maryland. 

Two days a week, it goes to the Department of Agriculture; three 

days a week to a commercial composter near Crofton. The result 

is, what you have in 90 days is compost material. And I brought 

both an example of the compost material, the start of the process, 

as well as the end of the process. 

Now, while the new operation has only been up and running for 

60 days, preliminary results are very encouraging. The waste hauler for the landfill picked up 20 tons less material in the last three 

weeks of December 2007 as compared with 2006. We are realizing 

cost savings by hauling and depositing less waste in landfills, and 

the compost tipping fees are 30 percent less than they are at the 

regular landfills. 

More important, sending the food service waste for compost also 

reduces our carbon footprint by preventing the conversion to methane, as the Chairman mentioned. We are now working to calculate 

the methane reduction and use the savings as a carbon offset for 

the House operations. 

We have also looked at our food, the food that we serve, for sustainability improvements. Our coffee, Pura Vida coffee, is fair 

trade, shade grown, and organic. Our beef, chicken, and pork are 

hormone free. The seafood served is certified sustainable by our 

using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood guidelines. 


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Under Restaurant Associates, the amount of fresh produce and 

meat has increased from 35 percent under the previous vendor, 

GSI, to 85 percent. This switch to fresher food and the resulting 

trimmings is complemented at the back end, with the pulper and 

the composting solutions that we have implemented. 

The House is also promoting the buying of food produced in a 

150-radius from the Capitol whenever possible. We are emphasizing the purchase of organically produced food, and providing a 

market for new and existing farms and businesses to meet these 

needs. This, incidentally, is part of the policy efforts and the direction that Restaurant Associates has used in its operations in other 

cities as well. 

We have made a good start, but we know that there is much 

more that we have to do to be sustainable, greener, and to continue 

to reduce our carbon footprint. 

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify. And I would be happy to answer questions at the appropriate 

point. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Beard follows:] 


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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Beard, very much. 

Our next witness is Dr. Patricia Millner, who specializes in environmental microbiology. Her work on micro-organisms and 

composting has significantly influenced the design of large-scale 

composting facilities. She also researches how composted soil can 

prevent disease. She is a research microbiologist in the Sustainable 

Agricultural Systems Laboratory in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where House cafeteria food waste is composted. 

We welcome you, Dr. Millner. Whenever you are ready, please 

begin. 

STATEMENT OF PATRICIA D. MILLNER 

Ms. MILLNER. Thank you for the opportunity to appear here, Mr. 

Chairman. I would like to present some information on general aspects of composting and the environmental benefits as related to 

food residuals, management, and the greening practices. 

Composting involves a natural aerobic self-heating process in 

which micro-organisms rapidly transform the raw organic materials into humus, which is a critical component for soil health. 

Management and testing are used throughout this process in order 

to ensure that the primary goals of nutrient stabilization, pathogen 

destruction, and odorant elimination are achieved. 

When finished, compost is mixed with soil, and this helps to reduce erosion from wind and water. Compost also enhances soil 

structure, root penetration, and, very importantly, the water-holding capacity of soil. All of these aid in plant growth and increase 

the resistance to drought, disease, and other stresses. Compost also 

provides major and minor plant nutrients and can substitute for 

one-third the amount of nitrogen fertilizer usually required for turf. 

This means that compost use on lawns in areas like Washington, 

D.C., and the surrounding metropolitan area can help reduce nutrient runoff that ultimately gets into water waste such as the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. 

Composting can also reduce the generation and release of greenhouse gases. Recent estimates indicate that aerobic composting instead of landfilling of food residuals avoids major amounts of methane generation and release. Approximately 6 metric tons of CO2

equivalent are saved from each metric ton of compost food residuals that are not landfilled. 

Locally, at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center, we compost 13,000 cubic yards a year of organics from our 6,500 acre 

farm. This picture up here gives you an aerial view of our 

composting site. The long rows are actually the wind rows we use. 

The second picture shows the compost turner, which is used in the 

process of turning this compost periodically. 

In recent years, we have composted food residuals mixed with 

compostable biobased cafeteria ware from the South and Whitten 

Buildings. This activity now includes collectively about 40 cubic 

yards per week, or 6 tons, of material from the South Building and 

the Whitten Building, the U.S. House of Representatives Longworth Building cafeteria and a commercial organics food retailer. 

A commercial provider collects and hauls the material 10 miles 

from D.C. to our site at Beltsville, where it is mixed with sawdust 

from the congressional woodworking shop, along with leaves and 


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old hay from our farm. This public-private team effort has helped 

to advance the inclusion of compostable biobased cafeteria ware. 

As the seasons progress, we plan to incorporate grass, landscape, 

and floral trimmings from the congressional grounds, the U.S. Botanical Gardens, and the USDA headquartered complex. 

