“He’s often the one who stops the conversation and says, ‘People will do this and won’t do that,’” said Jocelyn Frye, Michelle Obama’s policy director, who has pronounced Kass’ collard greens and barbecued chicken “very good.”
As for his own tastes? He confesses to only a few indulgences, including tacos and chicken wings, though his friend, Tara Lane, a former pastry chef at Avec, described him as a “human garbage disposal.”
Kass says the enthusiasm he encounters at schools, federal agencies, farmers’ markets and the like shows “there’s a lot of desire to make change.”
But he is keenly aware of the challenges. On a visit to a school that prides itself on its healthy lunches, Kass watched ruefully as students plucked each vegetable off their pizzas.
“It’s got to taste good, you know,” he said. “They’re not going to eat it, no matter how healthy it is, if it doesn’t taste good.”
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