40 Food Thinkers 40 and Under: Sam Kass

These 40 up-and-comers—all 40 years old or younger—are changing the way Americans eat and drink, from a vodka distiller who rewrote Nebraska's Prohibition-era laws to a White House chef who's fiercely fighting to improve school-lunch programs.

Sam Kass: White House Food-Policy Adviser

Photo © Kevin Dietsch/Corbis.

Within three years, the 31-year-old Kass went from being the Obama family's chef to an unprecedented White House role that's a combination of chef, gardener, educator and policy adviser. He's working with First Lady Michelle Obama in her campaign against childhood obesity—he is a fierce advocate for improving school-lunch programs—and inspiring other chefs to help.

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