Food Network and Foodies: Loved and Hated?

Last week I brought about the topic of how blogs are becoming more popular when choosing to view food entertainment. Due to the increasing popularity of Food Network and many other networks’ food oriented programming, the food industry is moving in a new direction. Food entertainment is beginning to show face all over bookstores, magazines, television, blogs, and commercials but some people are having a hard time with the idea. This week I chose to comb the blogosphere in hopes of finding some information on my topic of choice, the new dislike for foodies becoming a topic of entertainment and the effects of food network on advertising. The first blog I came across, The Daily Beast (see top left), written in the style of satire by, was created to address issues of interest to the editors. The post, “Foodies Make Me Sick,” discussed one writer’s hatred for people referring to themselves as foodies. Comedian Jessi Klein (VH-1, CNN, Comedy Central) wrote the original post, which made everything she disliked magnified in a humorous way. It did however raise an interesting question about the use of the term foodie in every day culture. After looking on another food-oriented blog, I realized that it did anger some foodies, which made for some interesting controversy. The next post I stumbled upon a post from one of my favorite blogs, Food Network Addict (see right). This post entitled, “Alton Brown New Face Of Welch’s, Can’t Compete With Cute Kids,” discusses how Food Network star Alton Brown has become the new face of Welch’s Grape Juice and that the traditional cute kid is gone for the next year. I chose to comment on each of the posts in hopes to get a response about the popularity of food entertainment and its effects in the advertising world. My comments can be found on each of the blogs as well as below.



“Foodies Make Me Sick”-My Comments:


First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write this article. After reading the article I realized that some people probably do feel like foodies are just a bunch of snobs with nothing else to do. Comedians tend to make a big deal out of little things, which is great, but this still raised the point about foodies. You opened your article with, “The other day I passed a fancy new restaurant in the West Village from whose windows camera bulbs were popping with lightning intensity. I assumed there was a fancy-pants magazine photo shoot in progress and peeked to see who was posing. A model? An actress? SJP? Wrong. It was a chicken dish, bathed in professional lights, the center of attention for a team of attendants who were hovering off to the side, waiting to attend to the chicken’s every whim. A surreptitious little piece of tinfoil was propping up the chicken into a sexier, more angled pose, the poultry equivalent of a girl on the cover of Maxim,” which I found hilarious. Obviously you realized this is a food photography shoot, which can be tough due to the nature of cooking.

Just as comedy, music, acting is a craft, so is the art of food design as well as cooking. Due to the increasing popularity of food as entertainment on television, movies, and in magazines do you feel that comedians are going to continue to use foodies in their acts? Do you feel like the term foodie is being thrown around too much and that it is turning negative? I am a foodie, but not of the obnoxious foodie persuasion. I did not feel offended at all by your post, in fact I think that sort of foodie needs to gain a new appreciation for what food really is and not just the status. Do you feel like being a foodie is a fad? I think given your job is entertainment, it would be interesting to see your thoughts on what might happen to food entertainment if it is considered a fad.


“Alton Brown New Face Of Welch’s, Can’t Compete With Cute Kids”- My Comments:

I would like to thank you so much for this post as well as your blog. Your blog is one of my favorite daily sites to visit. It is interesting to see how Food Network personalities are becoming spokespeople for so many food companies. It is great to see how advertising is taking to the popularity of food television. Already we have seen Paula Deen as the face of Smithfield Foods. You stated, “With the cute kids gone and Alton in, will you buy more grape juice?” This is an interesting question especially when looking at advertising recently. Alton Brown is respected and expected to know all things scientific. When thinking about Welch’s, I always tend to think of the cute little kids.

Do you think by making this change, it might take away the nostalgia of the grape juice? Will this be a positive choice in advertising for this company? I feel like it is a huge possibly that by choosing Alton, such an exciting Food Network personality, the grape juice may be put on the back burner. The association to watch Alton’s shows may take precedent over buying the grape juice. I feel that this is a huge step forward for food entertainment and am very excited about it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter, of course in your very fun and light way. You seem to understand what the personalities are doing and the direction in which they are headed.

Battle For Nutrition: Are "Smart Choices" Really The Right Ones?

Last week I brought about the topic of how food television plays a role in weight gain to light. I find it interesting that people are suggesting that television is part of the reason they are becoming obese or unhealthy in general. After reading many articles, I felt it was necessary to search and find out about what choices should be made in the supermarket. This week I chose to comb the blogosphere in hopes of finding discussions on making healthy choices for both adults and children. Luckily this subject matter could not have come at a better time. Over the past week tons of articles are being written about a new program that is being adopted by many companies that hold a lot of shelf space in our supermarkets. Another subject that is taking over many blogs is regarding the consumption of sodium in the diets of children.

