How A Pastry Chef's Resignation Became The First Lady's Fault

The Daily Caller and Rush Limbaugh accused the First Lady and her healthy eating initiative of 'forcing' the White House pastry chef to resign, conveniently omitting the fact that the chef is leaving to pursue his own healthy eating initiative.

Upon news that White House executive pastry chef Bill Yosses plans to leave the White House in June to join his husband in New York City, the Daily Caller accused Michelle Obama of pushing Yosses out with her healthy eating initiatives. According to the conservative site, the pastry chef resigned after Michelle Obama “fundamentally changed his job duties to focus on healthier foods,” though Yosses “was never fully committed to the new policy.”

On March 19 Rush Limbaugh hyped the Daily Caller's claims, declaring that Yosses “has been forced out” by Michelle Obama:

LIMBAUGH: Michelle Obama still told him, "I don't' care what you're good at. You're not going to use butter in the White House. And you're not going to use cream, and you're not going to use sugar, and you're not going to use eggs. So this guy had to come up with fruit puree as a sugar substitute in his baked goods. And he finally threw up his hands and said, 'The heck with it, I'm out of here.'

The truth is nearly the opposite - Yosses' departure is actually due in part to a new found interest in “the relationship between food and health,” according to The New York Times, a passion that he discovered after beginning to work with healthier ingredients during his time at the White House. He reportedly plans to begin working on a food literacy program to promote “delicious food as healthy food,” citing how he had been inspired by the first lady's requests for healthier desserts:

Hired by Laura Bush in 2007, when he was already acclaimed in New York for the raspberry and pear soufflés he created at restaurants like Montrachet and Bouley, Mr. Yosses began moving beyond the traditional sugar sculptures and cookie plates after Mrs. Obama arrived at the White House. He was directed to make more healthful desserts, and in smaller portions, that were to be served only sparingly to the first family.

Mr. Yosses began experimenting with alternatives to what he called “the usual blitzkrieg” of butter and cream. Now, he said, “we replace butter with fruit purée, which gives some body.” He often uses honey and agave in place of sugar, has added whole grains to desserts and is considering heirloom varieties of whole wheat without the bitterness of wheat bran and germ in modern whole-wheat flour.

Mr. Yosses has also been inspired by the White House garden, where he has chosen from a cornucopia of strawberries, blueberries, rhubarb, figs, papaya, carrots, sweet potatoes and herbs like lemon thyme flowers, lavender and pineapple sage. Nearby is honey from the White House beehives. The result -- oatmeal bars, baked apples and pear-quince cobblers, among many others -- will have a lasting impact on his eating habits, as will Mrs. Obama.

Even the Blaze, Glenn Beck's website, called out The Daily Caller for distorting the pastry chef's departure, writing that “Yosses' reasons for leaving are actually quite the opposite” of what the Daily Caller wrote.