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President Looking Forward to Gulf Trip, Seafood

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

Continuing the PR push for struggling Gulf Coast seafood, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said yesterday the President was looking forward to eating seafood during his upcoming vacation to the region.

"It's a beautiful part of the country, and the president looks forward to getting down there...eating the food, the seafood, hanging out with the great folks who live there, and taking a look at how things are going for those folks," Burton said yesterday while taking questions about the First Family's upcoming vacation to Panama City Florida.

"For the third day in a row, Gulf Coast seafood was a talking point for the White House," noted Eddie Gehman Kohan, who reports on White House food policy at Obama Foodorama.

Sunday the White House served Gulf shrimp at President Obama's belated birthday barbecue on the South Lawn--the domestic shrimp was the only menu item released to the public. Monday the President talked up the fare from the region, citing the reopening of more waters to fishing during remarks honoring the New Orleans Saints for the team's Superbowl win.

"With the ongoing reopening of Gulf fisheries, we're excited that fishermen can go back to work and Americans can confidently and safely enjoy Gulf seafood once again," said President Obama. "We're certainly going to enjoy it here at the White House."

After the ceremony, assistant White House chef (recently promoted to Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives), Sam Kass joined Saints players to serve Gulf seafood to the White House press corps.

In recent weeks, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and First Lady Michelle Obama have all made public statements assuring the safety of Gulf seafood.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on August 12, 2010 (boomark / email).