The first blog I came across, The Fooducate Blog, is published in order to enlighten people on practical advice for buying healthy food. The post that I find, entitled, “Smart Choices Food Labeling-A Step In The Right Direction” was written in response to the “Smart Choices Program (see photo above left).” The program being adopted by companies such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Unilever, and Wal-Mart (possibly Nestle as well), is intended to help consumers make the right choices when grocery shopping by creating a recognizable label that represents the product meets the Smart Choices standards. In this post he offers background on the nutrition acts that have been adopted as well as the FDA and USDA’s part in regulating food items. The second blog I found is entitled, “Shaping Youth,” published by Amy Jussel, is a forum discussing media and marketing’s influence on children. In the post “Kidney Stones In Kindergarten? Put Down The Sports Drink Kiddo!” she discusses how the marketing machines have created campaigns to promote drinking sports drinks yet there is less exercise happening on the playgrounds. I chose to comment on these posts in hopes I might get a response on how food marketing plays a part in the new regulations and if they will help people making the right decisions for themselves as well as their children. I offered up my comments on each blog. They can be found by clicking on the links as well as below.


“Smart Choices Food Labeling-A Step In The Right Direction”- My Response

I would like to thank you for taking time to write on this subject matter as well as your blog. I find this subject matter very educational and highly interesting. It makes me feel great to know that there are people that take the advancement of nutrition seriously. One great element to your posts is the brief history behind past regulations. Many other posts did not have this information which can make it difficult to see how new regulations are a step in the right direction. I agree with your comment, “Consumers embraced the nutrition information that became available, and began making more educated purchase decisions. However, many became confused with the information overflow. Cryptic ingredient names and Daily Value calculations presented new challenges to shoppers. If the FDA hoped through nutrition labels to encourage a healthier consumer, quite the opposite transpired in the past two decades, as obesity rates and diet related illnesses have shot up.” It is true that at that time the regulation was a good idea but I believe there were factors missing. The consumers were not educated in just that, the daily intake. I believe this same situation is about to present itself again regarding the Smart Choices Program. The comment, “So recently, manufacturers stepped up individually to the challenge, and began offering their consumers healthy choices within their product families. Several manufacturers launched marketing campaigns promoting their “better for you” brands,” makes an interesting observation.

Do you feel that due to the fact it is not a project regulated by the FDA that it is in fact a well thought out marketing campaign? I agree with your comment on how people might be ignoring other elements to what is considered healthy. It is possible people are being educated on portion control, which insinuates fat and calorie content but are forgetting the other elements to what is being considered healthy? Will these questions become an argument against the intentions of the Smart Choices program?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post as it brought these specific questions to mind, specifically aimed towards the real intentions behind this program. It would be great to see a following post, possibly regarding this matter.


“Kidney Stones In Kindergarten? Put Down The Sports Drink Kiddo!”- My Response

Thank you for taking the time to create and maintain this blog. It makes me glad to know that people like you take the time to educate others. This subject matter is one of the most controversial to hit the blogosphere, as it should be. It is interesting that your main focus is dealing with kidney stones. After reading many articles about kidney stones in children it is obvious to see that the issue of sodium content in foods needs to be addressed. Your comment, “To be fair, moderate amounts of sodium are NEEDED to balance water and minerals and help muscles and nerves work properly, but when fast foods, snack foods, and highly processed foods (canned, frozen, boxed, or bagged) become kids’ major intake instead of fresh, whole foods, sodium is bound to bump up to high levels WITHOUT adding a hydration fluid packed with same into the marketing mix,” does seem like it would be rocket science. If that is the case, why do you feel that parents are continuing to serve many of these foods as a major source? Recently, the Smart Choices Program was introduced to the public. For those not familiar, it is a program that is being adopted by many leading food companies, however, not regulated by the FDA (see photo on right for standard FDA label). The statistics on the smartchoices.com website state the sodium intake requirement is less than 480mg per serving.

For example if a child’s lunch were to include a smart choices portion controlled bag of chips that contains 380mg, plus a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and a juice box, do you feel this would be a decent lunch in terms of sodium content? Given there are at least three meals a day? Given the facts you presented about incorporating balance into a diet as well as what the daily sodium a child requires is, do you feel this non-FDA approved program is a real well developed food regulation or a well positioned marketing campaign?

