Politics on a Plate: Uses and Abuses of Foodways on the Campaign Trail

Abstract:This article focuses on the interrelationship of eating and politicking mainly among candidates running for the U.S. presidency in 2016. Food in politicians' campaigns has received increasing attention in the mass media. My analysis of this material uncovers customs, beliefs, and other traditions; it provides answers to questions about why "retail politics" at fairs and local eateries is popular, what culinary choices might reveal about candidates' personalities and values, and how those running for office use and abuse food and eating. Topics of gender, gaffes, insults, body image, and purveyors naming foods to honor or demean contenders are also explored. Much of the study concerns Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump, the finalists in the 2016 presidential race. This essay contributes to the burgeoning field of foodways study generally and specifically to the politics and symbolic nature of alimentation among aspiring office holders.