Broccoli, but no sheep or goats

“George W. Bush Sr., eat your heart out”– kids these days like broccoli.  Referencing Bush’s famous gripe about hating broccoli as a kid, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom talked at the National Press Club Tuesday about the new health initiatives in his city.

It’s no surprise that one of the most liberal cities in America isn’t having a hard time selling healthy food in schools, green transportation and inner city school garden programs.  But what about the rest of America?  When asked by Yeas & Nays how he expects other areas to follow San Francisco’s lead, Newsom didn’t hide the fact it would be difficult.  “It was a challenge out there” too, Newsom explained.  “When I first planted a [garden] in front of the San Francisco Civic Center, former Mayor Willie Brown joked, ‘So when are you bringing the sheep and goats?'”

It wasn’t the only stop for Newsom. On Monday night, he attended a reception in his honor at the Georgetown waterfront home of Dan and Irma Maldonado.

Also spotted around town this week:

-Sam Waterston and Joan Allen, reading poetry in honor of Abraham Lincoln at a Department of the Interior event on Monday.

-“American Idol” winner Fantasia, singing with the Howard University Gospel Choir to close Monday night’s America’s Promise Alliance gala.

(photo: Carrie Devorah)