990303 Capitol Eatery Loads Up on Pork

Washington - It was almost like taking a vegetarian to a steakhouse. Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton took a hog farmer from home to a pork-free restaurant: the dining room at the U.S. House.

The farmer, Phil Howerton of Chilhowee, Mo., opened his lunch menu to find no bacon, no ham, no tenderloin. It was late last year, when the price of a pound of pork had sunk from $4.55 the previous year to 80 cents.

“Even though I was with a congressman, I thought, well, this would be a nice joke,” Howerton said. “I thought it would be cute to say something.”

Skelton took him seriously, calling over a manager to complain and following up with a couple of phone calls.

The result? The chef went hog wild.

“The famous Capitol Bean Soup, prepared with ham hocks, will of course remain the signature soup,” James Rodgers, the House's food services director, wrote Skelton in a Feb. 10 letter. “A shredded barbecue pork sandwich, a popular special in the past, is now on the daily menu.”

Also, there's now bacon in the Cobb Salad and a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, along with chef's specials featuring pork chops, roasted pork loin and other pork selections. And for breakfast, the restaurant serves pork sausage links, patties and bacon.

“The bottom line is, they're featuring pork in a big way,” said Skelton, a 12-term Democrat.

It's a continuing battle for hog farmers, who in the past year have convinced about 40% of the nation's top 200 restaurant chains to add pork to their menus, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

Missouri ranks seventh in pork production nationwide. And as in other states, Missouri's farmers are losing money on every hog they sell. “Prices have gone up a little bit, but they're still not to break-even levels,” said Howerton, an officer of the Missouri Pork Producers Association.

The government announced a $50 million aid package for pork producers last month. They're asking for $500 million more.

Skelton's boosterism isn't limited to restaurant menus - the 1998 edition of The Congressional Club Cookbook includes a recipe for pork tenderloin and apple filling contributed by his wife, Susie.

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