Is the Food Network the whitest of the cable stations?
by guest contributor Jae Ran Kim, originally published at Harlow’s Monkey
I read a while ago on someone’s blog that Food Network was one of the whitest cable stations and after a week of watching I have to agree it’s pretty bad. Most of the major celebrity chefs are white. Other than the new host of a show that features Latin food, it’s all white hosts. What happened to Martin Yan from Yan Can Cook and his heavily accented, chop-schtick antics? Even Al Roker went missing. It seemed like it was show after show of white men and women cooking their fusion-style, All-American dishes.
All week, Food Network showed clips of it’s upcoming show, Down Home with the Neely’s. Now, I’d heard the Neely name mentioned in at least three different shows, because they are a big name in BBQ. So yesterday morning the premiere episode came on, and I’m watching it. Part of me was skeptical right away, because this show seemed to be straight out of a program developer’s notebook on “Southern Black Family 101.” They showcased BBQ ribs, slaw, strawberry salad. Everything looked great, the food, the personalities of the Neelys seemed genuine, all good. Why am I crabbing?
I just hope that this isn’t going to be the sum total of what Food Network thinks is “Black” food. Just like “Asian” food is much more than Tyler Florence showing up at a family’s house to show them how to cook Korean food as he did in one episode of Food 911. So glad for Lisa that Tyler was there to show her how to make authentic Korean-style BBQ! Whew, poor Lisa would have been so screwed if Tyler wasn’t there to show her how to be more authentic Korean!!
And what made me wince in pain more than my stitches was when Pat Neely, in a little bit just before commercial break, announces that February is Black History Month.
Woah, Food Network, you sure fooled me. Really - February is Black History Month? What an ingenious time to introduce your one and only show featuring an African American family who actually COOKS! I’m just saying, it’s time to give that program assistant a huge gigantic raise!
(I have to say, HGTV, for some of your schmaltzy shows, you do a far better job of featuring hosts of all diversities, both as designers and in real-life families. And without the stereotypic “ethnic” design segregation. What a relief that your African American designers are not limited to only featuring African masks and animal prints in their designs, or that Vern Yip isn’t forced to place bamboo in every re-design. That they actually get to design what they want is refreshing).
Yes, it seems Food Network is very behind the times here. All the white cooks can do all kinds of different ethnic foods. Ingrid Hoffman only gets to cook Latin-inspired dishes since she’s Latina. And since Giada and Mario identify with their Italian heritages so they must cook everything Italian. Guess the philosophy of Food Network is if you want the freedom to cook whatever you want and cross those ethnic boundaries, don’t let it be known what your racial or ethnic heritage is - or you’ll be forever segregated into a cooking ghetto.
On the plus side, I have a whole load of new recipes I can’t wait to try!
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Kai wrote:
Yup, the whiteness of Food Network is out of control and all-too-telling; and they all show flair by using Asian ingredients and techniques these days, too (though the Tyler Florence example is particularly painful). It seems that there is hardly a contemporary American restaurant anymore that doesn’t feature heavily Asian-influened dishes (soy-glazed tuna with a wasabi dipping sauce, anyone?). I mean, Emeril has an Asian restaurant named Chop Chop. It’s hilarious to me to see stuff from my childhood memories of my grandmother’s kitchen, now plated in a fussy stack on a fancy dish with a swirly sauce pattern and considered cutting-edge shit.
Frankly, there are far better cooking shows on PBS. The ageless Martin Yan is there, still doing his ridiculously corny act on “Martin Yan’s Chinatowns”. Angela Shelf Medearis does healthy soul food on The Kitchen Diva. Ming Tsai is there doing his watered-down shi-shi fusion on “Simply Ming”. Jaques Pepin brings the serious French technique and Lidia Bastianich does Italian. It’s a far better line-up than the blathering lifestyle muppets on Food Network, if ya ask me. Even so, there are no Asian women, which is particularly absurd given current culinary trends.
But then, I’m a Tony Bourdain fan. Gimme some booze and some street food and I’m happy.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 1:52 pm ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
You mean having Mark Dacascos declare “the secret ingredient is….RICE!” on Iron Chef doesn’t count as diversity?
