Everyone wants food reform [1]. Parents want better school lunches. Consumer groups call to improve food-safety regulations. The Humane Society wants kinder policies towards animals. And a high-profile White House chef who cooks "delicious, local food" would be great! (Thanks Gourmet editor.)

But one person's reform is another person's tax dollar, and there aren't enough dollars to go around [2]. As if there ever were. Even once decided, improved food policies could take years to implement.

If policy changes take years and tax dollars are tight, Ruth Reichl, the Gourmet editor, could be onto something. After all in like 2004, I read about the back-to-basics cocktail trend in Gourmet, and look where we are now [3]! To see how Obama's personal changes could affect the way we eat, .

A garden in front of the White House — like a Maine-based campaign is already promoting [4] — would be a visible commitment to eating locally. And even if a White House chef who cooked with garden ingredients only created buzz among foodies initially, it would accelerate the know-where-it-came-from movement further into the mainstream.

"It's like the hat manufacturers being furious because JFK didn't wear a hat, and suddenly everyone in America stopped wearing hats," Reichl said. "It's that simple."

Maybe it's not that simple, but could it be a simple start?

Source [5]