The bustling serving area in the Rayburn Café is one of eight Restaurant Associates outlets on Capitol Hill overseen by GM Mary Bowman and Executive Chef Thomas Green.

Politicians love to talk about what the rest of us should be doing to “save the earth.” Now at least one half of Congress is making efforts to put into practice what it preaches.

When the Democratic Party took back control of the House of Representatives in the fall of 2006, new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., introduced an environmental initiative called “Green the Capitol” and made it one of her priorities.

Green the Capitol impacts a wide range of Congressional support services, from facilities to office supplies, but nowhere more than dining. For the foodservice outlets overseen by the House's Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), “greening” means more organic and locally produced items, Fair Trade coffee, cage-free eggs, sustainable seafood and no trans fats.

On the recycling front, it also means there are compostable containers and servingware, recycling bins in every cafe (and soon in hundreds of offices as well), waste reduction and, eventually, new energy-efficient equipment.

Since an additional goal of the initiative is to promote “wellness” among members, staffers and visitors, the new menus also feature a host of new “healthy” dining choices and more fresh ingredients.

Working on the front lines of this progressive move to sustainability is recently installed dining services provider Restaurant Associates. RA was selected to manage the foodservice operations of the House last summer and formally took over in December. It will also manage the 550-seat cafeteria in the new Capitol Visitors Center when it opens this fall. (The Senate has the option to use the company's services as well, but has so far chosen to retain its traditional-style dining choices and remain self-operated.)

Wellness Promoting Solutions

“The change to Democratic control and Speaker Pelosi's leadership changed the priorities,” says Perry Plumart, director of the Green the Capitol Office, who works under the Chief Administrative Officer (Speaker Pelosi charged the House's CAO with executing the environmental initiative). “While the Green the Capitol project involves many aspects of operations besides food, dining was seen as an area where significant changes could be made fairly quickly — the ‘low hanging fruit’ so to speak.”

RA now manages eight sites around the House side of the Capitol, including the Members Dining Room in the Capitol itself, as well as cafeterias and snack stops in the Longworth, Cannon and Rayburn office buildings nearby. It will add a ninth outlet in the fall after a contract with an independent restaurateur who operates a café in the Ford House Office Building expires.

Pre-made sandwiches and salads await hungry staffers on the run in the Rayburn deli.

In addition, RA works with the House's internal catering arm, Capitol Host, to provide food and beverage services to the numerous meetings and functions that take place on the grounds. Capitol Host caters some 240,000 meals a month.

All of RA's sites now feature an array of “green,” sustainable and wellness-promoting selections and practices. Product is sourced locally where possible, organic alternatives are included where practical and plenty of healthier selections are offered each day.