Published October 21, 2026 (Episode 480)
Introduction
During the era of the American Revolution, food and drink had political meanings and could express what Americans thought their government should be. For some Americans, they were the only means by which they could do so.
From protests over tea—and the brewing of tea alternatives—to mammoth cheeses delivered to Thomas Jefferson and mammoth cakes baked for Election Day; from planting gardens to setting tables: all of these could be statements of political purpose. And these were activities and practices engaged in not only by white men with sufficient property to qualify them to vote, but by poor white men, women, enslaved people, and Native Americans. Through growing, preparing, serving, and eating food, they too could participate in nation-building.
In this conversation, Nancy Siegel explains how ordinary foods became instruments of protest, persuasion, satire, commemoration, and political participation—and why the history of democracy can be found in kitchens and gardens as well as legislatures and battlefields.
About the Guest
Nancy Siegel is Professor of Art History and Culinary History and Assistant Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Towson University. Her work brings together American art, landscape studies, print culture, foodways, and the culinary history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Her new book, Political Appetites: The Power of Food in Revolutionary America, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press on October 13, 2026. It inspired the WMHT Public Media documentary Feeding the American Revolution, hosted by Siegel and premiering December 8.
For Further Investigation
Nancy Siegel, Political Appetites: The Power of Food in Revolutionary America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2026).
Feeding the American Revolution, the trailer for the WMHT documentary hosted by Nancy Siegel.
Amelia Simmons, American Cookery (1796), digitized by the Library of Congress.
Attributed to Philip Dawe, A Society of Patriotic Ladies, at Edenton in North Carolina (1775), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
James Gillray, Temperance Enjoying a Frugal Meal (1792), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Raphaelle Peale, Peaches Covered by a Handkerchief (1819), from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Historically Thinking, Field Guide No. 3: The Age of the American Revolution.
Related Episodes
Suitable: Chloe Chapin on clothing, consumption, and political identity in the Revolutionary era.
When the Declaration of Independence Was News: Emily Sneff on how people first encountered independence.
World Crisis: Richard Bell on the American Revolution as a global event.
Corn Syrup: Brian Leech on food, labor, technology, and the transformation of the American diet.
Tags
American Revolution; Early Republic; Food History; Culinary History; Nancy Siegel; Political Appetites; Liberty Tea; Election Cake; Edenton Tea Party; Women’s History; Indigenous History; Slavery; Material Culture; Political Satire; Thomas Jefferson; Amelia Simmons; American Cookery; Historically Thinking
