I don't know about you, but I'm on the edge of my seat – well, couch. The summer TV re-runs have ended, and cooking shows are back on the box.
But something's been gnawing away at me – should shows like My Kitchen Rules and Masterchef be taking healthy eating more seriously?
I'm an absolute sucker for reality cooking shows. I watch every episode of Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules. I pick my favourite contestants each year and cheer them on, and take a strange kind of delight in watching the villains get their comeuppance and get sent packing.
Why do I love these shows so much? Well, obviously, I love food and cooking (which comes in handy, being the editor of Healthy Food Guide!) so I have a natural interest. But beyond my personal passions, I like and admire these cooking shows for many reasons. The top three would have to be:
1. They are inspiring: They take a subject, cooking, that is close to so many people's hearts – male or female, young and old, of all cultural backgrounds and at all cooking levels – and they make a big deal of it. They demonstrate what ordinary people like you and me are capable of doing, given the chance and the inspiration.
2. They are dramatic: They impose restrictions like time limits (because come on, couldn't we all cook an amazing croquembouche with unlimited time?) and preselected, sometimes randomly assembled ingredients in order to test the competitors' skill, creativity and ability to withstand pressure. Now, some of these elements apply to an average week night in my kitchen (especially the random assortment of ingredients!) but on top of this, these shows are competitions – with amazing prizes on offer for the winners. We all love the idea that it's never too late to follow your dreams.
3. They are simultaneously entertaining and educational: Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules feature a range of competitors who have been selected based not only on their talent in the kitchen, but their potential to entertain and engage all of us at home watching. Add TV-friendly hosts who are talented chefs in their own rights; the aforementioned drama; and guest appearances from some of the finest chefs in Australia and from around the world, and you have a fantastic recipe for educational entertainment. I've learned a number of dishes and cooking techniques from watching these shows, and been inspired to try new things and gain confidence in the kitchen at home.
Which leads me to the question I started off with: given that these shows enjoy audiences in the millions, do they have a responsibility to place more emphasis on healthy cooking and eating? With obesity rates continuing to soar, could these shows – with their ability to attract massive audiences who will hang on to every word uttered, and take note of every ingredient poured into the pans – be part of the answer when it comes to educating and inspiring us all to cook and eat more healthily? After all, healthy eating doesn't mean boring or tasteless eating – but many people don't know where to start. These shows could help. They wouldn't need to suddenly become 100% focused on healthy cooking, but they could start to incorporate it more.
Or is it none of their business or concern? We here at Healthy Food Guide hang our hats on healthy eating and cooking – it's the reason we exist. But these shows have never proclaimed themselves to be about health, so should they continue to focus on creating delicious, inspiring, dramatic food – slabs of butter and all?
Food for thought! I'd love to hear yours – please leave a comment below.
Until next month
Nikki
Posted by Sharon Mar 02, 2012 04:53 AM
Hi
I definitely agree with this sentiment. It seems every dessert, every meal is just rich and calorie filled ready for the obese.
I love it all but just can't endure the attack on my hips.
There needs to be a balance or at least an acknowledgement that vegetables, fruit, etc can look interesting and taste great without out 'having chocolate' or 'have butter' with that.
Great to see it being discussed.
Posted by anonymous Mar 02, 2012 01:17 AM
I think they should definatley be "healthier", but since there are no laws governing this, and so many view points on what is "healthy, it would be a very difficult thing to enforce! While I think it's great that these shows create interest around food and cooking - people still dont seem to understand the basics - that we need to eat more fruit and veg, and less added salts/sugars/fats (which goes against this gourmet cooking)
Posted by shell Mar 01, 2012 07:22 AM
I think we all need to realise that these dishs are not ment to be everyday meals . I have found a fantastic show it is Good Chef Bad Chef on channel 10. It would fantastic to have a few more shows with a healthy out look on food and give people better ideas on how to cook healthy and TASTY food.
Posted by Chris Feb 29, 2012 04:20 AM
I am way over all these cooking shows! Who at home in their right minds even tries to cook the stuff these people are cooking?
A cooking show that teaches simple, fast and healthy meals (like your magazine presents) for time poor families during the week would be a much better option.
I was shocked when my then 19 year old son came to me asking how to boil an egg for his girlfriend who was feeling under the weather after a bout of gastric. Neither of them knew how to cook a soft boiled egg! My fault for not teaching him earlier . . . but what happened at his girlfriends house all those years? How come she didn't know either?
Posted by Clogged Artieries at 30 Feb 28, 2012 06:16 AM
These shows should be more responsible in this day and age when we know the hazards of unhealthy eating. The emphasis should be on healthy eating in the correct proportions. Healthy eating is not boring, it doesn't consist of just salads for a main, there are also healthy desserts too. I would like to see a reality show that is responsible in this respect and challenge the contestants to make healthy, tasty, eye catching dishes. I've seen some episodes where the amount of butter/fat in a serving is more than I will consume in six months. Anyone following a diet made of meals from these programs are heading for an early grave or a life time of diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and all the rest that is proven to originate from such diets. I will no longer watch these shows, if everyone else did the same they may change them and be more responsible.
Posted by anonymous Feb 25, 2012 06:49 PM
I have always thought that. What point is it to learn to cook if everything you make will kill you? You might as well eat simple fruit and vegetables that you ate before you learned these cheffy things.,
Chefs should say this is a treat for a special occasion or this meal is enough energy for a whole day, so the unaware public don't just indulge too much on these delicious foods. It is really difficult to absorb the fact that we are eating for fuel, rathere than for taste after watching this type of program. My own rule is not to buy a cookbook unless calories are listed.
