Political Appetites: Food As Rhetoric In American Politics

256 Pages·2014·2.05 MB·English

by  Alison Perelman

UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPeennnnssyyllvvaanniiaa
SScchhoollaarrllyyCCoommmmoonnss
Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations
2013
PPoolliittiiccaall AAppppeettiitteess:: FFoooodd aass RRhheettoorriicc iinn AAmmeerriiccaann PPoolliittiiccss
Alison Perelman
University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations
Part of the Communication Commons
RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn
Perelman, Alison, "Political Appetites: Food as Rhetoric in American Politics" (2013). Publicly Accessible
Penn Dissertations. 907.
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/907
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/907
For more information, please contact [email protected].
PPoolliittiiccaall AAppppeettiitteess:: FFoooodd aass RRhheettoorriicc iinn AAmmeerriiccaann PPoolliittiiccss
AAbbssttrraacctt
Food is mobilized as a site of political communication. The framing of food as politically relevant is
possible because food is deeply rooted in a particular cultural context; because food is symbolic of its
culinary community, therefore, it can be deployed as a form of strategic messaging. For that reason food
has played a role in political campaigning since the earliest American elections. However major changes
to the conditions under which politics is undertaken have altered the messages sent through food.
Specifically, the emergence of image-based campaigning and a taste-based notion of elitism has created
an environment in which food politics is designed to demonstrate a political figure's connection to, or
disconnection from, middle class American culture. This qualitative study investigates three sites--diner
politics, food faux pas, and the regulation of food--where food and politics intersect. Data for this analysis
consists of textual analysis of over 400 articles published in newspapers and magazines; semi-structured
interviews with public health advocates, political officials, and strategists; and candidate speeches and
peripheral campaign materials. Analysis of these data demonstrates that political strategists deploy food
tastes commonly associated with down-home culinary culture--namely tastes for diners, bars, and local
restaurants--as a way to present their candidate as in touch with average Americans. Conversely, food
faux pas committed by presidential candidates are treated by their opponents and the press as evidence
of the erring candidate's elite food tastes. But food tastes do not carry the same symbolic weight in
legislative contexts as they do in campaign contexts. This is because food tastes invoke little symbolism
for legislators. Even so, proposed food policy legislation can nonetheless be framed by the press as a site
of symbolic conflict if and when oppositional voices adopt the "food police" narrative. In sum, the
mobilization of food's symbolic value is motivated by the desire to frame political figures according to
their food tastes. This is the case because such a narrative maps onto the increasing role of personal
tastes in the cultural organizing of the American public.
DDeeggrreeee TTyyppee
Dissertation
DDeeggrreeee NNaammee
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
GGrraadduuaattee GGrroouupp
Communication
FFiirrsstt AAddvviissoorr
Michael X. Delli Carpini
KKeeyywwoorrddss
Campaigns, Culture War, Food, Politics, Regulation, Taste
SSuubbjjeecctt CCaatteeggoorriieess
Communication
This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/907
POLITICAL APPETITES: FOOD AS RHETORIC IN AMERICAN POLITICS

Alison Perelman

A DISSERTATION

in

Communication

Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania

in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

2013

Supervisor of Dissertation Co-Supervisor of Dissertation

_____________________ _________________________
Michael X. Delli Carpini, Katherine Sender, Professor
Professor of Communication and The University of Auckland
Walter H. Annenberg Dean

Graduate Group Chairperson

__________________________
Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of
Communication, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies

Dissertation Committee:
Michael X. Delli Carpini, Professor of Communication and Walter H. Annenberg Dean
Katherine Sender, Professor The University of Auckland
Sharrona Pearl, Assistant Professor of Communication
POLITICAL APPETITES:
FOOD AS RHETORIC IN AMERICAN POLITICS

© 2013
Alison Perelman
iii
DEDICATION

To Amaya,
To my parents,
To my committee

Thank you.
iv
ABSTRACT

POLITICAL APPETITES: FOOD AS RHETORIC IN AMERICAN POLITICS
Alison Perelman
Michael X. Delli Carpini
Katherine Sender

