Chili Dogs, Fries, and Wings—Diet of a Frat Guy or President Obama?

Michelle Obama must be pissed by her hubby's dietary choices. While the First Lady continues to combat obesity and promote healthy, sustainable eating through her Let's Move campaign, President Obama's been spotted eating at some dubious dining establishments. I hope this post doesn't get you into trouble with the missis, President Obama, but I feel compelled to call you out.

According to NDTV.com, before the inauguration, Obama scored himself a chili dog from D.C.'s Ben's Chili Bowl. Then just last month, reporters caught the president chowing down on hot wings, french fries, and onion rings at Duff's Famous Wings outside Buffalo. NDTV also reports that our commander-in-chief regularly lunches at spots like Five Guys (a burger joint) and Ray's Hell-Burger (another burger joint). Being a locavore doesn't mean frequenting D.C.'s junk food restaurants, Obama. It means selecting ecologically produced fruits, veggies, meats, and dairy from local producers.

Normally I'm not a fan of singling out folks for their environmentally or physically destructive eating habits. But when that person is a public figure whom kids and adults regard as a leader, I throw discretion aside. The President of the United States is, by textbook definition, a person that citizens look up to. When children—and adults, for that matter—see the head of their country chowing down on fried foods and factory-farmed meat, it sets a poor example. A recent study found that junk food advertising in the U.S. contributes to as much as 40 percent of childhood obesity cases. Sure, the president's not technically advertising for these restaurants. But when kids see the president on TV or in newspapers inhaling burgers and french fries, can they really make a clear distinction?

I'm especially surprised by President Obama's junk food addiction because it's so incongruous with his wife's major platform: local, sustainable eating and combating childhood obesity. From the moment the Obama's moved to D.C., Michelle Obama got busy hiring chefs that use local, organic, and seasonal ingredients; overseeing the planting of the White House vegetable garden; and kick-starting the Let's Move campaign, an initiative that aims to end America's childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. To see her marital and political partner stuffing down hot dogs is just, well, totally bizarre.

President Obama's really missing an opportunity to lead the nation's sustainable food movement by example. Though he claims to like arugula, the media sees Obama consistently loving on unhealthy foods. Let's see some photographs of the president savoring some seasonal, organic fare, or biting into fresh, local produce from the White House vegetable garden. Then the country's sustainable food movement would really start cooking.

Photo credit: dbking via Wikimedia Commons