Our Silly, Sometimes Whimsical, Relationship With Food

What is your relationship with food?  Do you have a love of food?  How about foods you just can’t stand?

This headline on President Elect Obama’s distaste for beets got me thinking about this subject.  They mention the fact that former President George Bush (not W.) had a serious dislike of broccoli.  I was completely unaware of this fact, but I gather he was so opposed to this antioxidant-laden superfood that the following quote on the subject can be found on ThinkExist.com:

“I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”

Presidential Love Of Food

Most of us are aware that Ronald Reagan had a love affair with jelly beans, and former President Clinton’s culinary weaknesses were McDonald’s or a 24-ounce Porterhouse with onion rings.  But there’s actually a fair amount of information about the culinary habits of presidents past.  President Thomas Jefferson was apparently known to love garden peas (yuck!), and is even described as the original “flexitarian.”  (I had to look this up — its a “part time” vegetarian.”)  He also was a wine lover.  In contrast, Lincoln was a tee-totaler who avoided all alcoholic beverages.  Dwight Eisenhower would not touch a well-done steak, and is purportedly one of the only presidents to have cooked his own meals while residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Some of the former presidents dining habits gave clues to possible health issues.  For instance, President Kennedy abhorred dark meat.  He also suffered from symptoms that would now suggest he had celiac disease.  It is less commonly known that President Clinton is allergic to dairy and chocolate.  Could that be responsible for his sometimes questionable judgement in his personal life?!  It is rumored that his wife prefers lamb; a curiosity to me considering rarity of lamb at most American tables.

When it comes to food, we probably all have our biases.  Perhaps they are inexplicable, even to ourselves, but they shape us nonetheless.  It makes for interesting discussion though.  My wife tells me I’m not a very picky eater, but the one thing I usually avoid is peas.  I can take them if they’re mixed into other vegetables, but not by themselves.  The texture just doesn’t work for me at all.  How about the readers?  Do you have a particular love of food, or one you despise?  How does that bias affect you?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!