President's Day Meaty Monday

In honor of President's Day I decided to take a look at what our former presidents ate, particularly, what meats they favored. I stumbled upon The Food Timeline, where our journey begins.

So, what meat did our first president George Washington enjoy? What about Honest Abe? Did JFK have a taste for a particular morsel of meaty goodness? How about Ronald Reagan?

Here's the run down of just a few:

• George Washington had simple tastes when it came to food. He liked his meals hardy but plain. However, Washington seemed to favor fish above all other meats.
• Abraham Lincoln had the appetite of a farm boy, especially, when it came to bacon. He'd fit right in around here!
• James Garfield reportedly loved milk and squirrel soup but hated oatmeal. Well, each to their own.
• FDR, while he served hot dogs to the Queen of England, loved rabbit for his Sunday supper but he also enjoyed creamed chipped beef, bacon, sausage, and other traditionally American dishes.
• JFK was more upscale and swanky then many of his predecessors. He enjoyed a French cuisine often ordering a bowl of vichyssoise and chicken in champagne sauce. No squirrel for the Kennedy's. 
• The Reagan's were definitely bread eaters but Ronald Reagan loved roast beef.

Hungry for a second helping?

Here's a favorite food list from The Favorite Foods of Presidents Past:

• Barack Obama: Fran’s Smoked Salt Caramels (buttery caramels coated in milk chocolate and sprinkled with smoked sea salt).
• George W. Bush: Homemade ‘cheeseburger pizzas’ composed of a cheeseburger on top of a margherita pizza.
• Bill Clinton: Jalapeño cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickles, and onions.
• George Bush: Pork rinds.
• Ronald Reagan: Jelly beans.
• Richard Nixon: Cottage cheese and ketchup.
• Lyndon B. Johnson: Like Warren Buffet, he had a daily hamburger fix.
• John F. Kennedy: Boston clam chowder and ice cream with hot fudge.
• Dwight Eisenhower: Beef stew.
• Harry S. Truman: His mama’s fried chicken and custard pie; his wife’s chocolate cake, as well as chicken and dumplings.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt: Grilled cheese sandwich, scrambled eggs, fish chowder, hot dogs, and fruitcake.
• Warren G. Harding: Men’s-only dinners featuring saurkraut and knockwurst.
• Theodore Roosevelt: Fried chicken smothered in white gravy.
• Abraham Lincoln: His mother’s gingerbread.
• Andrew Jackson: Cheddar cheese. A 1,400-pound wheel of it.
• Thomas Jefferson: Expensive red wine.
• John Adams: New England cheese, bacon, white potatoes, and cider.
• Georgia Washington: Nuts, so much so that he had dental issues from cracking them with his teeth so much.

It is interesting to see that each president's tastes are as different as our own. Some people swear by pork or poultry, others are all beef all the time. Yet others prefer to just veg out with no meat in sight. The amazing thing is that we each have that choice to make. Just as every president has certain preferences, ideas, and agendas so too does every person.

As a society we need to be understanding of our differences and respectful of individual choices.

That's enough insight for one day. Enjoy President's Day, everybody!