ABSTRACT
Michelle Obama planted her vegetable garden on the White House lawn and sponsored a new farmer's market nearby, it seemed that the local food movement had come to official Washington. Even before his inauguration the President-Elect had made a pilgrimage to Ben's Chili Bowl, a down-home hot dog stand known mainly to its indigenous black residents, and this too prompted speculation that the Federal City's food resources might finally be receiving some respect. Ben Ali, the Muslim proprietor, could not eat his own product was an apt symbol of his city's own self-alienation. Establishing a sense of terroir in the nation's political capital was no easy feat, however. There is a difference between living in a place and loving that place. Even the more democratized, functional terroir needs a positive reputation as a base. Terroir is also achieved through the cumulative efforts of brash entrepreneurs who work hard to establish food businesses and invent culinary legacies.
