You may not be able to eat like the leader of the free world at your next meal, but if you want to eat healthier and fuel your own rise, the former White House chef Sam Kass suggests doing it one meal at a time.
In his new cookbook, "Eat A Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World," Kass shares the recipes he prepared for President Obama and his family. It includes the president's ["lucky pasta,"] (https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Little-Better-Flavor-Health/dp/0451494946) which Kass made for Obama before his second debate with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. After the president delivered a strong performance in that debate, Kass wrote that he decided to make that same pasta for the president before Obama's last presidential debate and on election night.
"Eat A Little Better" was written as a guide to eating healthier and doing good for the environment plate by plate. Kass recommends small steps to eating a little better each day, eventually achieving a big change.
"People end up trying to get these utopic ideals of a what a perfect diet looks like, and then they fail, they get discouraged, and they give up," said Kass. "This book really celebrates progress, and it's like here are some real tools to make steps in the right direction day in and day out, and then over time it really adds up."
Kass's book isn't just a compilation of his favorite recipes. It's filled with glimpses inside the Obamas' life at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. He wrote about his "audition" for Michelle and their children and ripping up part of the White House's South Lawn to plant a vegetable garden.
Kass first connected with the Obamas months after then-Senator Obama launched his campaign for president in 2007. Michelle Obama wanted someone to keep the family running on healthy food while she joined candidate Obama on the campaign trail. Kass cooked up creations for the first family for eight years.
While his cooking landed him a spot in the White House kitchen, Kass also served as the senior policy advisor for nutrition policy, playing a key role in passing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010. That measure made school lunches healthier for more than 31 million children across America.
Kass said that while he was teaching President Obama about food, the president was teaching him about politics. The best piece of policy advice he ever received from the president?
"You always start off with 'what's the right thing to do?' and then you go from there."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/former-white-house-chef-sam-kass-shares-the-obama-familys-favorite-dishes).
President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" bill could mean cheaper electric bicycles and scooters as the nation attempts to shift away from gas-powered cars. Noa Banayan, the director of federal affairs at PeopleForBikes, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to provide some background on the E-Bike Act included in Biden's reconciliation bill that would provide tax credits for qualified purchases. "We want to make sure, from the bike industry's perspective, that this is a technology and a product that is available to the majority of Americans who want to lower their carbon footprint and get around town faster and do everything that they would normally do in a short car trip but by bike, because it's healthier, it's fast, it's efficient, you're not in traffic," she said.
It's being called the next big trend in crypto. A decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, is an internet community of different types of groups and businesses. The purpose is to allow people to commit funds to a specific cause in a safe way. Now, one social platform is creating a do-it-yourself kit for those who want to step into the space. Upstream Collective just launched the beta mode of its platform with the goal of putting all facets of running a DAO in one place. Alex Taub, co-founder and CEO of Upstream, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Walmart and Zipline have teamed up to launch a drone delivery service in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The service delivers products to customers within a 50-mile radius of the store. Liam O'Connor, COO of Zipline, joins Cheddar News to talk more about the partnership.
A NASA spacecraft that will deliberately crash into an asteroid is preparing to launch this week. The goal of the DART mission, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, is to hit the smaller of the two asteroids, Dimorphos, with the spacecraft at about 15,000 miles per hour and see how the impact changes the asteroid’s trajectory. Joey Roulette, space reporter at The New York Times, joins Cheddar News to talk more about it.
After a pandemic pause where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was closed to the public, the annual tradition is returning to the streets of New York with some new, yet familiar, faces. In addition to 10 marching bands, dozens of floats, 30 heritage balloons, and five other newcomers, one creature from a galaxy far, far away is joining the festivities, courtesy of toy manufacturer Funko. Coming in at 41 feet tall, 29 feet long, and 37 feet wide, the Funko Pop!-inspired Grogu balloon, from "The Mandalorian," will make his debut this year. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports.
AAA is expecting 80% more airline passengers and almost 10% more road trips in the pandemic’s biggest holiday travel surge. Melanie Lieberman, senior travel editor at The Points Guy, joins Cheddar News to detail what travelers are up against.
Protests across the country continued all weekend following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. A jury found the 18-year-old not guilty of all five felony charges. Rittenhouse was accused of killing two people and wounding another during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year. Jaha Howard, political strategist and civil rights advocate, joins Cheddar News to breakdown the verdict.
