14 DAY TRIAL // With First Lady Michelle Obama working hard on the White House garden, the first one in many years, the President is now under heavy fire on the Internet for his open aversion to beets, and their exclusion from the much-mediated garden. Food and vegetable bloggers are all taking to their websites to urge the “gardener-in-chief” to at least reconsider his position towards beets, as the New York Times informs.
Barack Obama always said he did “[his] best to avoid” beets, but never really mentioned if he had a particular reason for doing so. Now, with Michelle Obama working on the White House garden, word got out in the media that beets would not be included among the many vegetables that would be getting presidential treatment, which, of course, prompted a wave of pleas and criticism directed towards the President himself. Never shun something as healthy and delicious as beets are without at least trying them out a couple of times, most bloggers say.
According to the NY Times piece, most bloggers, self-titled beet advocates, hail the beet as the new broccoli, and are prompted to make their pleas public lest the President’s dislike will spread to other Americans as well. In this sense, his children would be the first to suffer the consequences of such an unfounded dislike, as the Political Machine blog points out. “He can’t very well expect his kids to reach across the aisle and try new foods, while practicing beet partisanship himself.” a post on it reads.
The Serious Eats food blog, though, takes a more direct approach to the problem, saying that, while beets are an acquired taste, most people’s dislike of them arises from their childhood years, when they were served the vegetable not cooked right, that is, in such a way as to bring the best flavor of it.
“C’mon, serious eaters, don’t you think the Prez needs to get over himself and start to dig beets? Perhaps he needs a copy of Jeffrey Steingarten’s ‘The Man Who Ate Everything’ so that he can overcome what I am sure is a lifelong aversion to beets. Most of us hated beets when we were growing up, Mr. President. That’s because all we were served were horrendous canned beets that turned all the other food on our plates red. Won’t you join me in imploring our first family to plant some beets in their garden?” a post on the blog shares.
Similarly, other bloggers resort to pointing out the many benefits of the vegetables to lure the President into at least giving them a try, or a second chance if that may be the case. “High in folate, beets are also high in betaine, which works with folate to help reduce inflammatory compounds that can damage your arteries and increase your risk of heart disease. Plus, the pigment that gives beets their crimson color has been identified as a potent cancer fighter in laboratory mice.” FitSugar explains, ending the post with a direct plea to the President to reconsider his stand.
So far, President Barack Obama has not responded in any way to the appeals that are being widely circulated on the Internet, but keep an eye on this space for when he does.