As French politician and gastronome Brillat-Savarin wrote two centuries ago, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.” The American electorate extends the notion of politicians revealing their character through food to all kinds of virtues and vices: trustworthiness, authenticity, elitism. Appetites reveal all kinds of otherwise hidden desires. Food is a moral issue for Americans, from the mache-eating left to the leave-my-Twinkies-alone right.

Food morality extends beyond borders. At the end of September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited President Barack Obama in the middle of a 9-day fast honoring the annual Hindu celebration Navratri. At an intimate dinner for 20 hosted by Obama, including crispy halibut and mango crème brulee, the fasting Modi ingested only