Political Appetites: The Power of Food in Revolutionary America

$35 · Offered by Kitchen Arts & Letters

This is a Featured Preorder* for a book that will be published October 13, 2026. This is what the publisher tells us about this book: The book that inspired the WMHT Public Media original documentary, Feeding the American Revolution . Food has long carried political meaning, and revolutionary America was no exception. In Political Appetites , art and culinary historian Nancy Siegel uncovers a richly layered story in which meals, ingredients, and even kitchenware helped Americans define what democracy should look—and taste—like. From tea boycotts and homemade "Liberty Tea" to Washington Pie, Election Cake, and Mammoth Cheese, Siegel shows how ordinary foods became vehicles for protest, persuasion, and celebration during the years surrounding the Revolution and the Early Republic. The book moves from the Stamp Act crisis of 1765 through the 1830s, revealing how practices as simple as cooking, planting a garden, or setting a table could carry distinctly political weight. Imported luxuries symbolized ties to Britain, patriotic ceramics and satirical prints circulated new ideas about citizenship, and the cultivation of native plants signaled pride in American abundance. Women, enslaved cooks, Indigenous herbalists, artisans, and political satirists all helped shape this shared culinary vocabulary, making food an arena where people without formal political rights could still participate in nation-building. Examining visual culture, broadsides, recipes, horticultural writings, and d

• Binding: Hardcover

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