Food is mobilized as a site of political communication. The framing of food as politically
relevant is possible because food is deeply rooted in a particular cultural context; because
food is symbolic of its culinary community, therefore, it can be deployed as a form of
strategic messaging. For that reason food has played a role in political campaigning since
the earliest American elections. However major changes to the conditions under which
politics is undertaken have altered the messages sent through food. Specifically, the
emergence of image-based campaigning and a taste-based notion of elitism has created an
environment in which food politics is designed to demonstrate a political figure’s
connection to, or disconnection from, middle class American culture. This qualitative
study investigates three sites—diner politics, food faux pas, and the regulation of food—
where food and politics intersect. Data for this analysis consists of textual analysis of
over 400 articles published in newspapers and magazines; semi-structured interviews
with public health advocates, political officials, and strategists; and candidate speeches
and peripheral campaign materials. Analysis of these data demonstrates that political
v
strategists deploy food tastes commonly associated with down-home culinary culture—
namely tastes for diners, bars, and local restaurants—as a way to present their candidate
as in touch with average Americans. Conversely, food faux pas committed by
presidential candidates are treated by their opponents and the press as evidence of the
erring candidate’s elite food tastes. But food tastes do not carry the same symbolic
weight in legislative contexts as they do in campaign contexts. This is because food
tastes invoke little symbolism for legislators. Even so, proposed food policy legislation
can nonetheless be framed by the press as a site of symbolic conflict if and when
oppositional voices adopt the “food police” narrative. In sum, the mobilization of food’s
symbolic value is motivated by the desire to frame political figures according to their
food tastes. This is the case because such a narrative maps onto the increasing role of
personal tastes in the cultural organizing of the American public.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: TELL ME WHAT YOU EAT AND I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU ARE ............... 1
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 1
Political Polarization, Culture War Rhetoric, and the Communicative Capacity of Food.............. 6
Why Do We Care About Tastes? Class, Culture, and Political Polarization in the United States. 6
What are Food Tastes? And What Can They Tell Us About Political Figures? ............................... 13
How Does Food Communicate? ......................................................................................................................... 18
What Does It Mean to Eat American? ............................................................................................................. 22
Method .................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Textual Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................... 31
Interviews .................................................................................................................................................................. 33
Reflexivity .................................................................................................................................................................. 35
Project Summary and Overview ................................................................................................................. 36
CHAPTER 2: A CANDIDATE WALKS INTO A DINER… ................................................................ 40
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 40
The Personalized Candidate: Image-based Campaigns, Candidate Tastes, and Journalists’
Professional Conventions ..................................................................................................................................... 44
History of Diner Politics ................................................................................................................................. 53
Anatomy of a Diner Stop ................................................................................................................................ 56
The Diner as a Stage: Diners as Sites of Symbolic Politicking ........................................................ 61
And Everyone Plays His Part: Retail Campaigning as Symbolic Politicking ............................. 66
The Role of Pancakes Will Be Played by Plantains: Local and Ethnic Diner Politics ............ 69
Taking the Show on the Road: Mobilizing Diner Politics in Other Venues ............................... 73
When Journalists Flip the Script: Coverage of Diner Politics as Campaign Strategy ............ 78
Playing to Bad Reviews: Candidate Failures at Diner Politics ........................................................ 82
CHAPTER 3: WHEN IT ALL GOES HORRIBLY WRONG ............................................................. 88
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 88
Conceptualizing Candidate Mistakes: Media Framing and Priming, Narratives, and Voters’
Assessment of Candidates .................................................................................................................................... 93
The History of Food Faux Pas ................................................................................................................... 101
Lettuce Entertain You: Two Case Studies in Food Faux Pas ........................................................ 106
You Vote How You Eat: The Naturalization of Microtargeting ................................................... 124
You Don’t Win Friends with Salad: Healthy Eating as a Campaign Liability ......................... 127
Do What I Say, Not What I Eat: Healthy Eating as Legislative Policy ....................................... 138
CHAPTER 4: SOMEONE CALL THE FOOD POLICE! .................................................................. 141
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 141
vii
Telling Both Sides: The Impact of Conflict Frames on Media Coverage of Anti-Tobacco and
Anti-Obesity Regulations ................................................................................................................................... 149
The History of the Nanny State and the Food Police ....................................................................... 160
Trans Fat Bans: Media Coverage and the Rejection of the Food Police Narrative .............. 162
Let’s Move: An Acknowledgement of Conflict But Not a Site of Conflict ................................. 172
Soda Tax: The Media’s Privileging of Symbolism Over Legislators’ Pragmatic Concerns 181
Soda as Smoking: A Final Analysis of the Journalistic Reliance on Balance Frames in
Regulatory Contexts ...................................................................................................................................... 191
CHAPTER 5: THE DIGITIZATION OF DINER POLITICS? ........................................................ 196
Looking Back .................................................................................................................................................... 196
Chapter Summaries, Theoretical Contributions, and Methodological Limitations ..................... 199
What it Means .................................................................................................................................................. 206
Looking Ahead................................................................................................................................................. 210
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................... 214
Appendix A: Interview Solicitation ......................................................................................................... 214
Appendix B: List of Informants ................................................................................................................ 215
Appendix C: Sample Interview Schedule.............................................................................................. 216
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 217
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Image I: Severson, K. (2008, April 16). What's for dinner? The pollster wants to
know. The New York Times. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16voters.html?pagewanted=all
Image II: Carnevale, M. L. (2011, June 28). Obama in Iowa: Mountains and
volcanoes. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/06/28/obama-in-iowa-mountains-and-volcanos/
Image III: (1996). America Votes. Retrieved from
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/americavotes/
Image IV: Anthony, C. (29, July 2011). Hail to the chef: The hamburger of Michelle
Obama and the politics and pop culture of presidential food. Retrieved from
http://carlanthonyonline.com/2011/07/29/hail-to-the-chef-michelle-obamas-hamburger-
and-the-politics-and-pop-culture-of-presidential-food-part-one-of-two/
Image V: Shih, G. (2009, June 25). Game changer in retailing, bar code is 35. The New
York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/technology/26barcode.html
Image VI: (2011, February 17). Coney Island: Then and now. New York Daily News.
Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/coney-island-gallery-
1.1041976
Image VII: Domol, J. (2011, April 14). The great tamale incident. Retrieved from
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/vault/2011/04/the-great-tamale-incident/
Image VIII: Rooney, K. (2008, April 26). Obama's bubba gap. Newsweek. Retrieved
from http://thepage.time.com/2008/04/26/newsweeks-coverboy/
Image IX: (2012). Beer Koozie. Retrieved from
http://store.barackobama.com/accessories/joe-biden-can-holder.html
Image X: Stewart, J. (2012, June 13). How broccoli ended up on the Supreme Court
menu. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/business/how-broccoli-became-a-symbol-in-the-
health-care-debate.html?pagewanted=all