Cann't clearly understand "as the home as where America is"

Of course, home is one of the most important American values. But could you please explain with more words the meaning of "as the home as where America is"?

Context:

"Thanksgiving is an archetypal home festival," says Merry White, author of a cookbook called Cooking for Crowds and a professor of food anthropology at Boston University.
The day was a tradition founded by Abraham Lincoln to unite the country after the Civil War, laying the "basic foundation as the home as where America is," she says. "It's also supposed to represent love and service, service being the arduous activity of serving the meal."