CQ Politics | Innovations - Democratic Convention Stretching the Definition of 'Green'

Democratic Convention Stretching the Definition of 'Green'

August 27, 2008 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Adriel Bettelheim, CQ Staff

Click on the image to see a slideshow about the "Green" convention

If the biodegradable coffin business ever takes off, its executives can point to this year's Democratic convention as the brea kout moment.

The convention organizers' goal of making the gathering the greenest political hobnob in history has unleashed a wave of pitches and promotions surrounding organic foods, renewable fuels, carbon offsets and consumer goods made from recyclable materials.

Among those fighting for attention is Cynthia Beal, founder of the Portland, Ore.-based Natural Burial Co., who is trying to convince Americans that they need not pass into the great beyond in the confines of conventional wood or steel caskets -- which can take up to 25 years to decompose.

As delegates arrived in Denver over the weekend, Beal used a green-business festival outside the city's performing arts complex to hawk two of her best-sellers: a sarcophagus made of recycled newsprint that looked a little like an oversized violin case, and a woven willow coffin that resembled a picnic basket on steroids. Both are designed to turn to dust about six months after burial.

"Every industry has to find a way to change and provide natural options, and the funeral business is the next low-hanging fruit," Beal said. Her biggest obstacle? People who think it's against the law to be buried in receptacles that at first glance, look better suited for takeout food.

"Cemeteries aren't forever," she said, as conventioneers and passersby perused her wares. "The private cemetery regulations that require things like vaults and grave-liners serve no purpose for public health and safety; they're for landscaping management. Maybe we need to start a lobbying effort."

While the Denver host committee may not have anticipated precisely this kind of activism, its guidelines for catering, transportation and waste management have provoked no shortage of soul-searching. Visitors around town are being asked to triage their garbage and deposit waste in olive drab pup tents that have separate bins for recyclables, compostable materials and genuine garbage.

Delegates and members of the media were presented reusable water bottles and encouraged to avail themselves of 1,000 donated bicycles when making their rounds. More sedentary guests are being shuttled among their hotels, the Pepsi Center and their social engagements in flex-fuel vehicles that run on ethanol derived from beer waste donated by Molson Coors Brewing Co. in nearby Golden.

Most of the efforts are being greeted with a mixture of quiet admiration or indifference. But the "lean 'n green" guidelines that organizers adopted for local caterers and restaurateurs were hitting a little closer to home. The host committee originally contemplated a zero tolerance policy on unhealthy food that, among other things, would have banned anything fried. It soon backed off in the face of backlash from attendees including House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, a barbecue and fried chicken devotee, who half-jokingly threatened to skip the convention altogether unless his gustatory demands were met.

In the end, the vendors were only urged to use Colorado-grown or organic products in their dishes, in order to avoid unnecessary transportation costs or the overuse of pesticides. Half of every meal is supposed to consist of fruits and vegetables. And chefs are expected to create eye-catching dishes with at least three different colors, on the theory that nutritious food should look good, too.

It isn't difficult to come up with entrees containing reds, greens and yellow. But caterers report they have been challenged to work their way throught he rest of the color wheel and, in some cases, are relying on three-dimensional presentations.

"Instead of the simple steak, potato and broccoli dish we're going for more vertical execution: using an artichoke as a garnish or filling roasted red peppers with a salad or even using a shot glass to serve soup," said Deirdre Wildman, director of sales and marketing for Three Tomatoes, a gourmet Denver caterer.

Josh Mayo, general manager of Panzano, a downtown Italian eatery, said creating healthy menus on short notice is no small task. Organic produce is less consistent in quality, because of the lack of pesticides, meaning restaurant owners have to send more back. And products such as naturally raised, grass-fed veal cost significantly more, creating pricing dilemmas.

"Sometimes you have to take a hit in price," said Mayo, whose restaurant's signature bistecca -- a strip steak over gnocchi with artichoke hearts, wild mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese, for $30 -- fits nicely into the week's theme.

Other vendors have basically punted on the guidelines, for fear of alienating their clientele. At Saturday's welcoming party for the 15,000 members of the media at Elitch's, a local amusement park, reporters and cameramen gorged on the cotton candy, funnel cakes and cosmopolitans (vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice) -- all available at a single concession stand. And some longtime restaurant owners are casting a jaundiced eye at the guidelines.

"I spent time in Nicaragua with coffee buyers trying to assure the beans we buy are organic, and I'm not sure everyone down there goes to the expense and trouble to make sure," said Mark Greenberg, owner of The Market, a popular coffehouse and deli in Larimer Square, downtown. "A lot of this boils down to price, and it's hard to pass higher and higher costs on to your customers. I'm of the theory people have been eating non-organic things for a long time, and life expectancy still keeps going up."

Ed Epstein contributed to this story.