Food Politics

Thomas Jefferson: America’s Foodiest President

Photo: Wikipedia/Creative Commons

For all the attention that the Obama family gets for its food-savviness, Barack doesn’t even crack into the top five gastronomically notable presidents. According to the Village Voice, proto-locavore Thomas Jefferson was “the Alice Waters of his age” and grew 500 varieties of fruit and vegetables on his Monticello estate, traveled France in order to fill his wine cellar, and championed the then-zygotic American wine industry. Also cracking the top five are Lyndon Johnson, a barbecue fan who liked to prank his guests with super-spicy Mexican food; Andrew Jackson, who kept “wheels and wheels” of cheese in the White House at all times; William Howard Taft, whose breakfasts had as many courses as a dinner at Per Se; and James Buchanan, who once served up 1,200 quarts of ice cream at a single party. [Fork in the Road/VV]

Thomas Jefferson: America’s Foodiest President