Rocky's Carroll repeated falsehoods about Dem convention food guidelines

Summary: Vincent Carroll, the Rocky Mountain News' editorial page editor, claimed in his column that the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee had "been shamed by national ridicule into being reasonable" regarding its suggested nutritional guidelines for the gathering and falsely stated that the committee had "banned fried foods." In fact, the June news release announcing the guidelines stated specifically that they "are not mandatory," and a previous News article emphasized their voluntary nature.

In his July 15 column, Rocky Mountain News editorial page editor Vincent Carroll repeated false claims about the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee's nutritional guidelines for food vendors to the event, stating that the committee had "been shamed by national ridicule into being reasonable." While Carroll claimed that the host committee had "banned fried foods" and "decreed that '70 percent or more of ingredients by precooked weight are certified organic and/or grown/raised in Colorado,' " he did not mention that the committee's original June 2 news release specified that the guidelines "are not mandatory and do not preclude local businesses that do not adopt them from participating in Denver's hosting of the convention." Carroll also ignored the news release's statement that the suggested guidelines apply to "at least one healthy and green option to customers each day" -- not to every meal offering -- and his own newspaper's July 8 reporting that emphasized the voluntary nature of the host committee guidelines, as Colorado Media Matters noted.

Carroll's column appeared one day after the News reprinted a July 10 editorial from The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction that repeated similar false assertions about the food guidelines.

From Carroll's July 15 Rocky Mountain News column," More pressing woes":

Crow on menu

Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown is right: The Denver 2008 Host Committee for the Democratic National Convention has been shamed by national ridicule into being reasonable.

[...]

Brown is referring, of course, to the committee's pivot on its rules governing food -- and its pretense that it had been misunderstood.

"No food service establishment or business is being told what to serve," a committee spokesman insisted last week. "No convention guest is being told what to eat. No food item of any kind is being banned from being served at any event."

If that's the case, why didn't the committee object weeks ago to articles that reported exactly the opposite? When early reports said the committee had banned fried foods, for example, and decreed that "70 percent or more of ingredients by precooked weight are certified organic and/or grown/raised in Colorado," no official raised a fuss.

Because that's in fact what the guidelines did, whatever anyone claims now.

Contrary to Carroll's assertion that the host committee's guidelines were mandatory and all-inclusive, the June 2 news release -- headlined Democratic Convention Host Committee Develops Suggested Lean 'N Green Guidelines" -- specifically stated in its first two paragraphs:

Denver, CO -- June 2, 2008 -- The greening task force of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee has developed guidelines for caterers and restaurants to adopt as part of Denver's efforts to create a sustainable local environment for this summer's Democratic National Convention.

The Lean 'N Green guidelines were developed to showcase the connection between healthy eating and a healthy planet. While the task force encourages local caterers and restaurants to utilize the guidelines, they are not mandatory and do not preclude local businesses that do not adopt them from participating in Denver's hosting of the convention. [emphasis added]

The release also explicitly listed guidelines for individual meal offerings in order for vendors to have them considered "Lean" or "Green," making it clear that the guidelines did not apply to every meal offering:

The Lean N' Green guidelines provide a simple framework for restaurants, caterers, and others to offer at least one healthy and green option to customers each day during convention week. Staff and volunteers from the greening initiative will be available to provide support in incorporating the green guidelines. [emphasis added]

Lean

• Half of the meal (or 50%) of the plate is made up of fruits and/or vegetables
• A colorful meal -- include at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white (Garnishes not included)
• No items are to be fried

Green

• 70% or more of ingredients by pre-cooked weight are certified organic and/or grown or raised in Colorado
• 70% or more of ingredients by pre-cooked weight are fresh and (not pre-processed)

Additionally, in response to distorted or false media reports about its guidelines, the committee released a July 9 news release emphasizing that they were voluntary and did not apply to every meal a vendor might offer. In the news release -- which Carroll also did not mention in his column -- the committee again stated that "local restaurants and caterers are not forbidden from serving fried foods" and are "not required to include at least three different colors in every meal" or to "serve organic or locally-grown food for every meal."

—C.K.