Political Appetites: The Power of Food in Revolutionary America

The book that inspired the WMHT Public Media original documentary, Feeding the American Revolution. Food has long carried political meaning, and revolutionary America was no exception.In Political Appetites, art and culinary historian Nancy Siegel uncovers a richly layered story in which meals, ingredients, and even kitchenware helped Americans define what democracy should look-and taste-like.From tea boycotts and homemade "Liberty Tea" to Washington Pie, Election Cake, and Mammoth Cheese, Siegel shows how ordinary foods became vehicles for protest, persuasion, and celebration during the years surrounding the Revolution and the Early Republic. The book moves from the Stamp Act crisis of 1765 through the 1830s, revealing how practices as simple as cooking, planting a garden, or setting a table could carry distinctly political weight.Imported luxuries symbolized ties to Britain, patriotic ceramics and satirical prints circulated new ideas about citizenship, and the cultivation of native