Political Appetites

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 plants signaled pride in American abundance. Women, enslaved cooks, Indigenous herbalists, artisans, and political satirists all helped shape this shared culinary vocabulary, making food an arena where people without formal political rights could still participate in nation-building. Examining visual culture, broadsides, recipes, horticultural writings, and domestic artifacts, Political Appetites offers a vivid portrait of a society learning to express its ideals through the everyday acts of eating and preparing food. Siegel includes historical recipes—short, evocative, and workable for modern kitchens—inviting readers to experience these early flavors firsthand.

Engaging and original, Political Appetites reframes familiar stories of revolution and independence by tracing the political meanings embedded in the meals people cooked, the gardens they nurtured, and the tableware they used. It reminds us that long before debates about fast food chains or "freedom fries," Americans were already shaping their politics at the table.

Nancy Siegel is a professor of art history and culinary history at Towson University. She is the author of Susie M. Barstow: Redefining the Hudson River School.