There's one thing you'll take away from this rather long article in Politico about where and what Michelle Obama is eating:
She eats well.
With great detail, the author explains and recreates some of the meals the First Lady has eaten in some of Washington's best restaurants: From lightly fried oysters to tiny tacos to sushi to burgers and pizza, Michelle Obama is clearly our nation's first "foodie" First Lady. And while she has become a great patron of our city's fine eating establishments, her constant and often headline-grabbing food adventures around Washington reveal yet again just how out of touch she is with the rest of America.
In short, the First Lady's message of healthy eating gets a little muddled in the face of her high-profile (and extremely high-calorie) food hobby.
No, I'm not going to criticize the First Lady for eating french fries (although I have in the past) but reviewing this article makes clear that the first lady doesn't exist on a diet of mesclun greens. She clearly likes to eat (good for her!) yet see seems baffled that the rest of America likes to eat delicious–and not always healthy–food too.
See, Mrs. Obama, we're just like you!
And while the haute cuisine of Presidents is different than what the average citizen eats, when it comes to calories, food is pretty much the same. While Ms. Obama might be eating french fries that have been double fried in clarified butter (like they do at Citronelle), the fast food french fries that the average Joe eats are just as high in fat and calories (actually, thanks to the wet blankets over at the CSPI, the fast food fries are probably healthier and not as tasty after being cooked in "good" oil as opposed to the beef fat of the good ole' days). In other words, just because you eat food in a high-end restaurant doesn't mean it's any healthier.
Considering all this eating, it's amazing that Mrs. Obama keeps her trim figure. Huh…I wonder how she does it?
Well, let's tick down the reasons: Michelle Obama has a personal staff, a gym inside her home, personal trainers at her beck and call, her own chef and cooking staff, private doctors and specialists at her immediate disposal, a personal shopper and stylist (not to mention designers who would do anything to dress her).
Michelle Obama has a charmed life filled with charming food. The rest of America like to eat good food too…and we'll take our belt buckles out a few notches if that's what we have to do. Of course, we'd all have firm, sinewy arms and a taught tummy if we had a staff on hand, like the First Lady does.
But since we don't, we'll take a side of "please leave us alone!" with our low-brow fast food meal.