<p class="p1"><span class="s1">R</span><span class="s1">ep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://media.cq.com/members/25943?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peter Welch</a> knows how to make friends in Congress.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“If I give somebody maple syrup here, you’ve got a friend for life,” he said.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">The Vermont Democrat had breakfast with HOH and brought along some maple syrup from Richardson Farm, a five-generation sugaring operation right next to his home in Hartland, Vermont.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“I never have syrup from other states,” Welch said. “It wins awards, so it’s not just me being the Vermont chauvinist for the maple sugar industry. Vermont, it really is the biggest producer.”</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">As the state’s at-large congressman, he knows Vermont better than most. So what does a perfect day in the Green Mountain State look like?</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“In Vermont you’ve got to get up, do your chores, have a family breakfast,” he said. “That could be Vermont eggs, bacon — all can be local — pancakes and, obviously, maple syrup. You’ve got to have that.” </span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">All that food adds up.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“If you have that big breakfast, you’ve got to exercise,” Welch said. “So in the winter, it’s cross country skiing. In the summer, it’s running.”</span></p><p class="p3"><!-- Begin flowplayer container --> </p><div class="jwplayer"><!-- wp:shortcode -->[jwp-video n="1"]<!-- /wp:shortcode --></div><p class="p3"><span class="s1">There are friendly competitions among members of Congress from sugar-producing states over who makes it best.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“A lot of them brag about it,” he said. “<a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://media.cq.com/members/16021?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Courtney</a>’s my friend, works with me on a lot of agricultural issues. He’s from Connecticut, and he likes to claim Connecticut is the best, but that’s, like, laughable. Sen. [Charles E.] Schumer tries to claim New York is best, and actually, he’s been quite helpful on some of our legislation.”</span></p><p class="p3">The latest farm bill, which passed in 2014 and will expire in September, included wins for the maple syrup industry, such as grants for research and development.</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">New technologies are changing the way farmers tap trees, Welch said. </span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“They have reverse osmosis machines that take the water out of the sap before they boil it so they’re able to save a lot of fuel,” he said.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">But tradition and a sense of place are part of syrup’s appeal. </span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“There’s an enormous desire on the part of people to have local production of things. It’s a response to globalization,” he said.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Welch plans to keep evangelizing for the sticky breakfast staple.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“The industry, it’s really vital in Vermont,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard family work that people love.”</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">He also plans to keep the syrup flowing.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">“You got to be generous with the syrup here,” he said while eating Pete’s Diner pancakes. “Homer Simpson loved maple syrup too. Homer Simpson would always have a glass … in the morning, </span>which I don’t recommend unless you want to look like Homer.”</p><div id="cqrcPostAdditional"></div>