I enjoyed reading this post and believe that due to your vast knowledge, you might have some great insight into these major food regulating and/or marketing questions.

Nutrition and Marketing: What Is Right For Children?

Last week I brought the current topic of video gaming for foodies to the table. I am absolutely fascinated with the way food has grown into such a huge market for entertainment. Video games are just one avenue through which food is becoming a main course for people of all ages. While sitting and thinking about the food video games, an associated topic came to mind. There have always been discussions about how kids playing video games and watching television prevents exercising and eating well. I started to wonder how marketing makes a difference when it comes to what kids are eating. This week I chose to comb through the blogosphere in hopes of finding a lot on my topic of choice, food and food marketing to kids (see picture to the left). This happens to be a somewhat controversial topic in the blogosphere. The first blog I came across “What’s In Store”, published by Dr. Susan Finn, a nutrition professional who has spent a large amount of her career trying to build productive partnerships to make better choices when it comes to nutrition. The post that I found entitled “Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents”, discussed how in October 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a survey on food marketing to youth and called on the companies to “adopt and adhere to meaningful, nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12.” In this blog she offers the information and research from the FTC as well as acknowledges that 13 of the largest food and beverage companies have adopted the initiative but that it is going to take much more. The second blog I found was entitled, “Restaurant Kids’ Meals Pack Adult Sized Calories”, published by CalorieLab.com’s Robert S. Wieder in the Calorie Counter News Section. This post discusses the nutritional information from chain restaurants, how it compares to the daily caloric intake standards for children and what they are doing to improve the situation (see picture to the right). I chose to comment on these posts in hopes that I might get a response about how long it will take to get restaurants and marketing techniques more effective regulations when it comes to youth nutrition. I offered up my comments on each blog. They can be found by clicking on the links as well as below.

“What’s In Store” – My Response:

I would like to thank you for taking the time to write a post on this subject matter, as well as your blog. I find it very interesting and highly educational. It makes me feel good to know that there are people in the world that devote their time to such a worthy cause. I am glad that you included links to a marketing workshops agenda. I came across the statement, “Some food companies have also modified their packaging to encourage portion control and make nutritious foods more convenient for parents and more appealing to children.” I found this to be true specifically from walking around markets and observing the products. Yes, it is a step in the right direction. The problem I find with this marketing technique is even though the packaging is portion controlled; companies still haven’t tackled the fact that many people will continue to eat more than one package. The truth is if you ask people about their daily caloric intake, most have no idea. Every product is required to have a nutrition label but most of the time people tend to look at the fat content and assume that if it is low in fat, it is okay. Do you think it would be a smart idea for marketing as a whole to involve the daily nutritional information? For example, if companies sell 100-calorie packs of cookies, require a marketing campaign with other companies to show how their products can fulfill the requirements for daily percentage values and caloric intake? Are there campaigns to have that sort of marketing and advertising aimed at adults with children, implemented on a national level?

I absolutely enjoyed reading your blog, specifically this post. However, I would’ve liked to read more about your personal opinions regarding the subject matter. The fact that you are a nutritional professional would bring a different angle to the marketing story. I am positive that you can provide innovative thoughts on the best way to reach the public regarding this very important matter.


“Restaurant Kids’ Meals Pack Adult Sized Calories” – My response:

Thank so much for providing information on this subject. The comment “American Kids get their one third of their caloric intake from restaurant meals” was incredibly thought provoking. After spending a lot of time recently in restaurants on a very strict diet (based solely on calories) it is easy to see how people, especially children are becoming obese. It is shocking to see at most of the restaurants the average caloric value was over twice what it should be for one main meal. If that number stayed consistent for 2-3 meals per day, does that mean kids will be consuming approximately 3,000 calories? Do you feel like it has a lot to do with marketing? That it might be a problem if restaurants are advertising their establishments as a prime source of nutrition and daily intake for kids? It is mentioned that the restaurant association is putting the blame on parents stating that nutrition starts at home and that kids are not getting an adequate amount of exercise. Even if a child is exercising every day, consuming 830 calories for meal is definitely not considered healthy. I feel that Subway has taken a step in the right direction offering apples, milk and yogurt to children as well as adults for meals. The problem is if a child gets a sub loaded with cheese and mayo, it will exceed their intake for that meal. What additional steps are being taken with restaurants that are at least publishing their foods caloric values?

I am highly disappointed in restaurants for their lack of concern when it comes to nutrition for children. Your article is a great way to create awareness on these highly important topics. I would love to see correspondence from some of these establishments with explanations of how they feel their products are healthy as well as more of your opinion as a journalist on this matter.