The residuals from the Longworth cafeteria are notably distinct 

from the other materials that are collected in that they are pulped, 

as Mr. Beard has explained. This type of processing reduces the 

whole mass by approximately 70 percent, with concurrent per-unit 

whole cost savings, and facilitates an accelerated decomposition. 

Our interest in composting food residuals at BARC measures 

well with our field skill research studies, which include evaluations 

of the degradation rate of biobased cafeteria ware as part of the 

USDA’s BioPreferred Program. And that includes things like this 

corn-based bottle, which is a water bottle with a chlorine filter attached inside. And there are some other articles that are being 

passed around the room that are also biobased. 

We are also looking at the efficiency of biofiltration on reducing 

greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of different composting 

formats. Alternative uses for excess compost heat are also an important feature of our program. And, lastly, we are also always concerned with the safe production of local leafy greens, fresh fruits, 

and vegetables. 

Currently, the compost from Beltsville is used for soil improvement on the USDA farm, the U.S. National Arboretum and the 

USDA Whitten Building gardens. 

Looking forward, we have engaged with the Maryland Environmental Service, the Maryland Department of Environmental Protection, and members of the U.S. EPA headquartered in Region III 

food recycling work group to explore and encourage more food 

composting capacity in the D.C. metropolitan region. To address 

this need and to avoid long-haul distances, we are pursuing, 

through our cooperative research and development agreements, a 

variety of in-vessel composting and processing options that include 

energy recovery and sustainability. 

In conclusion, BARC and other ARS locations continue to press 

forward with composting and other technologies to increase recycling of agricultural, municipal, and food residuals, to reduce the 

landfilling of organics, to increase energy capture, and to lessen the 

pollution that threatens our natural precious resources: soil, water, 

and air. 

My colleagues and I appreciate the opportunity and the interest 

of your committee in the issue of recycling food residuals and 

compostable biobased products. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks. I would be happy to 

answer any questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Millner follows:] 


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Mr. CLEAVER [presiding]. Thank you very much. 

We will move now to Dr. Kelly. Thank you for being here. 

STATEMENT OF TOM KELLY, PH.D. 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify 

about the essential role of the food service industry and sustainability, and the strategic value of sustainability to guide food service innovation. 

I am the chief sustainability officer of the University of New 

Hampshire where, for the last 10 years, I have directed the University Office of Sustainability, the first endowed university-wide program of its kind in the country. The University of New Hampshire 

is building a culture of sustainability by organizing everything we 

do around its principles, our curriculum, our operations, our research, and engagement with the wider world. 

Within our own campus operations, we have been building a low 

carbon infrastructure that will result in total emissions 57 percent 

below 1990 levels by this time next year, with no offsets purchased, 

millions of dollars saved, and energy security enhanced. 

But our efforts go well beyond that in educating the next generation of citizen professionals to meet the challenges of sustainability. 

And building a sustainable food system is fundamental to this 

broader mission. I have included specific examples in my written 

testimony, including our local harvest initiative that links local and 

regional procurement with energy and water efficiency and 

composting, as well as the first organic dairy research farm on a 

land grant university in the United States. But for my purposes, 

for speaking, I would like to share four principles and five broader 

recommendations with you that we have found to be important in 

building a sustainable food service at the University of New Hampshire, and all of these are about business not as usual, but about 

collaborations and partnerships that cut across virtually every well 

established boundary between disciplines, management functions, 

and internal and external stakeholders. 

First, a comprehensive approach to food system sustainability 

must address the important role played by the food service industry, and I applaud your actions here today to do just that. The food 

service industry is an increasingly important actor in the chain 

that links agriculture, the environment, and public health. In addition to minimizing their own direct operational impacts, sustainability practices within the food service industry can create greater 

demand for sustainable agriculture from the local to the global 

level, while providing healthy, delicious cuisine that nourishes the 

palate and the spirit. This means that the sustainable food system 

advocates from all sectors must engage the food service industry in 

these broader efforts. 

Second, a comprehensive approach to building a sustainable food 

service industry must see that industry as part and parcel of the 

larger food system. A successful approach must go beyond food 

counter to compost, as this hearing is entitled, to embrace the entire food system cycle, from healthy soils to healthy farm and food 

enterprises to healthy communities, including composting operations, that in turn help build healthy soils. And so the cycle continues. We cannot truly have a sustainable food service industry 


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unless we have a sustainable food system from farm to fork to compost to food security and nutritional health. 

This means that the sustainable food service advocates and enterprises need to actively engage with partners from agriculture, 

resource conservation, and nutrition to add their unique and critical contribution to this larger shared goal. 