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 2:12 pm ¶
Aaminah wrote:
None of us find ms Ingrid to be very impressive either. Her versions of Latino food are whitified, her accent shifts so much one can’t help but wonder if it’s fake, and the requisite low-cut-tops that perpetuate the oversexualized Latina image and hope that her breasts might fall out is not appreciated.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 2:42 pm ¶
nero scooter wrote:
I dont understand why the Food Network doesnt show Licence to Grill in the US. Its on their channel in Canada. Its on Discovery Home Channel here. Rob Rainford may be a little overzealous but dude comes correct with some good looking food. I always seem to grill the next day after watching his show:)
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 2:47 pm ¶
Orville wrote:
I have to cosign with the author of this piece at the sarcastic tone about the attitudes of the Food Network. I agree it is tacky to promote the only black how during Black History Month. The article is excellent, intelligent, funny, and very well written.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 4:21 pm ¶
marge twain wrote:
Jag(the NY Latino Caribbean contestant on Next Food Network Star) was asked on a radio interview on the show what he would bring to the network. He answered that Latino cuisine wasn’t represented and he was chastised for saying that by the (white)network bosses. I am an avid cook and I often watch Food Network but I’ve long been disappointed by the very limited diversity(is Italian considered “ethnic” again?) The apparant lack of concern by the execs about their racist programming turned my stomach.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 6:41 pm ¶
mobile68 wrote:
Well written post. I’m glad that it’s just not me who noticed this.
Nothing else like food can express one’s culture better. When I travel to different parts of the u.s. (and eventuallyto other parts of the world) , the first thing I want to understand about the culture is how the food is prepared, how is it indigneous to the local region, and most importantly, how it tastes. Because vittles are usually part of any celebration or ritual.
Has anyone noticed in the u.s. how when a main food staple of any group of people of color is riduculed by the WHITE media and the WHITE general population to no ends, but no ridicule is ever made of any eurocentric-based food staple?
I hope I don’t have to give examples.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 7:10 pm ¶
Jasmine wrote:
I thought the Neelys were adorable, though I worry about Pat and Gina being edited to appear “sassier” (and therefore “authentic”) for the Food Network. I think the network, this or any other, should run a disclaimer before airing an episode: “Attention: Subjects may be sassier than they actually appear.” or something.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 7:10 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
FYI: rachael ray’s dad is cuban, her mom is italian and she makes food from all over the place.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 9:16 pm ¶
R wrote:
Food Network used to have a show called “Melting Pot,” which was, well, just like it sounds. Perhaps a little essentializing, but it did showcase a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
Rachael Ray’s dad is Cajun.
Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 11:51 pm ¶
B(rown) Girl wrote:
Just a few random things this post stirred up in me:
No way! Food porn is as racist as porn porn?
TFN is no more or less racist than any other channel out there, I’m afraid.
The only thing I respect about Bourdain is the props he gives to us brown folks who slave away in kitchens.
Do you remember Tre from the last run of Top Chef? How he was praised for cooking with “heart” when he made grits and such? (Tre was black, duh.) How about Hung being bashed at the judges’ table for not having enough heart because his Vietnam-born self insisted on using the French ingredients and techniques that he was trained/schooled to use rather than the fish and soy sauces?
Yeah.
If you look hard enough you’ll find sexism there too. (Oddly enough, there isn’t much classism on TFN.)
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 1:46 am ¶
Aaminah wrote:
It doesn’t matter where Rachel Ray’s dad is from - she self-identifies as Italian/Cajun and white. It also doesn’t matter that she “makes food from all over” because really, she doesn’t. She makes American-style food with some “ethnic” ingredients thrown in here and there. This is the same problem people have with Ingrid Hoffman and why Jag was actually completely correct. Hoffman may be Columbian, but she cooks based on her Miami lifestyle. That incorporates “Latin flavors” but is not real Latino cooking. And she represents a certain white skinned-blonde haired-size 6 with curves ideal that is not representative of Latina women either.
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 6:15 am ¶
Jacob wrote:
I don’t think Ingrid Hoffman (or Giada or Mario or any other host for that matter) “only gets to cook” Latin-inspired dishes because she Latina, but chooses instead to have a Latin-focused show because she renowned for her take on Central and South American cuisine. Why would she focus on anything else?
Jacob @ foodnetworkaddict.com
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 10:04 am ¶
Persia wrote:
The Food Network never shows the original Iron Chef any more, either. While I’m sure it played to some of the worst stereotypes of its viewers (Judge Giggling Asian Actress and Judge Fortuneteller come to mind), it was still a great look at another culture, and a really fun show. Iron Chef America is so bland and white in contrast.
The only ‘foodie’ show I watch any more is the BBC version of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. The restaurants they show are actually very diverse– once there was an ex-pat black American selling soul food– and food is what matters to him, not race, ethnicity or gender.
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 10:25 am ¶
Aaminah wrote:
You totally misunderstood what I said.It’s not that she “should” focus on anything else but that she isn’t even a genuine Latina cook. Throwing in an avocado, hot pepper and lime here and there do not make something authentically Latin.
