Nasty Habits of Food Network Celebrities
Put away your tin foil, Giada de Laurentiis enthusiasts; lay down your many meats, Guy Fieri fans, and please, Sandra Lee watchers, resist buying all of the pre-packaged ingredients you can easily make on your own. Food Network viewers be warned: your favorite celebrity chef is encouraging wasteful, unhealthy behavior from the grocery store to the plate.
The burgeoning home-cooking trend is a wonderful thing and the Food Network empire (cooking shows, cookbooks, online recipes, magazines, cooking ware, etc.) is a valuable resource for people who want endless options and culinary inspiration. Unfortunately, many of the network's beloved faces are cooking up a hailstorm of garbage, from wasted packaging to edible trash. As an emerging icon in American eating, the Food Network needs to re-examine the message it sends to consumers.
Take Giada De Laurentiis, who manages to add nearly 1,000 square inches of aluminum foil to her Los Angeles landfill while preparing to tickle her friends' taste buds during the "Wine Tasting Party" episode of her show "Everyday Italian." In the process of making Parmesan Tortilla Crisps and Salami Crisps, De Laurentiis recommends using 4 heavy, large baking sheets (14" x 16") each lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. She suggests using yet another foil-lined pan for marinating swordfish.
Instead of washing her bake ware, De Laurentiis simply balls up her greasy foil and tosses it away--an ingenious process that brings her great delight. What De Laurentiis doesn't recognize is that the aftermath of her soiree will leave an indelible mark on the planet, since aluminum foil does not decompose: imagine the ramifications if thousands of Food Network fans were to routinely mimic such an extravagance.
Guy Fieri is an environmental and nutritional nightmare. His "Dragon's Breath Chili" is enough to set Michael Pollen's entire body of work into flames. Let's look at what he encourages his audience to consume during an episode of "Guy's Big Bite." To make eight servings of Chili, Fieri calls for 2 tbsp butter; 3 tbsp bacon grease; 1 lb boneless chuck; 2 lb ground beef; 1 pound bulk Italian sausage; 12 oz lager beer; doubled-fried French fries; 1 c cheddar. This single dish calls for 4 pounds of meat from three animals, if you include the chicken stock.
Fieri is encouraging one of America's worst habits--the profligate consumption of meat from anyplace. Chances are the average family can't find local, organic butchers to source the wide variety of flesh Fieri calls for, so he sends his audience to the nearby grocery store to support what Mark Bittman called, "assembly-line meat factories," which, "consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world's tropical rain forests."
Meanwhile, the perky Sandra Lee is telling us to buy our ingredients encased in plastic, even when purchasing them fresh would be perfectly simple--and more affordable. Her "trademark 70/30 Semi-Homemade® philosophy," means that the majority of what she prepares comes pre-made. For example, Lee's "Las Chalupas" dish calls for a package of taco seasoning (a combination of common spices); bottled salsa; bagged, pre-shredded cheese; bagged, pre-shredded lettuce and store-bought guacamole.
What Lee is doing is not really cooking... it's arranging. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the food she puts together comes wrapped in soon-to-be-waste. Chopping your own tomatoes, cutting your own lettuce and mashing your own avocados would save a bundle, not to mention a quite a few bottles, bags and containers. Multiply all of that packaging by Lee's national audience, and you've got a lot of unnecessary garbage.
The example set by these Food Network celebrities is disheartening. Encouraging viewers to be too lazy to clean up after themselves or to chop their own produce is truly insulting--to say nothing of the artery-clogging recipe suggestions offered by some of the network's more gluttonous cooks. (For more health disasters, see anything made by Paula Deen.)
The image these chefs are creating of our country's food ethos and practices wreaks of wastefulness, over-indulgence and laziness. The Food Network and its celebrity chefs should inspire Americans to savor quality food and the entire process of making a meal--from good food choices, to mise en place, to clean up. It's a shame that these chefs don't use their popularity to truly help improve how Americans cook and eat.
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Trust me, I don't watch Giada De Laurentiis to see what's on the menu today.
The green movement is so incredibly necessary and not to be underestimated. But I think in context, each and every person is responsible for doing their part and making those choices in their lives to reduce waste, limit water and power usage, purchase cleaning enviro-friendly cleaning products, plant your gardens/grow your food, etc. It's fair to educate and call out wasteful and enviro-UNfriendly practices, but you can't be a righteous airhead about it.