Third, a comprehensive approach to building a sustainable food 

industry must see the food system as part of the larger society in 

which it operates. In our communities, food, agricultural, and nutrition are linked and inseparable from climate management, biodiversity and eco systems, and to regional economies and livable 

wages. All of these factors interact to impact our public health and 

quality of life. This is the province of sustainable communities and 

the larger goal of sustainable development. 

Within a given food service operation, sustainability means 

thinking up and down the supply chain and across the life cycle of 

its products and services, and out into the communities and regions 

that are working to sustain the quality of life. 

Finally, in addition to incorporating sustainability practices into 

our food service industry, it is critically important that these practices are seen as an integral part of education and learning within 

a broader culture of sustainability. In higher education, sustainable 

food practices must be complemented by curriculum, research, and 

public engagement that strengthens sustainable food systems in 

our communities. 

By cultivating the capacity of students in all fields to advance 

sustainability in their civic and professional lives, we can ensure 

that the goals of energy independence and climate stabilization 

benefit from and contribute to the equally important goals of food 

security and environmental and public health. Education is the key 

to empowering and inspiring the creative problem solving that can 

sustain and improve the quality of life for all Americans. 

What is common to all these efforts that we are engaged in related to food, energy, and the environment, and quality of life is 

collaboration built around shared goals that are in everyone’s interests. Those shared interests lie in the fact that reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so-called mitigation, is absolutely necessary 

but insufficient to address the issue. We must simultaneously 

adapt to regional impacts of an already changing climate by building resilience into the systems that sustain our communities, including food systems. 

So, five points just to summarize here in closing that these, we 

think, are, based on our experience, principles that could help 

guide a national policy framework. 

One, support regional approaches to food and agriculture that reflect the diversity of ecology and culture and the opportunities. 

Two, link food and farming to health, nutrition, and poverty reduction. 

Three, support research for sustainable approaches to biofuels 

that must reflect the best scientific assessments across the full life 

cycle of those fuels. 

Fourth, support responsive land grant universities. We have a 

marvelous network in place, including cooperative extension that 

can really contribute to these problems and solutions. 


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And, finally, support sustainability science with the recognition 

from the National Research Council, National Academy Sciences of 

the importance of responsive science. 

Thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to discussion. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Kelly follows:] 


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Mr. CLEAVER. Thank you very much, Dr. Kelly. 

Let me apologize. The sounds you heard were aimed at getting 

us over to the Capitol to cast four votes, and time is running out 

for us to get there. Is it possible for you to stay until we can return? I would say approximately 25 minutes. I hate to do this. Congress is manic depressive; and this is not a sustainable way of 

doing business, but this is the way it is. So we would appreciate 

it very much if you could stay, and we will get back immediately 

after the last vote is cast. Thank you. 

And, Ms. Wong, we will start with you. 

Mr. CLEAVER [presiding]. I appreciate your waiting for us. I 

apologize. We never know when we are going to be called for a 

vote, except that we know we will not be now. We have taken the 

last vote for today, and so we are ready to resume. I cannot apologize enough. 

Ms. Wong, if you would proceed. 

STATEMENT OF CARINA WONG 

Ms. WONG. Thank you. 

I come here today as the executive director of the Chez Panisse 

Foundation and, more importantly, as the mother of two young 

children. When you have children, you begin to worry about a lot 

of things, and what they eat, or food, is one of them. 

The Chez Panisse Foundation gets its name from a restaurant 

that wholly supports two farms and 85 others by buying locally, 

seasonally and sustainably. It was started by a woman named 

Alice Waters. Alice is also the founder of the Chez Panisse Foundation. We are a separate nonprofit, and our work is to support educational programs that use food to educate, empower and nurture 

youth to build a more sustainable future. 

Twelve years ago, we started an organic kitchen and garden program at a public middle school to build a model that would change 

the way children relate to food. We wanted to show them how their 

food choices have both an impact on their health, the community 

and the environment. Today, the Edible Schoolyard is a program 

in which every child participates in growing, harvesting, cooking 

and sharing food at the table. Children learn about where their 

food comes from and math, reading and writing. They learn about 

proportionality with recipes and science with soil experiments and 

history through ancient grains that they harvest. They turn the 

compost pile, and the scraps from the kitchen classrooms go into 

it. 

The original vision for the Edible Schoolyard was to include a 

school lunch program for all students, not just a healthy lunch but 

a delicious one, that is made from local, seasonal and sustainable 

ingredients. Our schools in Berkeley, like other schools in America, 

before we started this work, were serving frozen lunchmeat sandwiches in packages; something called encheritos, which I am still 

not sure what they are; and chicken fingers that, no doubt, had 

traveled what is the typical 1,500 miles to get to our cafeteria. So 

we funded a chef to work inside the school district to begin to make 

changes, not just taking the bad things out but focusing on buying 

locally. It was an important part of our strategy and our vision. 


