Michelle Obama doesn’t like beets and apparently neither does her

husband.

My grandmother once called me her little beet-eater because I liked

the red root vegetable that I really only ever got at her table. I

don’t think they were fresh beets too often but their sweetness

seemed to me a little like dessert in the middle of the meal.

President George H. W. Bush became the oldest kid in history to revolt

against eating his vegetables when he famously told the press “I

haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat

it. And I’m president of the United States and I’m not going to eat

any more broccoli."

I haven’t eaten beets in years, even when they were available and on

the table I have declined to eat them. I don’t necessarily think it’s

because I don’t like them anymore, it could just be that my

grandmother isn’t around to serve them.

If I suddenly ascended to the White House either as president or

first spouse, I’m not sure what food I would rebel against.

My wife would likely ban raisins or okra. She says raisins look like

dead flies and okra is too slimy. I like both and would likely sneak

around her ban, especially where okra is concerned.

I’ll try pretty much anything. Sushi doesn’t stop me, spicy stuff is

OK up until the point where it blisters my lips and wild game of any

type has always interested me.

We had quail regularly for breakfast growing up and I once cleaned a

brace of cottontail rabbits and talked my mother into frying them up.

She cooked ‘em but refused to partake. It tasted a lot like chicken.

My wife carefully picked the bacon off of some bacon-wrapped duck

breasts I once grilled. She ate the bacon and gave me her duck meat.

Once a couple of friends and I fooled my wife by fixing some oryx

steaks (African native antelope-like animal). We told her it was beef

steak and she bought it for a little while. The friend’s father who

donated those steaks told us he couldn’t eat anything with a

tail that swished like a horse’s.

I’ve got to say that Vegemite (an Australian spread for bread or

crackers) would likely be something I would never try again but it’s

pretty unavailable here anyway so it really wouldn’t count as a

banned food. Cranberry sauce could almost make my list but an

essential Thanksgiving food wouldn’t be good for a president to turn

his nose up at. Besides, with enough Miracle Whip it’s not too bad.

I like brussel sprouts but rarely think about buying them. Fruits and

melons are all good separately, though I’m not a fan of most fruit

salads.

I guess if I had to get on my high horse about something it might be

spinach. In particular, canned spinach in that vinegar brine. Fresh

spinach greens are tolerable but I would just as soon have lettuce in

my salad.

It might have worked great for Popeye but where diet is concerned I’m

more in tune with Wimpy. “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger

today.”

Karl Terry, a former publisher of the Quay County Sun, writes for Freedom New Mexico. Contact him at:

karlterry@yucca.net