Assistant White House chef Sam Kass, once a Chicago cook privately paid for meals by the Obama family, has just been quietly promoted — to senior policy adviser.
The 29-year-old Kass, who used to be a mere “Food Initiative Coordinator” for first lady Michelle Obama, is now a “Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food initiatives,” according to Obama Foodorama. The White House insists that Kass will have no new responsibilities and that the name change merely indicates more accurately his responsibilities within the administration.
Critics, though, don’t seem to like what they’re smelling from Kass’s kitchen. The young chef, whose salary is not disclosed because he officially belongs to the residence staff of the White House, has been derided by some as a personal insider promoted beyond his expertise.
“Makes you wonder what Kass has been putting in the Obama’s food all these years,” reads a post on a Judicial Watch blog.
Still, Kass, a graduate of the University of Chicago, is far from inexperienced on health-related policy issues. He has worked with nonprofits on White House food initiatives and has been the public face of health-related issues for the administration for over a year. At times, the New York Times reports, he has peppered staffers with questions about health policy.
Kass’s familiarity with all things food makes him the right point man for what the administration apparently sees as an epic challenge on par with some of the country’s greatest struggles. Michelle Obama has unironically compared work to end obesity to the civil rights movement and has told crowds to look to Rosa Parks for inspiration when trying to slim down.
“Back in 1958, folks right here in Kansas City saw what folks down in Montgomery had achieved with their bus boycott,” the first lady told the NAACP at its annual meeting on Monday. “So they were inspired by all those men and women who walked miles — walked miles home each day on aching feet because they knew there was a principle at stake…We owe it to all those who’ve come before us to ensure that all those who come after us — our children and our grandchildren — that they have the strength and the energy and the enduring good health that they need to continue and complete that journey.”
Obama went on to say that obesity is, in some ways, a uniquely black problem.
“African-American children are significantly more likely to be obese than are white children,” she said. “Nearly half of African-American children will develop diabetes at some point in their lives. People, that’s half of our children!”
The first lady’s colorful anti-obesity campaign website, “Let’s Move,” hosts a show featuring Kass that offers tips for youth looking to lose a few pounds.
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