Illustration for TIME by Francisco Caceres; Oliver: Mike Marsland / WireImage
My column in this week’s print TIME looks at Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, the Madonna-and-whore complex of American food TV, and the reasons food has become another front in the culture war—and a surrogate, among other things, for the health-care debate. (Glenn Beck, of course, makes an appearance in the column, touting a delicious deep-fried dessert, banned by New York City for transfats, at a restaurant right down the street from my house. For once, I am right there with Beck on this one. Give me my twice-fried cherry pie!)
Food Revolution previewed Sunday night to OK ratings, but was beaten by both Celebrity Apprentice and Undercover Boss. The first episode and a new one air tonight on ABC; if you can stomach (so to speak) any reality show, it’s worth sampling.