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Lots of districts are trying to change their food and take fat out 

or lower the sugar, but they are not looking at their local sourcing. 

And we knew that local, seasonal and sustainably grown foods 

would be better for the environment, and they would simply taste 

better for kids: ripe, juicy tomatoes in the late summer, tangerines 

in the winter, apples in the fall, lettuces in the spring. We had a 

vision they would lure children into our cafeterias, but could the 

district, our public school district, afford these changes? They had 

a policy that said they should do it, but would they really do it? 

So, 21⁄2 years later, we have a salad bar in every school, much 

of which is organic; free breakfasts for all students; and organic 

milk at lunch. Thirty percent of our produce is organic and actually 

regionally or locally procured. We compost and recycle in all of our 

kitchens, 16 of them, and we have moved away from metal containers, serving buffet style with compostable trays and, in some 

schools, with real plates. 

The Foundation does not pay for any of the food costs. We supported the cook in the development of new menus, procurement 

systems and in evaluation. 

It sounds quite simple: Buy locally and make real food. It is as 

right as rain, but we face many challenges. Can you imagine that, 

when we started, we had to teach people who were making the food 

how to use a knife? Can you imagine that we do not have a stove 

in our central kitchen that serves 5,000 meals a day? Can you 

imagine that we could not even buy from a farmer from the farmers market because we had no place to store his or her produce and 

no way to purchase directly from them? Finally, what do you think 

you can make for lunch that is nourishing and delicious that is less 

than a dollar? Despite these challenges, we have made progress, 

and I do believe it can be done in other places. 

For school districts, it requires more incentives and better policies. When a fruit cocktail meets nutritional guidelines set by the 

USDA, I think we have a problem. We need stronger language in 

the farm bill to support the local purchasing of all food, not just 

fruits and vegetables, and we need investments or loans to help 

farmers grow real food—broccoli instead of just corn for corn syrup. 

We need pilot programs to show that this can be done in other 

parts of the country, both the lunch piece and the education piece. 

We need more funding for food. We have to stop thinking of food 

as cheap. Jamie Oliver—I was recently with him—another chef 

from the U.K., held up an iPod, and he said, ‘‘Would you want to 

buy this iPod if it just cost $20?’’ No. You would question where 

it came from, and you would question what it was made of. We 

should be thinking about the same thing with food for our children. 

Do we really want to buy the cheapest beef? The beef recall, the 

largest in history with 173 million pounds of beef, should be a lesson to us. 

We need more funding for training and for school gardens, because we have learned at the Edible Schoolyard, if they grow it and 

cook it, they absolutely will eat it. 

Finally, it requires leadership at all levels of government and in 

our schools. Budgets are tight, but we can pay now or pay later. 

I do not need to tell you about the obesity crisis facing our children 


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and the CDC’s telling us that this generation will be the first to 

die younger than its parents. 

I end with how I introduced myself, as a mother who cares about 

what kind of world my children will live in. Children learn eating 

habits when they are very, very young. I have a son who is 1 and 

a daughter who is 3. Fortunately, my daughter loves peas. She saw 

a basket of them recently at Chez Panisse, and she asked to take 

a handful of them out of the restaurant with her. As we left, she 

said, ‘‘More, mama, more.’’ But at the same time, she goes to a 

daycare center in Oakland where there is a lunch subsidized by the 

Federal Government that gives her fish sticks and chocolate pudding for lunch. There is something wrong with this picture, when 

a mother tries to do the right thing but the Government sends a 

different message. 

I am so honored to be here, testifying before this committee. It 

means that Government, our leaders, are connecting the dots between the food system and the environment, between our children’s 

health and the health of this economy. What we feed our children 

matters. The National Lunch Program serves 31 million children a 

day. We have a choice about what to feed them. 

Thank you for connecting your efforts to create energy independence and to stop global warming with our efforts to make a very 

simple meal—lunch—more delicious and locally grown for children. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Wong follows:] 


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The CHAIRMAN [presiding]. Thank you, Ms. Wong, very much. 

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Cleaver, 

for a round of questions. 

Mr. CLEAVER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Beard, I returned to Washington this past Sunday night, and 

I came to my office at about 11 o’clock at night, which is just a 

slight symbol of the fact that I have no life. When I arrived at 11 

o’clock at night, all around the offices, the lights—in our offices, we 

have changed all of the lightbulbs. There is a rule to turn off the 

lights when you leave, and the television is not supposed to be on 

all night. However, when I looked out my window, I could see that 

there were very few other Members practicing that kind of stewardship, if I can use an etiological term. 

Although I think we are making some strides, is there anything 

that you can suggest that would help us get across to the people 

here in the Capitol the events that we are doing? 

