9 Influences How We Cook and Eat Back in the day (before cable TV), TV cooking shows were either local morning-show affairs or educ programs like "The Frugal Gourmet" and "The French Chef." Now, an array of food-centric channels Network and the Cooking Channel are changing what we eat, as "celebrity chefs" change our perce from kitchen drudgery to an art form [source: Da Silva]. Look at how Rachael Ray has popularized e (much to some foodies' chagrin) [source: Woodland]. Yet ironically, though there are more shows on TV about food than ever before, the number of peo actually declining. A 2010 Harris poll showed only 41 percent of Americans cook at home five or mo Among millennials, the figure was just 33 percent. With all the extra hours people spend working a (TV watching, surfing the web), cooking dinner has taken a back seat. Writer Michael Pollan observes that the big influence TV food shows have had on Americans is not to cook though it does have that benefit for come viewer but chaping their tactor by exposing