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White House Pastry Chef Leaves: Blame FLOTUS?

A few days ago we brought you a story about Bill Yosses, the White House Executive Pastry Chef. Yosses has been in his position at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since 2007, when he was hired by Laura Bush....
White House Pastry Chef Leaves: Blame FLOTUS?
Written by Mike Tuttle
  • A few days ago we brought you a story about Bill Yosses, the White House Executive Pastry Chef. Yosses has been in his position at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since 2007, when he was hired by Laura Bush. In that capacity, he has been in charge of all desserts prepared for the First Family, as well as other Executive functions, such as State dinners and events.

    But now Bill Yosses is leaving his job, a job where he has become known as “The Crust Master”, a nickname given him by President Obama himself.

    According to the New York Post, Yosses says that, although he loves the work he has done, it was First Lady Michelle Obama’s attention to healthy eating and the growing problem of obesity in the United States that caused him to have a change of heart about how his work affects others.

    “She has done it with humor and good will, without preaching, just the way you would hope the ‘Mom in chief’ would do,” Yosses said.

    Yosses says that he is leaving to spend more time with his husband, but also to start “a group and foundation of like-minded creative people” that can show young folks in school that food choices can be delicious and healthy.

    “Food knowledge should be part of a complete curriculum,” he said. “We used to learn about food as a part of everyday growing up, but I think we’ve lost that. I think it has a place in schools.”

    However, the news that Yosses was leaving has taken a twist in some circles. The Daily Caller ran with the headline:

    White House Pastry Chef Resigns: “I don’t want to demonize cream, butter, sugar and eggs.”

    This bent on the news played to those who think the First Lady is a busybody, meddling in the diets of young children. But if you read the article, Yosses was not saying he was leaving *because* Michelle Obama somehow “demonizes” those things. Rather that he himself was looking into healthier alternatives, but does not think those ingredients are inherently evil.

    TMZ ran with something similar:

    White House Pastry Chef: I Didn’t Butter Up Obama

    And finally, this one:

    The White House is losing its pastry chef because of Michelle Obama

    Leave it to most people to read only a headline and start spreading the “news” from there, and you end up with these kinds of results:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

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