I've been watching Food Network for so long, not because I think all the cooks and chefs are that great. Most of them suck and I wouldn't consider making their food BUT, I've most definitely noticed that just as the collective community has begun to embrace slow food, seasonal local cooking, recycling, planting community gardens, etc. so have some of the Food Network chefs. I think Jamie Oliver is the best and prime example.
Everybody is learning, everybody is making changes. The "Everyday Italian" episode with the wine tasting is from forever ago, so it's kind of lame to report on something not even current. When I read this, I thought, the whole article isn't even researched. It's just a ramble.
I agree that this is important and the chefs should be aware that they're teaching an audience of millions. But at the end of the day I don't hold them responsible for MY decisions whether or not to use tin foil or plastic. The only thing I want is a good recipe.
Isabel...d
Got to admit that even though I trained as a chemist, I'm not up to date on what the problem is with the parabens. I do know they are in a lot of drugs as preservatives,
I agree with the waste comments: it's lazy to not clean up after yourself and to instead waste aluminum foil. I also find "Semi-Homemade Cooking" a ridiculous show.
I disagree with the health angle, though. You don't have to eat Fieri's chili every day of the week, nor do you have to eat Deen's cooking frequently. We can exercise some moderation and splurge once in awhile.
Um. Aluminum is recyclable, and no element ever decomposes. Decomposition has to do with organic (as in carbon based) substances, not elements. Putting aluminum in the ground is exactly the same as never taking it out of the ground. It is actually one of the more benign elements, unlike mercury or lead or iron, in that it won't break up and wash into the water system. Therefore, ignoring your rants, I suspect that Giada's use of aluminum foil is actually environmentally neutral and does not represent an indelible mark on the planet. I agree the other food star's produce inedible fat and sugar blobs. But until we get rid of food companies this isn't going to change. For example, while some people are killing themselves eating packaged fat, others are doing the same thing under the logo of vegetarians by eating tofu and soy products. Until we realize that our great grandparents got it right (fruit, vegetables and meat - little or no bread) then we are destined to be both fat and unhealthy.
Um. Aluminum can be recycled. Putting aluminum in the ground is NOT exactly the same as never taking it out of the ground. Think of the energy used in it's extraction, refinement, processing into sheets, and even distribution.
Another point: Look at the serving sizes these chefs dole out on a plate. This does not help the obesity problem in America. The chefs should learn what is an appropriate serving size and share this information with the audience.
They really do need to instruct and encourage wiser habits...
It really doesn't take that much time to make good food, I often make large quantities of the staples once a week, store it in large containers, yes they are plastic, but I've had them for years.
Beans? buy dried, soak while at work, boil while playing with daughter, put in tub... during the week, scoop some out, scoop out some rice or pasta, throw in a pan with some veggies, dash of salt and pepper, quick and easy... same goes for rice, pasta, lentils, hard boiled eggs, etc. mix and match.
plus, if you make large amounts at once you use less gas (or electricity) and water.
I'm going to try out a solar cooker, see how that works.
This was a great read! Just like professional athletes and other celebrities. It is a moral obligation for people in the "lime light" to recognize their influence and demonstrate acts of a positive eco friendly lifestyle. And even more so the network should be held accountable. From the celebrity chef to the average Joe. We all should be held accountable and protect our planet.
yeah, particularly those instructing people how to do things...
Imagine shows to teach people how to raise there kids, where they just told them to smack the kids around and if it gets to be too much, just get drunk in front of the TV and tune it all out...
I recycle my aluminum. Giada, from what I get, lives in California. They have water shortages there on and off. Perhaps she's offsetting the waste of water overuse, with foil, but she should recycle it. Paula Deen is just entertainment. And as for Sandra - she's found a niche audience. I wouldn't make any of her recipes, but I have done the same as her on occasion. I imagine a lot of harried parents find her show useful, with not enough hours in a day to actually slow cook a meal. They are at least having a family dinner at home, and not at the McDonald's drive-thru. And, please, don't disparage pre-shredded lettuce. When I'm back in the States, "Shreds" are a staple in our fridge.
water is not the issue with washing pans, the faucet water doesn't need to run the whole time you're washing... turn water on, rinse pans, turn water off, soap and scrub pans, turn water on, rise pans, turn water off, soap and scrub any remaining food particles, turn water on, final rinse... it's not hard to move your hand a few inches and turn the knob... also, you can't recycle aluminum food covered in food and grease, unless you clean it.
