KEY POINTS:
Let them not eat cake, the Government decreed of school tuck shops, and so it came to pass.
But as school kids face a future of lettuce and pumpkin seeds, Parliament's own tuck shop, Copperfields Cafe, was offering stir-fried pork and the pie warmer was stocked with pies, sausage rolls and lasagne toppers.
There was a wall of chocolate bars and chips at the Bean Hive coffee bar, and when it comes to the custard squares it's the quick or the dead.
All of which makes one wonder if politicians can be trusted to make better food choices than children.
Clem Simich - who chairs a committee of MPs which meets every three months to check Bellamy's performance and suggest improvements - thinks so.
"Yes ... you make better choices as time goes on because there is less time left ... When you're young you don't pay attention to these things."
Green MP Metiria Turei said legend had it that new MPs would gain at least 5kg in their first year. She was no exception, but had since lost "a lot" of weight, for which she praises Bellamy's. "I've got an almost standing order for plates of steamed vegetables."
Nutrition has infiltrated Copperfields in the form of a salad bar with lettuce, various other greens, eggs, nuts, and dried fruits, and there are pamphlets reminding of the dangers of fast food on each table.
Ms Turei said there were gripes about the limited choices for vegetarians.
But there are chicken wraps and sushi, and last week Copperfields introduced risoni, roast vegetable or pasta salads.
MPs like Paul Hutchison use the salad bar liberally. He gets his lettuce, slathers it with seeds of some variety and dresses it with a drop of olive oil. Occasionally he has a piece of carrot cake.
He thinks some of the food is too fatty, and worries about the pies and cakes, but more because of freshness and the ingredients, rather than simply blaming cake for being cake. He has written to Mr Simich's committee asking for more fresh food to be easily available for longer.
But just as he thinks the new rules for schools are far too prescriptive, he says MPs should be given choices. "It would stink of a nanny state if we were commanded to eat A, B and C."
But some traditions are hard to break. Ms Turei notes the platters of food provided for select committee meetings are now "radically altered" to consist of fresh fruit, but sometimes traditional chocolate biscuits sneak in.
"There are always complaints when there aren't chocolate biscuits."
Bellamy's has already learned the perils of discarding traditions: in 2000 there was near-revolt when the scone-maker responsible for the popular cheese scones was transferred. A new scone-maker was quickly hired.
