Food Television: A Recipe for Entertainment and Weight Gain?

What could be better than eating and watching television at the same time? Watching television that revolves around food and eating! Food Network along with other select television networks have figured out the recipe for success; give people entertainment while feeding their appetite for food. As mentioned in an earlier post, the Nielsen rating statistics have shown that The Next Food Network Star brought in very high ratings. People are really taking to food oriented programming with open arms. Although the ratings are positive, food television oriented networks have been facing a bit of scrutiny about their programming, specifically Food Network. For those not familiar it is a station that caters to food lovers. Shows are aimed towards specific audiences that really enjoy the cuisine, the host and sometimes both. Chefs and cooks include: Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Guy Fieri, Giada De Laurentis, Ellie Kreiger, Alton Brown, Sandra Lee and many others. The types of cuisine include everything under the sun; American, Italian, South West, Asian and much more.

What could be giving Food Network a bad reputation with some people? Articles from the Richmond Times and well known food blog, Noshtopia have raised the question, “Does watching Food Network making people obese?” Bonnie Taub-Dix, spokesperson for the American Diatetic Association said, “watching the wrong cooking shows can lead to unintentional overeating”. At this time in America health is becoming a serious issue, specifically when it comes to what people are eating. According to U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, obesity kills more people in America per year than AIDS, cancer, and all accidents combined.

Since the launch of Food Network, people are getting many of their ideas about meals from their favorite shows. Food Network’s cook Paula Deen prepared a menu of French toast, a cheese sauce, hash brown casserole and a hot mocha float for dessert. Although that may sound like the best thing in the world, the calorie total was 2,881. That is more than what a normal intake for an entire day would be. The claim about this type of menu with these high fat and calorie recipes is that since these are the recipes they air, it is the show’s fault that its viewers are becoming obese. Food Networks test kitchen director, Kathy Alford, disagrees with the accusations that programs like this are making people obese stating, “People are looking at this as entertainment, and it is giving people a large group of things to choose from. It's a starting point for people to make their own decisions. We know people will be turned on by one recipe on a show, and not do all the recipes.”

If the decision is made to sit down to watch a show on Southern Style cooking, the obvious ingredient will be a lot of butter, which translates to a lot of fat. One would think it is common sense that eating this style of cuisine every day, even every other day, would not be healthy. Even Southern style cook, Paula Deen was quoted saying, “ I don’t eat my own cooking everyday! My lord, I’d be wider than a table if I ate biscuits and gravy every day.”

Does this put a responsibility on what should be programmed? One way to look at it would be to say, “no.” People have a responsibility to use portion control and pay attention to what they eat. It is a personal choice to focus on the shows that have high fat and calorie recipes while putting shows with hosts like Ellie Krieger (a dietician who aims for healthy living and eating) on the back burner. Another way to look at the programming is to focus on the recipes but understand that many substitutions can be made. For example, if one of the hosts makes fried chicken is it just as easy to look up a low calorie fried chicken using corn flakes and baking rather than using flour and deep-frying. Cooking, in the end, is about creativity anyway. On the other hand, nutrition is so important that many food companies are beginning to take an oath for healthier living. What does this have to do with food television programming? Everything. These networks run on paid advertising. If these advertisers are headed toward healthy living, will they force Food Network to healthier programming by threatening to pull their advertising slots? It is very possible. If this is the case it could stir up the argument that food television could be making people obese.

Although advertising tends to drive a lot of television programming due to product placement, sponsorship and basic commercials, it is highly unlikely Paula Deen and the rest of the Food Network family will be going anywhere. The bottom line is that people are responsible for their own actions. If a recipe makes a McDonald’s Big Mac meal look like a salad, it might not be the best thing to eat on a regular basis. The bottom line is that there is a lot to learn from chefs and the true responsibility is in the entertainment of the food loving community. As long as the right choices are made everyone will be able to enjoy Paula Deen adding another stick of butter.