HUFFINGTON
09.09.12
FOOD FIGHT!
“I don’t want to see politicians drink
French wine by the glass or go to a
tapas bar I can’t afford. Looking like
a caveman while eating barbecue
isn’t acceptable either.”
Darra Goldstein, editor in chief of
the food journal Gastronomica,
consumption has long been treated as performance in matters of
politics. In the middle ages, courts
would create “bystander galleries”
at luxurious banquets from which
commoners could observe the feast
unfold. In turn, aristocrats threw
carnivals for their subjects, and
watched the revelry and food fighting from their balconies.
“The difference now is that
politicians are expected to go out
and mix with the people,” said
Goldstein. “The paradox is we
both want to admire those who
govern us but have them not be
too different from us.”
Of course, for all the operatives
working to wage these tricky gastronomic campaigns successfully,
there are many who wish that eating—a universal activity—weren’t
so steeped in politics.
“We sell cheese and smoked
meats and delicious homemade
turkey breast. Nothing about that is
partisan,” said Debra Krause-Mcdonnell, owner of Krause’s in Cincinnati, Ohio. Earlier this summer,
an image of her storefront appeared
in an Obama campaign commercial
without Krause’s permission. She
sent out a press release and went
on national news to try to get the
video taken off the air.
“I was used as a political pawn,”
said Krause. “A lot of small businesses are.”
Regardless of its tactics, a
good campaign food strategy
can help decide whether or not
someone dines regularly in the
White House. Andrew Jackson
won his first election in part by
cloaking himself in barbecue’s
rustic aroma, historians say.
“Nothing is more basic to people’s lives than food,” said Caudill.
“It has the power to make people
think your candidate understands them.”