I had hoped, when word got out about all of the changes that you 

have implemented in the dining room, that that would be a subtle 

suggestion that maybe we ought to do something in our offices and 

even in our district offices. 

I have a mobile unit in my district in Missouri, in Kansas City, 

Missouri. We have a mobile unit that runs off of grease. We get the 

grease, of course, at restaurants, so it ends up being recycled. You 

cook a Big Mac in it. We drive with it. 

I think, as we are trying to get the Nation to even think about 

the sustainability of our food supply, of our dining, that maybe we 

need some moral authority to make those pronouncements. I am 

not sure we do have that, based on what is going on on the Hill 

right now. 

Do you have any ideas or suggestions? 

Mr. BEARD. Yes, I do, Mr. Cleaver. I happen to think that what 

we need to have is a night lighting policy. You know, we need to 

direct that the lights in the offices be turned off at a reasonable 

hour, whatever that may be. Until we can go back and retrofit all 

of the offices with motion-detector lights, we do not really have any 

choice other than to mechanically flick those—make sure, direct 

that those lights are turned off. 

The system that is currently used by the Architect of the Capitol 

is to have the cleaning crews, as they leave, turn off all of the 

lights, but that is an inconsistent pattern. It does not work. I think 

a better solution would be to work with the Architect of the Capitol 

to implement a night lighting policy. 

We have already worked with the Architect to reduce the run 

time on the fans, for example, for the heating and cooling systems. 

We have reduced the run time by 14 percent, which, in turn, you 

know, is having an impact on our carbon footprint and on our overall operations. We are also trying to install better controls so that 

we are not running the air-conditioning systems, you know, 24/7 at 

a very low temperature. 

So I happen to think the easiest way to go about this is to work 

with the Architect of the Capitol to come up with a night lighting 

policy so that we turn those lights off. If a Member is there and 

wants them on, all he has to do is flick the switch, but otherwise, 

they are off, and we ought to make sure that they are off. There 


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is a significant savings that can be had, you know, both in terms 

of carbon and the costs of electricity. 

Mr. CLEAVER. Now, when this committee first began its work, at 

one point, we had the largest carbon footprint in Washington; Capitol Hill did. Is that still the case? If so, how do we expand what 

you are doing? 

Mr. BEARD. I am not always sure we have the largest carbon 

footprint in Washington, but you have to remember, the 7,000 employees of the House of Representatives who are here in Washington on this campus do business in very old structures. I mean, 

the Capitol is 1793, finished in 1810. Our newest building is the 

Rayburn Building, 1965, so it is 42 years old. You know, the Ford 

is 1939, the Longworth is 1933, the Cannon Building is 1908. 

Now, each one of those buildings was built to the fire, safety, 

health, heating and cooling standards of their day, and we have 

had to go back and retrofit every one of them. Some buildings, like 

the Capitol, leak like a sieve. I mean, there is no other way to describe it. That is just because we have had a hodgepodge development. 

So we have very old, very aging infrastructure where, for a long 

time, no one made any improvements in the heating and cooling 

systems, in the metering or in any of the other aspects of building 

operations. So we have a long ways to go to be able to address that. 

Our carbon footprint of 91,000 tons for a community, a small city 

of 7,000 people in the District, is probably larger than normal, but 

I do not think that it is too outrageously high. There are other bigger institutions like Georgetown and GW, but most of them have 

buildings that are a lot newer than ours. Ours do not change very 

much, frankly. 

Mr. CLEAVER. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

The Chair recognizes himself for a round of questions. 

Mr. Beard, what was your most difficult challenge in attempting 

to green the Capitol? 

Mr. BEARD. That is an interesting question. 

I think there were really two big problems. The first was getting 

our arms around all of the factual situation. What is our carbon 

footprint? Luckily, the General Accounting Office had been asked 

to prepare that information a couple of years ago, and they made 

it available to us. So that solved that problem. 

I think the second problem has been getting people to realize 

that they have to do business in a different way. That is everyone 

from Members and other agencies like the Architect of the Capitol 

or the Senate or the Capitol Police, or whomever it may be, and 

our employees. We need to do business in a different way, but it 

is not that expensive, it is not that difficult, and it certainly does 

not take new technology. It is all off-the-shelf, and we are not doing 

anything different than any other major corporation or institution 

in America is doing at the present time. Wal-Mart or Harvard or 

any company worth its salt is investing in and is making energyefficient improvements to affect the bottom line. 

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other commercial cafeterias that 

close the loop for procurement, consumption and disposal, as the 

House cafeteria does? 


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Mr. BEARD. I do not know of any in the Washington, D.C., area. 

Rutgers University has a very good one. The Harvard Business 

School has one. Google, both in the Bay Area as well as in New 

York, has pretty modern facilities. But I do not know of any others 

in the D.C. area that have taken the kind of steps that we have. 

