Food TV

Food on television can include a host of formats, venues, and functions, even within one medium, associated as it is with entertainment, education, and advertising. Here, it is defined as the genre traditionally referred to as cooking shows, although even that description does not encompass the wide range of program types and content now available. In this entry, discussion covers the genre’s history and [Page 638]evolution, culminating in a dedicated cable channel; the effect of food TV on cooking skills; the effectiveness of disseminating health, science, and technology information; salient social messages delivered by food television; and the overall role of the genre in U.S. culture. Food TV, as characterized here, is emblematic of the concept of food issues itself, as it is relevant to ...