The cast and crew of NBC's The Biggest Loser went to Washington, D.C. in an episode that aired this past Tuesday - election night. The contestants participated in a public workout in front of the Washington Monument, met with two Senators, visited with their own Congressmen, ate lunch at the White House and had a dramatic weigh-in at night in front of the Lincoln Memorial. It was a slam dunk for Obama and the Democrats who appeared on the show: Senators Gillibrand, Casey & Durbin. Jake Tapper at ABC's Political Punch did not think that the show was appropriate - especially Durbin's appearance:
The contestants and the hosts lavished praise on the Obamas for setting a positive example on healthy eating.
That was followed by a video about hunger in America that so prominently featured Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, it could have been a re-election commercial.
I guess everyone at FOX was watching FOX last Tuesday night because no complaints from teabaggers about Obama indoctrinating overweight Americans (with NBC's help) came up in my internet search.
The contestants as well as trainers Bob Harper & Jillian Michaels met with Senators Gillibrand & Casey to discuss child obesity. It was great to see two of our freshman senators getting some primetime exposure:
Contestant Danny from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma meets wth his Congressman, John Sullivan (R OK-1) on the steps of the Capital Building where they talk about Danny's fight with obesity and John's fight with alcoholism and they pledge to work together in the future to help other people fighting these battles within their district. This video was not televised and only available at "The Biggest Loser" website:
Contestant Rudy from Connecticut meets with his Congressman, Joe Courtney (D CT-2), in his office. They first talk about their Yankee/RedSox rivalry (Rudy's a Yankee fan, Joe a RedSox fan) and then talk about school nutrition and fitness. Joe asks Rudy to join him in touring school's in their district to talk to students about making healthy choices. This video was not televised and only available at "The Biggest Loser" website:
The reward challenge for this week had the contestants hit the streets of D.C. to find as many people as they could willing to participate in a group workout session led by Bob & Jillian on the lawn in front of the Washington Monument. The contestant who brought the most volunteers won this week's reward which was an advantage in the final immunity challenge (the winner of the immunity challenge not be eliminated that week regardless of their weight loss) and lunch at a Subway with all of their volunteers.
During the week, the cast & trainers also had lunch at The White House, hosted by Sam Kass, where they discussed the importance of nutrition and the benefits of home gardening.
Sam Kass, assistant White House Chef and food initiative coordinator, was recently featured in a New York Times article titled A White House Chef Who Wears Two Hats
His name is Sam Kass. And when he’s not grilling fish for the first family or tending tomatillos in the White House garden, he is pondering the details of child nutrition legislation, funding streams for the school lunch program and the best tactics to fight childhood obesity.
Mr. Kass was brought to the White House by the Obamas.
Mr. Kass, 29, forged a close bond with the Obamas while cooking for them and their children for about two years before they moved to Washington and has golfed with the president on Martha’s Vineyard. Behind the scenes, he attends briefings on child nutrition and health, has vetted nonprofits as potential partners for White House food initiatives and regularly peppers senior staff about policy matters.
Here is the recipe of The White House Salad featured in the episode:
White House Salad
1 head of fresh lettuce, wash, dry and cut into bite size pieces
1 cucumber peeled, and cut into bite sized pieces
2 fresh in season tomatoes, wash and cut into bite size pieces
¼ red onion, peel and cut as thinly as possible
1 bunch fresh basil, wash and chop into big pieces
4 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions in large mixing bowl. In sealable container, combine oil, lemon juice, honey and salt and pepper. Cover container and shake vigorously. Add dressing to salad and serve immediately.
Here is a video that includes the public workout in front of The Washington Monument, Sam Kass greeting the trainers and contestants on the White house lawn as well as everyone picking the ingredients for their lunch from Michele Obama's White House garden. Take a look at the cucumbers! It is also filled with lots of bonus accolades for the Obama's including from trainer Bob Harper:
I love this administration for so many reasons, but the fact that they've got their own garden that they eat from makes me love them so much that I want to grab them and squeeze them.
You can view pictures of the cast at The White House here.
The weigh-in, that normaly takes place in a studio, was filmed dramaticaly at night in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I couldn't find any clips on line so if you want to see it, you will need to watch the entire episode that will be available after this coming Tuesday at the NBC or Hulu websites.
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The part of the episode that featured Senator Durbin and offended Jake Tapper so much was definitely not a campaign commercial, but was indeed a promo about food banks fighting hunger in America, which, in addition to health & fitness, has been a major emphasis of "The Biggest Loser" for the past two seasons and quite appropriate and common for the show.
In the segment, Senator Durbin says:
You know, we read all of the headlines about the recession where 2.8 million americans lost their jobs last year. There are a lot of people that go to work everyday and still have a tough time feeding their families and themselves. They turn to these foodbanks during tough times.
Then Kate Muehr, executive director of The Greater Chicago Food Depository appears and says:
We need all americans coming together and saying hunger is not acceptable. There is no room for hunger in this country. I got to say we are pretty lucky in the State of Illinois. Senator Durbin is one of the strongest voices in the fight against hunger.
Senator Durbin reappears and says:
These food pantries and these feeding programs are our effort at every level - federal, state and local to give these families a helping hand during this recession.
Interspersed in the segment were clips of volunteers working at different food banks.
Last season "The Biggest Loser" in conjunction with General Mills started the
Pound For Pound Challenge. where viewers can sign up to lose weight and feed hungry Americans. For every pound that a viewer pledges to lose, General Mills will donate 14 cents to Feeding America which is enough for one pound of food that will be distributed to a local food bank. So far over 3.58 million pounds have been pledged by members of the PFP program.
About Feeding America:
Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network) is the nation’s leading domestic charitable hunger-relief organization. It provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive.
Feeding America’s network of more than 200 member food banks supports approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 70,000 programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, Kids Cafes, BackPack programs, and senior centers.
Each year, the Feeding America network provides assistance to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
As part of the Pound For Pound Challenge, Feeding America will use the funds donated to help secure and distribute groceries to its network of local food banks through both national and local efforts.
During every episode of "The Biggest Loser" viewers are encouraged to donate to their local food bank and they have a search link to find your local food bank, as well as links to Feeding America, on the front page of their website. On the past few seasons, at least one competion takes place at a food bank. This season contestants helped load up backpacks or Feeding America's program where they send school children home on Fridays with a backpack full of food to help feed their families over the weekend.