"I wish I could cook like Bobby Flay, let's go out to eat instead."
The sentence I have chosen to write about for the March Blog is from the article, How food television is changing America, written by Thomas Rogers (2010).
The popularity of food TV is a marker that food is leaving the home.
Food television is increasingly getting popular. I know in my family, that is all we watch. It is either Food Network or HGTV. But luckily, I come from a family that loves to cook. Growing up, my dad was always in the kitchen whether he is cooking the usual or getting creative because of something he saw Bobby Flay do. After reading the article by Thomas Rogers, It helped me realize just what the food channels are doing to our society.
A lot of people have turned to food channels or really any channel that does not involve news to avoid anything political. The media blows so much of the politics out of proportion that no one knows what to believe anymore. So people actively choose to watch other channels such as Food Network or HGTV. I noticed that happening with my parents. When 5 o’clock hits, the news was on, but the last few years, I have noticed my parents not caring if the news is on. Over Christmas break, as soon as 5 o’clock hit, I changed the channel from Food Network to our local news station. My mom looked at me and asked I why I did that. I was kind of shocked and she said that she could care less about the news. So I put Food Network back on.
The food channels are really influencing our societies and causing people to want to eat out more rather than cook in. Just the other day, my roommate and I were watching Food Network and halfway through our binge-watching, she started talking about how hungry she was. I told her to cook some dinner but instead, she decided to order takeout. I asked her why when we have so much we can cook with and get creative and her response was “but nothing will turn out as good as what Bobby Flay makes.” Statistics show that in 2015, the food and drink sales in the restaurant industry reached $745.61 billion (statista.com). In 2008, it was reported that 39.81 million people visited fast food restaurants in the “last 30 days.” By 2017, the number of people increased by 10.64 million (statista.com).
As someone who constantly watches Food Network because I have a dream to actually cook myself a decent meal, I have noticed a change in the type of TV shows that have created. Food Network is becoming a more competitive entertainment style rather than a teaching style. There are fewer shows of cooks teaching the viewers how to make a dish and more competitive shows, entertaining the viewers. They are such entertaining shows that people are more likely to sit, watch for hours, and order out to eat rather than watch one teaching show and cook for themselves.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/231084/people-who-visited-a-fast-food-restaurant-10-or-more-times-within-the-last-30-days-usa/
https://www.statista.com/topics/1957/eating-out-behavior-in-the-us/
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