And she doesn’t in fact cook Central or South American cuisine, and I don’t know one single non-white Latina or Latino who likes her shows (obviously somebody likes her since she has a show on Galavision, but no one I know in my vast community thinks she’s worth it). She cooks Miami food that is inspired by Latino food, but it is still pretty Americanized. She does not cook anything that looks remotely like my MIL cooks in Nicaragua, or what my Salvadoranean friends cook, or even what any of my Guatemalen or Mexican or Cuban or Dominican friends cook. Frankly, it isn’t even how I cook!
But TFN wanted her specifically for Latina cooking and specifically because she wouldn’t be “too real Latina” and scare away their white viewers. Viewers get to tell themselves they are becoming cultured by watching her while not actually moving too far at all outside their own comfort zone, or getting to know the vast array of true Latin American food options. Don’t you know that “Spicy Latina Flavor” is the fad and TFN was just jumping on the bandwagon? It’s called tokenism. Do I believe that TFN chose her specifically because she fit in better with their “culture”? Yes, I do.
Just let me know when we start to see women who look like my Indio/Latina step-daughters, or a black Dominican or Puerto Rican woman being asked to host a Latina cooking show on TFN…
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 10:46 am ¶
Aaminah wrote:
Let’s just say, my mother is white and not very radical AT ALL, and my (also white - I was adopted) dad is a bit on the racist side (one of those oh-so-fun ones who really believes he’s not racist while simultaneously repeating the usual stereotypes) and even they BOTH think that TFN is terribly racist and sexist, and that it is stereotyping when it does include the rare glimpse of semi-color. It’s funny actually that this was brought up because we had just had a conversation two weekends ago about this very matter.
Oh, and don’t dog on Iron Chef, LOL. I only watch it for the Chairman anyway. He’s kinda yummy.
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 10:54 am ¶
Kai wrote:
My favorite episode of 30-Minute Meals was when Rachael managed to cook an entire Chinese-style stir-fry and white-rice meal without ever saying the word “Chinese”. Instead, she spent the entire show calling it “takeout”. She said she liked to cook her own “takeout” because she worried about the quality of the meat and other scary ingredients at actual “takeout” restaurants. At the end, she put the food into little white cardboard boxes with the wire handles and stuck chopsticks in the rice and declared that you can make your own “takeout” right at home! Yay!
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 12:58 pm ¶
Colin wrote:
Kai,
Ah, the laughter at such only masks the tears.
I haven’t seen FN in a while so I thought to check out the site. Out of the many shows they had for today’s schedule, each one had some sort of recipe theme to them, and only about 3 even SOUNDED like they had a non-European theme to them. (Flavors of Peru, South of the Border, Viva Venezuela!) Now I don’t have the stomach or time to watch these shows, but that’s a pretty sad showing to me. Of course there would be recipes throughout that would just have “flavors” to them, i.e. throw in shiitake mushrooms here, make some fig sauce there, BAM! flavor. Still sad.
Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 2:02 pm ¶
dirkdiggler wrote:
they should actually be honest and just call the network, “what white people eat network.” but then again, emeril does have a predominantly black band, so they must be all about diversity.
when they made a whole show on paula deen’s 2 remarkably unremarkable sons, it was pretty clear that they were unable to break themselves of their own soft bigotry.
idiots.
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 10:08 pm ¶
Gypsy wrote:
I remember once noting that Wayne Harley Brachman always referred to his dishes on “Melting Pot” as “Eastern European” rather than saying what they really are, which is Jewish. (He would appear sometimes with Michael Symon and they’d make Eastern European dishes side by side, and sometimes you’d get it that Brachman was making a Jewish version but it was always kind of whispered. Sometimes Dave Lieberman gets to acknowledge that he’s doing something Jewish but usually he goes more generic. (Lieberman is a really good host and I love his show whenever it’s on but they really don’t utilize his strengths as well as they could. Probably because he’s not model gorgeous, just a nice guy with good chops.)
I sometimes get the feeling that FTV is being like Stephen Colbert–you know, picking “my black friend” and “my Chinese friend” and then making it all silly. The diff is Colbert admits it’s comedy….
Posted 10 Feb 2008 at 2:46 pm ¶
lee wrote:
30 minute meals.is not 30 minutes.because its impossible for anyone to cook a good meal that fast.during commercial breaks the food is prepped to fool the public.what they do is stop down tape to have enough time to prepp the food which takes time.and then they start recording again once they are satisfied with the setup.so whats happening they are deceiving the public.
Posted 02 Mar 2008 at 2:03 pm ¶
kitten wrote:
The food network channel rarely has
black cooks why? I see this world is
never going to change and it will
always be a white world.
Posted 05 Aug 2008 at 12:26 pm ¶