Kerfuffles

Mary Risley Lashes Back at Michael Pollan About the Impact of Food TV

Risley
Risley

In a rare appearance on the Scoop yesterday — obviously because she had something to say that she felt needed saying — local cooking teacher and fan of the F-bomb Mary Risley takes Michael Pollan to task for saying that he thinks television cooking competition shows like Top Chef and Chopped are “scaring us out of the kitchen” and driving more people to buy prepared meals at Trader Joe’s. (Pollan, by the way, has a new book out about cooking, so there’s that.) She says that from her experience, the plethora of cooking happening on TV has only been an inspiration to adults and children alike — many of whom write to her after seeing her cooking demos on YouTube. “Michael Pollan is a very good journalist, but he underestimates the influence that many of the chefs on television have had in sparking a passion in America towards learning to cook.” [Scoop]

Mary Risley Lashes Back at Michael Pollan About the Impact of Food TV