How food television is changing America - Food television - Salon.com

ow food television is changing America

As TV gets another food channel, an expert explains how the medium revolutionized the way we think about cooking

By Thomas Rogers

Salon/Reuters

Rachel Ray

Watching cooking on TV doesn't seem to make much sense -- what, after all, is the point of seeing somebody fry vegetables if you don't even get to fill your belly? And yet, since Julia Childs' "The French Chef" premiered in 1963, the cooking show has moved from a niche educational program into mainstream American entertainment. In 1993, the highly successful TV Food Network, now just the Food Network, launched, giving Americans access to round-the-clock food-themed television. And in recent years, programs like "Top Chef" and "Hell's Kitchen" have not only been