I watched the Top Chef reunion show this week. I love Top Chef, mostly because the show is about food and cooking. One pinch too much of salt could ruin the whole competition. This season was especially exciting and fun to watch because there were so many great friendships and personalities on the show.
On the reunion show there was some talk about a scandal between the Top Chef Head Judge, Tom Colicchio, and one of the chef contestants, Elia, who was sent home on the first episode. Apparently she had visited Craft, Tom Colicchio’s restaurant in Las Vegas and was told by the kitchen that the meat was corn fed. That just appalled her and she reacted by speaking out against Tom Colicchio– saying something along the lines of he’s not about the food anymore; he’s about high fructose corn syrup. (Tom Colicchio had recently appeared in a Diet Pepsi commercial.)
Elia vs Tom Colicchio
Watch the video: Elia vs Tom Colicchio
Colicchio’s response on the show went something like this: I have supported the local food movement for over 17 years– even before it was the thing to do. I have always bought from local farmers. There is no way to run a steak house without having some corn fed beef. Much of my beef at that restaurant is grass fed. To the point about appearing in a Diet Pepsi commercial: I drink Diet Pepsi, I sell it in my stores. I like it. Elia then fought back trying to reiterate her point that all of this was just to say that she thinks he could cause a shift in the food industry if he were to only serve grass-fed beef. I believe there was something in there about it being his responsibility because he is a celebrity chef.
I bring this up because it shines a light on what is not only a very important issue in the food industry– supporting local farmers– but because it also asks a question, where is your ethical line in the sand? I think where the conversation went flat for me was when Elia was pushing her values on Colicchio. She wanted him to choose not to be in a Diet Coke commercial because it’s a bad product. Bad meaning a highly processed food which is bad for your health and bad for the environment. Certainly not local or sustainable. I can tell her from my own experience that pushing your agenda on someone else just doesn’t work. She has every right to disagree with his choices, but they just that– her choices. Not his.
I am a Health Coach. I support people in making changes in their lives so they can live a healthier life. That takes shape differently for each and every person because we are all unique. What I eat to feel healthy and the choices I make in support of a healthy world are different than someone else’s choices because we are all different.
In the past week I have been told what to eat by several different people. All nice people, all wanting to share their success with me. Where the advice fell flat for me was exactly at the point they said “you should” eat this way, or “what you have to do” is eat that way. How do they know? I was so shocked that I, a health coach and more importantly, someone who is probably healthier at this point in my life than i have ever been– not asking for any advice whatsoever– was suddenly being told what I had to do and how I had to eat.
I think we humans do this a lot. We want to help other people, we want to share our successes and show the world we did it! Especially us New Yorkers, we love to dole out advice. My education at the Institute for Integrated Nutrition was fantastic. I had the opportunity to learn from leading experts in the health and food industry. When I think back on it now I can see that many of them came before us, armed with studies and statistics, waving books and products to show us about how their way was “the way”. We heard it all: Animal products are good, eat only vegetables, eat in the zone, don’t eat fruit, eat lots of fruit. We could have easily lined up behind our gurus who were standing on the stage waving their books. In fact we pretty much did.
I took away much larger lessons. We are in deep shit if we don’t start eating healthier and losing weight. Our nation is in deep shit because health care costs are rising due to the cost of treating curable conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. Our planet is in deep shit if we don’t start taking care of her, supporting local farmers, using fewer plastic bags, using and buying less in general — and becoming more educated consumers. Food has become an industry that is closely linked with our health care industry. Keeping people sick benefits big business. We can improve our health by eating more whole foods, eat more fruit, vegetables and whole grains, eat less meat, drink more water and move our bodies more. But being sick is good for business.
Change is good, my friends, and it doesn’t work when you push your ideas on someone else. So if Tom Colicchio wants to drink Diet Coke he has a right to do it. Do I love the fact that he got paid to tell the world about Diet Coke? No. And if he asked me how it was affecting his health I would be happy to tell him there are many far better choices. But– and this is a big but– the choice has to be his. I am here to ask people to think differently, to ask questions that get people started thinking about their own health and the health of the planet– and to provide support to those people want to make changes that support them.