The CHAIRMAN. How have you been able to create a corporatemodel, sustainable cafeteria without a price premium? 

Mr. BEARD. Well, it does cost a little bit more, but I am convinced that you make it up on the back end by increased sales. You 

know, our restaurant is a commercial operation, if I can put it in 

those terms. We have a vendor. The vendor prepares the meals, 

sells the food, and then the House receives a payment as a percentage of those sales. So, the more meals we serve, the more money 

we make, in a sense, if I can use that analogy. 

Last year, we received $275,000 in revenues under GSI. We anticipate that will go up to $1.2 million this year with Restaurant 

Associates, primarily because we are presenting a better product in 

a better environment, and the food is better, it is fresher, and we 

are getting on a per capita basis greater attendance at the cafeteria 

than we have had in the past. 

I do not know how that will work out, you know, 6 months from 

now, but certainly, it goes back to the testimony that we received 

about the schoolchildren in school cafeterias. It is not that difficult; 

it is very easy. You know, you want to make available the best 

product you can to the employees who work here and to the Members and to our guests that we possibly can. If we are willing to 

invest a little bit to do that, we will get money back on the back 

end. 

It cost us, for example, $90,000 to purchase and install the pulper, but we will make that money back over probably a 6-year period of time. I think it was a good investment. 

The CHAIRMAN. So, in the end, though, it is not a price premium, 

if you think about it. It is the overall life cycle. 

Mr. BEARD. It may be in the first year, but in the second, third, 

fourth, and fifth years, it is not. 

The CHAIRMAN. It is not. 

Dr. Millner, the Beltsville composting facility that is operating, 

is that operating at capacity? 

Ms. MILLNER. Yes, at the present time, we are. We actually expanded ourselves a little bit more than we originally intended, but 

with some additional modifications and some processes with the invessel systems, we are able to handle things. 

The CHAIRMAN. How many facilities like that are there in the 

United States? 

Ms. MILLNER. Composting facilities in general? I am going to 

think that there might be about 4,000 or 5,000 total. A lot of these 

do not handle food composting particularly. Most of them handle 

yard trimmings and that sort of thing. 

The CHAIRMAN. You discussed new facilities to avoid long-haul 

distances. 

Ms. MILLNER. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. What are the constraints of finding a location for 

a composting facility? 


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Ms. MILLNER. Well, there are actually quite a few. Most of them 

center around community concerns about potential aspects that 

maybe there might be some odor or maybe there might be some additional traffic or as to the aesthetic appearances of an outdoor 

composting facility where you see the piles and that sort of thing 

instead of an enclosed, in-vessel type of system. 

The CHAIRMAN. So what are the opportunities for expansion? 

Ms. MILLNER. Well, in an urban area, what we are looking at 

is—there are a variety of different in-vessel systems that are available within the United States, so that is what we are looking at. 

What is the most efficient type of system for the food-type operations? Particularly, how do they compare with regard to gaseous 

emissions that impact global warming? What are their energy costs 

for operating them? Because they obviously do utilize some kind of 

forced aeration, so that has to be taken into account. 

The CHAIRMAN. So, can you answer that? Can you deal with that 

question for a second? What are the expenses related to 

composting? 

Ms. MILLNER. The expenses are the capitalization, if you are 

talking about a brand-new facility. If they have to get a facility up 

and going, it is whatever is required for the permitting of that facility. Then there are operations and maintenance costs, in addition 

to any of the capital items for the equipment that you need to purchase to move the materials around. 

The CHAIRMAN. How commercially profitable is the compost after 

it has been processed? 

Ms. MILLNER. That depends on what they decide to do in the beginning. I often tell people you have to start with the end in mind. 

In that regard, I say that if you are really looking to produce a very 

high-end horticultural product, then you need to do certain things 

within the steps in making that product to get to that very high 

end. You can ask a very large price for that because horticultural 

producers want a reliable, high-quality product. 

If, on the other hand, you are producing a product that you are 

just using for general field application for corn or for some other 

commodity, you may not need to go to that high of an end to 

produce a high-quality product. Consequently, you do not have to 

put in as much capital investment. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Thank you. 

Ms. Wong, what aspect of the School Lunch Initiative has the 

greatest influence on children, in your opinion? 

Ms. WONG. I think the greatest aspect of it is—a simple example 

is a salad bar, just having fresh, local produce where kids can see 

and choose. Kids like to choose things. So, when they see it, they 

want to eat it. And it really makes a difference in both their health 

and in the environment. 

The CHAIRMAN. Are you interested in expanding to other school 

districts? 

Ms. WONG. Absolutely. We are always looking for different partners, and we have been contacted by folks in Chicago and in New 

York and in Los Angeles. While we may not run the program, for 

we are a very small organization, we absolutely support and are 

trying to link up funders to support this kind of program in other 

school districts. 