Posted by anonymous Feb 25, 2012 02:30 PM
Go healthy, low salt, low fat, low sugar, low kj & high in flavour!
Posted by anonymous Feb 25, 2012 01:42 PM
Reality cooking shows seem to want to create more and more 'drama' and excitement to get mix response and stir up emotions and get more viewers. And the saying that the more unhealthy, the yummier. Use more olive oil to dress, drizzle olive oil, cook in oil, dress in oil...and their idea of a touch seems to be heaps! And always 'season season season' the food (more salt). Perhaps seasoning should now have a new definition i.e. use of herbs and spices. And the use of fat seems to get the thumbs up. I can almost guarantee that if you have 2 contestants, 1 using more fat and one using fat sparingly, the judges would favour the one using more fat. And desserts seem to be so sweet! Not just the fat but the sugar!!! I think it would be good if we could challenge the producers to have a reality cooking show aiming for healthy cooking i.e for each meal, they are only allowed to use 'x' amt of oil, sugar, protein etc and the total dish must be no more than 'x' kilojoules. Dessert should be aimed at using more natural sweetness from fruits and less sugar.If only they could see the wonderful wining recipes in HFG and create such dishes...!
Posted by anonymous Feb 25, 2012 01:42 PM
Reality cooking shows seem to want to create more and more 'drama' and excitement to get mix response and stir up emotions and get more viewers. And the saying that the more unhealthy, the yummier. Use more olive oil to dress, drizzle olive oil, cook in oil, dress in oil...and their idea of a touch seems to be heaps! And always 'season season season' the food (more salt). Perhaps seasoning should now have a new definition i.e. use of herbs and spices. And the use of fat seems to get the thumbs up. I can almost guarantee that if you have 2 contestants, 1 using more fat and one using fat sparingly, the judges would favour the one using more fat. And desserts seem to be so sweet! Not just the fat but the sugar!!! I think it would be good if we could challenge the producers to have a reality cooking show aiming for healthy cooking i.e for each meal, they are only allowed to use 'x' amt of oil, sugar, protein etc and the total dish must be no more than 'x' kilojoules. Dessert should be aimed at using more natural sweetness from fruits and less sugar.If only they could see the wonderful wining recipes in HFG and create such dishes...!
Posted by Justine Feb 25, 2012 08:30 AM
I wholeheartedly agree that shows such as Masterchef would be a lot more appealing if they included more of an emphasis on healthier cooking, not just "needs more salt" and "I'd love to see more sauce"! I would also like to see them take a more sensible approach to cooking for people with allergies and intolerances - it is not that difficult to create something fabulous that is free from gluten, dairy, etc as your brilliant magazine shows, every month. Maybe one of your team should knock on their door and set them a Healthy Chef challenge!
Posted by Rita Posthuma Feb 25, 2012 06:48 AM
I do believe that there should be a lot more emphasis on healthy cooking on these shows. There are a lot of people who watch these shows, and when you see these cooks coming out with all these ingredients which are high in calories etc, it doesn't bring across the right message.
Posted by Annette Feb 25, 2012 02:34 AM
I love a good cooking show too, but the way MKR is going at the moment, it is becoming like Australian politics - a soap opera!
I'm not sure I want to see the food police all over these shows - I think there's maybe a swing too far against enjoying everything in moderation - not everyone is going to cook the amazing, over the top buttery/creamy/salty creations that these shows often tantalise us with every night of the week.
The place for this kind of educational component on MasterChef is the Friday night masterclass - they could easily have a component in that hour of variations on dishes they've made or basic skills they're teaching. MKR is turning into Survivor, so I think that's a lost cause.
Healthy eating is clearly very important but as unpopular as the concept is, learning good nutrition starts in the home and food habits are formed pretty early in life. There are so many diets, health websites, good food mags (like HFG) that a person really has no excuse for not knowing how to do things better if they need to.
Love these shows as they are - with the exception of the idiocy of this season's MKR sore losers.
Posted by F Mason Feb 25, 2012 02:10 AM
SALT!!! They are always saying "There's not enough salt!" When we are being told to hold back on salt and add other herbs and spices instead, I believe that these shows could definitely be doing the same. Individuals can always add salt to their particular taste if they're desperate for it!
Posted by Barb Lukies Feb 25, 2012 02:07 AM
PS i think Jamie Oliver Food Ministry Australia is a healthier option and he is trying to get the country to eat healthy and cook healthy meals by showing people how its done. its a pity they only have one in Ipswitch and not in every state and regional place.
Posted by Barb Lukies Feb 25, 2012 02:03 AM
I whole heartedly agree with them having a responsibility to healthier meals but when i and others commented on masterchef last yr when they did a "Special episode"on restricted diets eg heart healthy, gluten free, diabetic we were told online through the forum there priority is to give "RESTAURANT"meals that "MOST PEOPLE WANT" and not the "MINORITY WHO WANT THESE MEALS" it just shows ignorance in the food industry as a whole because most people i know including myself have to eat these type of meals daily for health reasons. most people struggle to find a good healthy meal when dining out because they simply dont cater for those who want low fat, low salt, low cholesterol meals. its no wonder we are now the leading country with obesity not just for adults but kids and teens are catching up very quickly if there are no alternative healthy options avail out in restaurants and takeout places that people like to frequent.
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