Archives for the 'rachael ray' tag
The Solution to Childhood Obesity
My piece on last month’s SoBe Wine & Food panel on getting kids to eat healthy, which featured Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio, and the superb Brian Wansink, is up at Reason.com. A sample.
On its face, a panel featuring a daytime talk-show host, high-end restaurateur and head judge on Bravo’s hit Top Chef, diet-book author, uber-rich foodie mom, and New York Times writer wouldn’t appear to pose any danger to the restaurants-make-us-fat myth. (This year’s panel at least had better myth-busting potential than last year’s, which featured celebrity chefs—and torrid food nannies—Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters.)
But the overwhelming message of the panel was that parents—not the government or restaurants—are ultimately responsible for what their kids eat.
Whole thing here.
Amazon Cookbook Sales as Financial Barometer
As the dismal economic climate forces Americans to eat on the cheap, Reuters points to a shift in Amazon.com consumer purchases–toward cookbooks that contain less expensive ingredients. Sort of.
“There’s also been some talk in the industry about how more people will be eating at home now to save money,” said Amazon spokeswoman Tammy Hovey. “There has been some increased interest in upcoming big fall new releases from (Food Network’s) Ina Garten and Martha Stewart, whose new books are about getting back to basics.”
Topping the Amazon “Movers and Shakers” list on Monday was “The 99 Cent Only Stores Cookbook: Gourmet Recipes at Discount Prices,” by Christiane Jory, which jumped to 162 from 187,383 in the sales rankings.
“This is an excellent book for the current economic times,” wrote Prabash B. Coswatte, from Pasadena, California, in a review of the book on Amazon. “It shows all of us how we can stretch the dollar or our 99 cents.”
Or our 98 cents. See, I can write book reviews, too.
I’m not sure one Amazon reviewer’s comments, a giant sales jump of a book that appeared on yesterday’s Rachel Ray Show and has been hyped by the New Depression-obsessed media for months as an economic barometer, or interest in a Martha Stewart book really tell me anything about a trend.
But the Reuters writer’s point–that people want to eat cheaper–is well taken, even if not well made.
Dogs Developing that Whole Love/Hate Thing with Rachael Ray
Those who love to hate Rachael Ray and her crap food will be pleased to learn that it’s been repackaged… as dog food. Ray’s Nutrish line–no, seriously–will, in her defense, go to help at-risk dogs. To her credit, too, she seems to have picked actual animal-rescue benefactors, rather than groups like PETA that would rather kill dogs than place them in loving homes.
Now a bit on the foo and Isaboo:
My dog Isaboo loves how good these foods taste. Lucky for me, she has no idea just how good they really are for her. They’ve got Omega Fatty Acids with a dash of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) to keep her skin and coat shiny and healthy. A blend of fiber including oatmeal makes Nutrish easy for her to digest. Calcium helps to keep Isaboo’s bones strong and her teeth healthy. For her immune system, there are antioxidants like vitamin E and selenium. Plus high quality proteins like real beef or chicken help support healthy organs and lean muscle mass.
More at Marketwatch.
While Radar went there by kind of refusing to go there, I’m going there by going there. Which not-so-delish Rachael Ray recipe was so bad that someone suggested it was more fit for the dogs?
Rachael Ray Can’t Be Feeling Bubbly
Via Slashfood comes news Rachael Ray’s ABC talk show is on the chopping block. Ray’s not happy. From the NY Post:
A rep for Ray fumed that she’s not alone in her falling numbers: Oprah, who discovered the bubbly chef, was down 15 percent from February 2007 as were “Live with Regis and Kelly,” “The Tyra Banks Show” and “The Martha Stewart Show.”
In 2007, Ray’s syndicated show averaged a 2.2 Nielsen rating and has already dipped to 2.0 this year. An insider said, “Anything below a 2.0 is asking for trouble.”
[...]
A rep for Ray pointed out that the average age for Winfrey’s viewers is 54.6, and said, “Our show is renewed through 2010 – so canceling is not an option.”
If Ray is axed, a possible replacement is already in the works: King World is producing a chat show for Marie Osmond, which would be ready by 2010.
Ray’s also dealing with a whole bunch of stuff, including revived tabloid rumors about her marriage hanging on the precipice and questions about whether she went under the knife.
Update: I should have noted earlier, but Oprah didn’t “discover” Ray in any way, shape, or form.
