Broccoli Rising and All the Presidents’ Food

Presidents are like the rest of us. They prefer some foods over others. In observance of Presidents Day, we take a look and have a taste, of what our presidents have wanted at their table.

Throughout our history, corn has often gotten the presidential seal of approval:

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln went for crispy hoecakes.

James Monroe, James K. Polk, Rutherford B. Hayes and Harry Truman loved their cornbread.

Jimmy Carter had a thing for creamy, comforting grits, which can also go by the name of sofkee.

There’s been a couple of calls for sauerkraut through the years. James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding were both fans. Sauerkraut and other fermented foods are great for the microbiome, feeding it the healthy bacteria it needs, but in both cases, it didn’t translate to stellar terms in office.

Buchanan sided with the South and its insistence on slavery, letting the country slide into Civil War. Harding paid hush money to mistresses, fathered an illegitimate child, and honey, that’s not even going into his numerous criminal business dealings.

Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln’s assassination, was America’s first impeached president. But he loved hopping john, that soulful, sustaining combination of rice and beans, so he couldn’t have been all bad. Could he?

It’s tempting to get all judgy about presidential food choices. In whose world is cottage cheese a favorite food? Richard Nixon’s apparently (perhaps we should have read the signs earlier). And my heart breaks for the poor squirrel that became William Henry Harrison’s squirrel soup.

But when examined from a broader perspective, presidential food choices reflect where we are as a country. It’s unlikely Washington made his own hoecakes. But he could have done. They’re simple, just cornmeal, water, salt, a lick of oil and a skillet. Like cabbage, rice and beans, it’s an American crop and a staple food.

Even squirrel soup, like Millard Fillmore’s resurrection pie (note the alarming photo) a way of making a meal of whatever was at hand. Both Harrison, our ninth president and Fillmore, our thirteenth, served in the strife-filled run-up to the Civil War. Tensions were high, but nobody was worrying about ultra-processed foods. They didn’t exist.

But food, like life, has gotten complicated. Our current president’s food preference bear that out. What McDonalds makes is fast, cheap. . . and ultra-processed. UPFs make up to 70% of most American’s diets. And they’re linked to so many things nobody wants, including increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression and cognitive decline.

UPFs are destroying us and the environment too. We’re drowning in fast food’s single-use packaging. Microplastics have polluted our air, our oceans and us. They will not biodegrade during this administration. Or our lifetime.

You may object to what a president eats or how he governs. That’s okay. The right to dissent is enshrined in the American Constitution under the First Amendment. In fact, as citizens, we have more power than we realize. So let’s use it. Food’s public health and environmental impacts aren’t just up to the president. They’re up to us too.

And now, for Presidents Day, that comfort classic, macaroni and cheese (but plant-based). It may not have made the list of presidential favorites, but we, the people, know what’s good.

And paid Broccoli Rising subscribers, have I got a super-exclusive something for you. Just scroll down to the bottom for the Big Reveal.

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

All-American macaroni and cheese is actually a French dish introduced to America thanks to James Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved Black chef.

• 1/2 cup toasted breadcrumbs

• 8 ounces (1/2 pound) short pasta — elbow macaroni, penne, fusilli, whatever you like. Preferably whole wheat.

• 4 tablespoons vegan butter (1/2 stick)

• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 2 cups unsweetened oat milk

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar

Lightly oil a deep ovenproof casserole or baking dish.

Sprinkle most of the breadcrumbs at the bottom of the casserole, reserving about 3 tablespoons for later.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Pour in the pasta and cook a few minutes less than package directions, so it’s still firm, but not crunchy. It will continue to cook in the oven.

Drain well and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium-high heat. Pour in the unbleached flour and stir until you have a smooth paste..

Pour in the oat milk and nutritional yeast, and continue to stir until you have a thick, creamy sauce. Season generously with sea salt and ground pepper.

Tumble the cooked pasta into the baking dish. Pour the sauce over everything.

Season again with sea salt and pepper, and scatter shredded cheddar over all. Top with remaining breadcrumbs.

Bake mac and cheese for 20 minutes, or until everything’s heated through and bubbly and crumb topping is golden brown.