Food Media

Food Media charts the growth of this popular entertainment category and the emergence of celebrity chefs, such as Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray, and popular trends, such as foodies, food porn, and food fetishism. Food Media describes how the intersections between celebrity culture and food media have come to influence how many people think about feeding themselves and their families— and how often that task is complicated when it need not be.

The book examines how, under the threat of the obesity epidemic, some food stars have taken on new authority as social activists, while others continue to provide delicious distractions from a world of unhealthy and potentially unsafe food. The narrative that joins these chapters moves from private to public consumption, and from celebrating food fantasies to fueling anxieties about food realities, with the questionable role of celebrity interference in people’s everyday food choices gaining ground along the way.