Sandra Lee's food is always disgusting. it really doesn't take long to make most of the stuff she buys, it just APPEARS to be so much easier... if you're lazy and slow, I can understand, but really... if you need to slow cook something, maybe you need to make something else, or if you can start it, then walk away while it's "slow cooking."
If people had a better grasp on food combinations and simple, quick ways to prepare good food, it wouldn't be a problem, maybe that's what the food network should be doing...
pre-shredded lettuce?..
I really recommend reading www.FoodNe
Isabel Cowles of The Huffington Post has hit on the next phase of green, which is actually taking action and making eco part of our everyday lives. Beyond a surface knowledge of organics, the average person knows very little about how their kitchen behaviors and food choices affect the planet. It is often also a surprise that the healthier choices you make with food are often the greenest -- organic, sustainable, plant-based diets.
The waste issue relating to food is huge. Restaurants and take-out joints are MAJOR offenders. At-home practices are also often quite eco-challenged. Just take food scraps -- without composting you've added almost 30 percent into your landfill bin that didn't need to be there. A banana peel doesn't decompose for a couple hundred years in a typical landfill with no oxygen and no sunlight -- in a compost bin it can go back to enriching the earth in a month.
As far as DodgerDean's comment about aluminum -- why not make the argument about plastics too? Plastic is from oil, so it came from the earth. All garbage came from the earth. But that isn't the point. The point is to conserve natural resources, reduce the waste stream, reduce the energy and effort to mine new raw materials, reduce costs, be ethical and capture items like aluminum that can be endlessly recycled, and to stop toxic and environmentally degrading waste like plastic, metals, acids, and chemicals. DodgerDean, there is a zero waste movement -- educate yourself.
Good grief! If I use up one roll of foil a year, I'd be surprised. Giada needs to buy some nonstick bakeware.
As to the semi-homemade idea, pfui. My own taco seasoning--made from bulk containers of chili powder and cumin, fresh garlic, fresh onions, and fresh chilies--is better than anything I could buy in a packet.
And chili can be a lot leaner than Guy's recipe. I know...I make it about once a month. Brown lean, coarsely ground beef in a nonstick pan and drain the fat when you're done. Use a bit of olive oil to saute the veggies. It's better for you than butter. Use extra sharp cheddar; since it's more strongly flavored, you can use less.
Plus, who eats fries with chili? I like baked tortilla chips with mine. And fresh pico de gallo.
P.S. I buy my meats from a butcher, not at the grocery store.
Word on making your own taco seasoning. It's not rocket science, and it's much less expensive in the long run--not to mention healthier (much less salt!) and tastier!
For people who honestly don't know how to do these things, I think communities should organize outreach programs that teach people how to do this type of work in the kitchen.
As one example, or local Co-op was giving away veggies to a nearby migrant farm laborer community. They noticed that many of the items were being wasted, and found out it was because the laborers had no idea what the items were or how to cook them. They organized a couple 1-hour cooking classes, and that rectified the situation.
We need more outreach like that to combat the billions of dollars of food advertising that natural food is up against--the dollars that shove quasi food-like substances at people.
"... an indelible mark on the planet,"
Aluminum comes from out of the ground. When you bury it back in the ground, where's the mark?
It's kinda like saying that Uranium occurs in nature, so why would anyone be opposed to having waste from a nuclear plant dumped in their backyard?
Pure aluminum isn't found in nature. It is nearly always found as an oxide or silicate and has to be purified and separated from other substances. This means that massive amounts of ore has to be mined and then all the non-aluminum has to be separated and discarded. So it's not just that they dig aluminum out of the ground and roll it into sheets. And when it is discarded, it's not like the aluminum is returned to the form it had when it was first mined. The smelting process is intensive to the point where aluminum used to be considered a precious metal - even more so than gold.
Besides, aluminum can be recycled, which can help reduce landfills and the amount that needs to be mined to satisfy demand. Throwing away something that is easily recycled is just wasteful.
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