Enough!

I've thought long and hard about this post. When I was a kid I remember watching cooking shows and thinking that's neat the people are cooking on TV and having fun, that's a good job. It wasn't till later in life that I decided that I should put my efforts into a similar career.

After teaching thousands of students and meeting great people in the process. I am about to say what needs to be said, Food Network has officially been banned in my home. Call it
"jumping the shark", there better days are behind them, or they ain't what they use to be but I have had enough.

I stood by when the former host of Double Dare appeared on my TV telling me how cool it will be for me to watch how corn flakes are made. I stood silent, well I'm never silent, when Sandra Lee came on their network and slapped the face of all things culinary on a daily basis.

Today though I draw a line in the sand at this, the Fun and Fit as a Family event.

"The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is pleased to announce the return of its groundbreaking childhood obesity prevention initiative -- South Beach Diet presents Fun and Fit as a Family featuring Kellogg's Kidz Kitchen. Taking place February 21 & 22, 2009 throughout Jungle Island, one of Miami's premiere theme parks, Fun and Fit as a Family will bring together the best culinary, fitness, food, and health personalities and professionals in the country to show the community how they can make healthier choices, and have fun doing it!"

So why would this be the my last straw with food network? Doesn't all of the above sound like a great idea? It does look like a great idea until you learn who will be doing the cooking demonstrations, drumroll please, Paula Deen, Guy Fieri...........PAULA DEEN are you kidding me?

I'm sure Paula is a lovely women, her shows and cooking style aren't my cup of tea but she's created a brand for herself and is successful so kudos to her. Her brand though I believe is butter not health, not fit, and arguably not fun.

I am organizing an event called "Politicians against graft and corruption". My keynote speakers are Sen. Ted Stevens and Gov. Rod Blagojevich both are sure to really connect with the topic.

In closing, I miss the Food Network where Mario Batali would speak of regions of Italy that are above the butter belt and Alton Brown was just a brainy guy who talked about the molecular reaction of molecules in a souffle and wasn't the host of a cooking contest. Those were the days when Food Network was truly about food and not shows that tell me how many potato chips are in a pringles can and certainly not send a host who has fried Twinkies to an event to raise awareness about child obesity.