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The CHAIRMAN. Well, let me ask this question to any of you down 

there. What has been the response from diners as you move to this 

new model? What are you hearing back from the people who consume this food? 

Mr. BEARD. Well, speaking for the House anyway, when the New 

York Times’ food critic came to taste the food, after tasting the 

food, she walked around and talked to people. She randomly talked 

to people in the Longworth cafeteria. She came back and said, 

‘‘Well, that was a surprise.’’ I said, ‘‘What was?’’ She said, ‘‘The 

number-one answer I got back was people were excited about being 

able to participate in a composting exercise.’’ They like the food, 

but it is just as important that we are composting. So I think that 

was, to me at least, one real testament. 

I also judge the number of negative e-mails I get. Usually when 

we make some kind of change around here, I get a lot. I guess it 

is part of the job. But I would have to tell you that I have not received any bad e-mails. Now, I have received e-mails about we need 

additional information on various aspects and problems with people 

with special diets, but I have yet to receive an e-mail where somebody said this is lousy food, so—— 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Wong, what kind of comments are you receiving from diners? 

Ms. WONG. In our kitchen classroom, some of the kids serve 

lunch. Kids make a dish, and they grow the food. I can tell you, 

on countless occasions I have been in there and have seen young 

boys and girls devouring plates of Swiss chard and kale. How many 

times have you seen that? I see it every time I go down there in 

the winter because they have been involved in growing it and cooking it, and it tastes good because it is straight from their garden 

that they have been growing it. 

Another story is one of the programs we implemented was a free 

breakfast program, so we would source apples and other fruits and 

vegetables locally from the farmers market. Teachers can do it or 

not do it, but it is available to all of the kids. At one school in particular, there was a classroom; one teacher was too lazy to go down 

and get the food in the cafeteria and bring it back up. One of the 

young students called the food service director and said, ‘‘Why is 

everyone else getting this great free breakfast with this fruit and 

these muffins, and I don’t have it?’’ 

So students really are noticing differences. The longest line in 

the high school is the salad bar line. 

The CHAIRMAN. Interesting. 

Mr. BEARD. If I could interject, Mr. Chairman, I would also have 

to say that, at least in our case, the best test is a market test. You 

know, we have long lines and a lot of people coming back, and the 

use of the cafeteria is greater now than it was when we compare 

it back to a year ago. 

The CHAIRMAN. So you are saying that revenues are up? 

Mr. BEARD. Revenues are up. More people are eating. And they 

are satisfied customers, which is ultimately the strongest test. You 

don’t usually go back for another bad meal at a restaurant. That 

has been my experience. You get only one chance. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, I agree with that, so that is quite a tribute. 


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The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon, Mr. 

Blumenauer. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You picked up on 

a point that I think is very important, in terms of customer satisfaction. 

I appreciate, Mr. Beard, that you have a big operation, lots of 

moving parts that you are dealing with, but you are already seeing, 

as your testimony pointed out, cost savings just in the area of solid 

waste, customer satisfaction and more people actually taking advantage of the healthier, more environmentally sensitive areas. 

Do you have a sense of, as we are going forward, what the cost 

implications of that will be over time? I noticed you referenced the 

$20,000—— 

Mr. BEARD. Right. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER [continuing]. Just as one little example. 

Mr. BEARD. Well, I would not be surprised if, overall, we were going to be up around $200,000 in savings just in the kind of investments we have made in going to energy-efficient equipment 

and in the changes to the tipping fees. We also are not going to be 

purchasing as much carbon offsets, so that is a savings. So I would 

not be surprised, at the end of the year, if we would reach $200,000 

in savings. It is not unusual. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Well, I would add my voice to what you were 

saying as to how positive the transition has been. You do not usually see that when you are talking about changes, and particularly 

when there are a few people who had decided to be cranky before 

they had even seen it. I have been stunned at just the chatter, as 

I dip down in there for a few minutes to try and grab something, 

and at the positive feedback from our office and with the young 

men and women on the Hill who we come in contact with and with 

visitors. 

This is something that I don’t think has been given proper attention, but we have millions of visitors who are on Capitol Hill every 

year, and the opportunity to watch the modeling and the feedback 

that they get is an opportunity to carry that message. Up to this 

point, based on the feedback from my constituents and from the 

folks we pick up on, it has been very positive, and I appreciate it. 

I would pose a question to you, Mr. Beard, and to our other panelists about the lessons that this suggests for other areas of the 

Federal Government. I think it is important for us to model the behavior we want from the rest of America on Capitol Hill, but the 

Federal Government is the largest landlord, landowner, employer, 

probably the largest provider of food services in the United States. 

As you sort of run this all out, it has a pretty significant potential 

impact. 

