People have connected over food and used meals for political ends for centuries. There are good reasons for this. Historically, the dining table has been considered a neutral space where weapons are put aside, frank conversations held, consensus built and agreements brokered.
“That toothsome meal arguably saved the Republic,” says the journalist, whose new book is “Dinner With the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House,” of Thomas Jefferson’s so-called Dinner Table Bargain. “The debate at Jefferson’s reverberates today.”