Obama says 'eat our peas' and pea growers agree

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama may not have won a political consensus on how to trim the budget, but he's getting quick agreement from the nation's pea growers.

Speaking at a White House news conference about the need for a politically painful deal to raise the nation's borrowing limit, Obama said that it's time to "pull off the Band-Aid" and "eat our peas."

Pea growers agreed. The USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council chose to take the president's comments as an endorsement of their product. The group's director of marketing, Pete Klaiber, said eating peas "will contribute to a balanced diet, if not a balanced budget."

Klaiber also said that peas would close nutritional loopholes — and that it couldn't hurt to eat more lentils, too.