A Taste of Home on Capitol Hill
THE majority of people who come through Representative Jason Altmire’s office are not in search of a cookie.
But before they settle in for their meeting on hazardous materials transport, federal grants or other matters of import to the people of the Fourth District of Pennsylvania, Representative Altmire’s constituency, they are treated to a sugar cookie decorated with a frosted smiley face, made by Eat’n Park, a chain based in Homestead, Pa., in the Democrat’s district.
In the reception area of Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California, the snacking is decidedly less festive: a small basket filled with individually wrapped prunes.
Congressional office snacks serve up a trifecta: they make constituents visiting from out of town feel at home, introduce nonresidents to local products and give office staff members a little caloric boost during the long days and nights of floor fights, press conferences and votes. “We feel our pecans are a morale booster,” said Hunter Lipscomb, a spokesman for Representative Steven Palazzo, a Republican of Mississippi, referring to their honey-roasted pecans.
(That office also gives out pocket Constitutions, should you be in need.)
New York Times
6/7/11
