The Discovery Channel’s Planet Green announced that Emeril Lagasse and Whole Foods Market will be teaming up for a new cooking show, called Emeril Green. According to Discovery, the show promises to be “an innovative series that will redefine food shows for the new green culture.”
We imagine the unpublished recipe for the show goes something like this. Find a celebrity chef who realizes going green will be good for his star power. Add in a dash of America’s smartest grocer looking to reach new converts with a celebrity chef and BAM!, a cooking show is born.
It might be a defining moment for food shows but we’re not sure how it will impact green culture. While we hope that Emeril’s star power will get some folks who believe, “organic is too expensive”, or “it doesn’t taste as good as regular food,” to get with it, and get others to compost, save energy and consume more wisely, we have our doubts.
Of course, Whole Foods might unveil a new line of Emeril Green cookware made with recycled rubber handles, and if more folks start shopping at Whole Foods instead of Safeway, that’s a good thing. Yet another shade of consumer culture isn’t really going green. Or is it? Likely, we’re just expecting too much.
“Shot on location at Whole Foods Market,” the release noted, “Lagasse works with everyday cooks with real culinary challenges, enlisting the help of the knowledgeable team at Whole Foods Market and other experts to hand pick the best ingredients for every recipe, turning ordinary meals into extraordinary experiences.”
According to the charismatic Emeril, (who we love more than blackened tofu), each episode will show “smart ways to make each day a little greener for you and your family.” Let’s hope this means more than just turning off the water faucet after you’ve properly rinsed your endive. Though, from the way some of my friends waste water, we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of little things.
If you don’t know about www.planetgreen.com it’s a big deal.Its our own granola laden channel, an historic re-launching of the Discovery Home channel as a 24/7 “eco-lifestyle” television network.
As part of this effort, Discovery also purchased the terrific <a href=”http://www.planetgreen.com” target=”new”>Treehugger </a> as well. Discovery creates terrific content in a variety of media and of course they’re great marketers, too.
But the bigger question is how does one create commercial media without selling stuff, more stuff and a lot more things? You know the stuff and things that requires people throw away the other stuff the already have and keeps those factories in China working 24/7. Green, the reduce, reuse and recycle kind of green and commercial television might not get along.
We’re hoping to be proven wrong. After all NBN is always welcome for a smack down, especially when it proves our pessimism wrong.
We’ve spoken with the Planet Green folks to find out their answer. We’ll follow up with that interview soon.
Yours in the cynical aisle.