I wondered if any of you had thoughts or observations from these 

lessons about what changes we should have in Federal policy to be 

able to accelerate this change to capture these savings and to increase customer satisfaction. 

Mr. BEARD. Do you want to go ahead? 

Ms. WONG. I mentioned earlier in my testimony that the farm 

bill is now in conference, but there are things in it that encourage 

and provide incentives for participating locally. So those are important pieces of legislation that need to be strengthened, as well as 


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encouraging loans for farmers to really begin to produce real food. 

Those are two very strong examples that I think, policy-wise, support our efforts. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. I will send you my Food and Farm Bill of 

Rights legislation—— 

Ms. WONG. Terrific. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER [continuing]. Some of which got into the farm 

bill. 

Ms. WONG. I am sure I will agree with it. 

Mr. BEARD. Well, I think my observation would be that it is not 

that hard. We are not talking about rocket science here. This is not 

brain surgery or anything. We are talking about obtaining locally 

produced products and providing fresh food to our customers. 

I really have to put in a plug for our vendor. Restaurant Associates has been a fantastic vendor for the House. I met with the 

president of Restaurant Associates in November, and I told him 

that success, to me, would be that in a year people would come to 

Washington, D.C., and say, ‘‘We have to go to the House of Representatives cafeteria because it is a green and sustainable operation.’’ 

I think we are almost there. I mean, I think, frankly, with some 

more publicity like this hearing, we will be having that kind of an 

impact. It really is not that hard. It does not cost that much more. 

And you make the money back, you know, in the long term by having greater revenues. 

So I guess the other thing is—in terms of policy, I think the suggestions about the farm bill are very, very interesting and very 

worthwhile. We have actually made these changes, incidentally, 

without the benefit of getting as many products from local providers as we would like to have because of the time of the year we 

are in. I think, when you see it in the spring and in the fall here, 

you will see a lot fresher products. Our apples, peaches and other 

kinds of things that you will see will be local products. 

As you walk into the Longworth cafeteria, for example, or into 

the Rayburn, you will notice a little sign, and it says, ‘‘Our local 

partners.’’ What it shows is the local farms that are supplying food 

that day. I have talked to Restaurant Associates about having some 

of those farmers come into the restaurants and, you know, talk 

some about the kinds of things that they are doing and about their 

products, so it can build a link between our cafeterias and our suppliers, the farms that we are using. 

So there are a lot of exciting things that we can do, and Restaurant Associates has been more than willing to participate in 

that. 

Ms. MILLNER. I would just say there is hardly a week that goes 

by when I do not receive a call from other Federal agencies around 

here in the Washington metropolitan area who would like to be 

able—they are interested in doing the composting of food residuals 

and are trying to get on board with the bio-based products. 

So I think there is a huge, pent-up demand among the Federal 

agencies to do that. As soon as there is more composting capacity 

for food waste in the area, I can see that going forward rather rapidly. 

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Super. Thank you. 


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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. I thank the gentleman from Oregon. 

We are going to ask now each one of you to give us your best 

1-minute summary of what you want us to remember about this 

phenomenon so that we can retain that in our minds. Feel free to 

use the props which you have brought as part of your summation. 

Ms. Wong, we will begin with you for 1 minute. 

Ms. WONG. I would like to give a quote from my organization’s 

founder. I think this sums it up. Alice Waters said, ‘‘I believe there 

is something very wrong with the way most people in our culture 

relate to food, and this is something that seems to me to be absolutely central to the future of environmentalism. Even the environmental visionaries, who seem to be seeing the trees awfully well, 

even some of these brilliant revolutionaries keep missing the forest. 

And the forest is that learning to make the right choices about food 

is the single most important key to environmental awareness for 

ourselves and for our children.’’ 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Wong, very much. 

Dr. Millner. 

Ms. MILLNER. I would just sum up by saying that composting is 

Mother Nature’s natural process for decomposing and recycling. It 

starts and ends there. 

The CHAIRMAN. Beautiful. Thank you. 

Mr. Beard. 

Mr. BEARD. I think I would use a little bit of a variation of that. 

Again, you know, we start with the food itself. The materials are 

compost material, you know—I guess I call it my coleslaw—leading 

us into compost. So it is a life cycle, and you have to think about 

it in life-cycle terms and look at this in a much more comprehensive fashion. 

Then, I think the last thing that I would say is that I would encourage you to visit the Members’ Dining Room, the Longworth or 

the Rayburn cafeteria. Bon appetit! 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. 

Mr. BEARD. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. I am doing that, and it is really great. I want to 

congratulate you. 

Mr. BEARD. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. You know, we are daily diners, but I think Members might want to try Chez Panisse too. That might be a good congressional trip for us. 

We thank you all very much for your patience. 

This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:15 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] 


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