The first Great Politician Cook-Off lives up to the hype

In case you didn't hear, OLCV's Marion County chapter threw its first ever Politician Cook-Off and Sustainability Fair this past Sunday.

Creative, friendly and fun, this head-turning event attracted Democrats and Republicans alike who all gathered to celebrate the values we Oregonians share in common: the pride for our state's natural legacy and the passion to protect it.

Serious competition starts well before the event

As you may surmise, Oregon elected officials and candidates are extremely competitive by nature. So it did not come as a surprise that the competitors were so focused on victory once they started saucing up their chickens at the grill.

What I found surprising was just how serious our participants were about winning long before the event and to what lengths they would go to finish on top. We heard that one of our contestants, Salem City Councilor Laura Tesler, dug deep in her recipe repertoire for an authentic Indonesian recipe to marinate her chicken. Lucky for us, she omitted the step that called for leaving the chicken outside to marinate in 85 degree heat and humidity for a week.

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian brought in a team of his own supporters. Coincidentally, said supporters chose to sit at a table near the judges and loudly shout high praise for Avakian's grilling skills. Unfortunately for Avakian, we put several measures in place to ensure our contestants’ identities remained anonymous to the judges until they determined the winners of each round. Sorry Brad!

Rumor has it that Representative Brian Clem grilled chicken for seven days straight leading up to the big event so he could be considered a serious and legitimate competitor. With this kind of dedication, I’m betting Clem will rise to the top in next year’s competition. The real question is how many more chicken dinners can his family handle?

My name is Tresa and I am a meat cutter

As an organizer I wear a variety of hats at the events I am involved in. I’ve played the role of MC, ticket taker, coat checker, food prepper; well, you get the idea. I pretty much fill in wherever I am needed most. But if you asked me what I would be doing at the Politician Cook-Off on Sunday I wouldn't have answered “meat cutter.”

This being the beta version of our cook-off, we didn’t necessarily think through every single detail of the event. So when the time came to cut and serve the judges the grilled chicken samples we identified a very important role we had somehow overlooked. We did not have a meat cutter. Since all of the event volunteers were working hard on other various tasks at the time, I was the only person available.

What’s the big deal you may ask? Well, I don’t eat chicken and I certainly haven’t touched the stuff for nearly fifteen years now. I don’t like thinking of these inquisitive birds in tiny cages – or even in a barn – without the opportunity to enjoy a plump worm or fresh bug or two, and to be honest, I’m just not a huge fan of the taste. Now, all of our meat (chicken and pulled pork) was generously donated by Full of Life Farm. I must admit that knowing our chickens were grass-fed and pasture-raised did provide me with some solace. But it did not make me a good meat cutter (sorry judges!). I am currently accepting applications for my replacement at next year’s event.

Upset of 2010

If you were a betting person, you would’ve put all your money on Salem City Councilor Brad Nanke to win the title of Best Political Chef. Nanke has a reputation in Salem as being one of the best cooks in town. In fact, when he was announced as the winner of the first of three rounds I thought I heard murmurs in the crowd, “He’s the best around” and “I knew he would win. They should just give him the trophy now. ”

Front: Laura Tesler receives Best Political Chef of the Year award. Back: Bernard Smith, event judge & owner of Full of Life Farm

Imagine the surprise when Salem City Councilor Laura Tesler was awarded the golden tongs and announced to be OLCV's first ever Best Political Chef of the Year. The high rollers in Vegas were cursing but Tesler and her team were jumping up and down. The stunned crowd went crazy with applause. It was a huge upset.

After accepting the award Tesler and Nanke exchanged a few congratulatory words. Later Tesler still couldn’t believe she’d won, telling me, “I didn’t think anyone could beat Brad! I just can’t believe it. This feels great!” I think Laura is still debating whether to bring her golden tongs to the next city council meeting.

There were six articles in the Salem press, including this great story and photo gallery in the Salem Statesman Journal. See more links below.

Special thanks goes to...

It may come as no surprise that getting ten elected officials and candidates together (Democrat or Republican) to grill in an organized manner was no easy feat. But Evann Remington, chair of the OLCV Marion County Steering Committee and owner of Organic Fresh Fingers, managed to wrangle the candidates together, get them on the grills and keep everyone in line. Great job, Evann!

Organized by the all-volunteer Marion County Steering Committee, we hope the Politician Cook-Off and Sustainability Fair will become OLCV Marion County’s flagship event.

Locally-grown food provided by Persephone Farm, Minto Island Growers, Full of Life Farm and Cascade Bakery and drinks supplied by Willamette Valley Vineyards, the F Stop/Fitzgerald and the Coffee House Cafe.

The Politician Cook-Off may have been the focus of the event but we also had nearly a dozen vendors in the mix. Solarize Salem spread the word about some exciting new solar projects in the area and Chickens in the Yard had live chickens on display to show just how easy keeping chickens can be. View a full list of vendors and sponsors.

If you could not attend this year's event you can still support OLCV Marion County.

If you'd like information on how you can be involved next summer, email me.  

Here are some great articles about the 2010 Politician Cook-Off and Sustainability Fair.

• Cook-off puts focus on sustainability‎ The Statesman Journal
• Public officials, candidates play chef for conservation cause ‎The Statesman Journal
• Go! Gamut looks for fun‎ The Statesman Journal
• OLCV hosts Politician Cook-Off on Sunday The Statesman Journal 
• The Oregon League of Conservation Voters will host its first cookoff WillametteLive
• Barbecue competition brings community together The OLCV Blog