Amid the flurry of news reports and blog analysis this week about the appointment of the Obama family chef to the White House, there’s been one crucial omission. Headlines have credited President Obama with the appointment, despite the fact that the Chef Kass’ position was confirmed by Katie McCormick Lelyveld, who is spokeswoman for First Lady Michelle, not President Barack.

One never knows from the outside what really happens in a marriage, especially a high-profile White House relationship. But Barack has been particularly candid about his relationship with Michelle – while he might be the Senator or now President, Michelle is the boss at home. And Michelle, despite her high-powered diplomas, has made her number-one position “Mother in Chief” to their two girls.

So, it seems a no-brainer to give all the credit to Michelle for this surprisingly political culinary appointment. And she follows the lead of many a First Lady who have pioneered healthy food policy, often against their Presidential husbands’ wishes. For example, it was Hillary who instigated the White House rooftop garden while her husband Bill was cavorting with his best buddies in large agriculture. And before that, it was Eleanor Rosevelt who planted the Victory Garden on the White House lawn – over the objections of her Presidential Husbands’ US Department of Agriculture. We have to go way back to 1918 to find a joint White House effort – when both President Wilson and First Lady Edith Wilson recruited a flock of sheep to mow and fertilize the First Lawn during World War I (Just imagine the reaction she would have gotten if Alice Waters had suggested that!)

Chef Kass’ is no stranger to culinary politics, having previously been a primary figure in the Hull-House Kitchen “Re-Thinking Soup” project that combines organic political discussion with a healthy meal.

Chef Kass is also a vocal opponent of the current federal school lunch guidelines, which kowtow to large agribusiness interests over the health and nutritional interests of our children. And while his White House appointment means that he will have to withdraw from his other activities, it has already given his ideas – which include local and organic cuisine as part of a healthy lifestyle – a considerable boost while allowing him to continue serving healthy lunches to First Children Malia and Sasha.