‘Food Network’: Molly Yeh Can Stay, But She Needs to Rethink Her Show
As we all spent more time at home this year, the interest in home cooking grew. This is obvious from the popularity of Food Network -watching. Watching celebrity chefs share kitchen secrets and favorite recipes inspired viewers to try new dishes. Along with the inspiration came criticism of even well-loved hosts, like Molly Yeh. While fans love her and admire her cooking skills, many believe she needs a new concept for her show.
Who is Molly Yeh?
Yeh was born in Glenview, Illinois and raised in the Chicago suburbs. Throughout her childhood and young adult years, she was involved in music. After her move to Brooklyn, New York, she attended Juilliard School to follow her passion for percussion.
In 2011, she completed a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion and later made a surprising shift to becoming a TV cooking personality. After getting married to Nick Hagen, the couple moved to the Minnesota-North Dakota region that held Hagen’s roots. Her husband is a fellow music major from Juilliard and a fifth-generation farmer.
Living life on the farm made Girl Meets Farm seem like the perfect show for Yeh. Best known as the host of the show, many fans may not know about Yeh’s other achievements. Before the debut of her show, she published her first cookbook, Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm. She also is active on the blog she began in 2009 with inspiration from the journals she kept throughout her childhood.
Why fans think ‘Girl Meets Farm’ is not the right concept for Yeh
While fans agree Yeh is an excellent cook, many believe that the concept of her Food Network show is not the right fit for her cooking style. In a recent Reddit conversation, a user commented, “I think Molly likes to cook fancier more elaborate dishes which is fine, but then don’t pass it off as Farm Girl, Minnesota Food.” Others agree that her dishes are not exactly what you would find being whipped up in the average Minnesota kitchen.
Many people believe that if there was an adjustment with the cooking show’s concept, Yeh would see more success. Girl Meets Farm is often compared to The Pioneer Woman but offers more appeal to the millennial generation. However, there is no comparison with Yeh’s home cooking concept vs. Ree Drummond’s The Pioneer Woman because of Drummond’s authenticity with cooking down-home dishes that resonate with the traditional farm cooking audience.
However, this is not the first time that Yeh faced criticism for her on-air cooking lessons. Fans of the widely popular show have often commented on how Yeh’s overly cheerful personality on camera can feel patronizing.
Food Network fans crave a vegetarian/vegan show
With the shift to consumers practicing healthy eating more, several Food Network fans wonder why there hasn’t been a development of a show focusing on healthy meals. From the same Reddit thread mentioned prior, cooking show fans discussed how they’d enjoy seeing a vegetarian/vegan show on Food Network.
One user bluntly commented that until Food Network figures out how to make a game show out of this type of show, they’ll continue airing baking competitions and marathons of top-rated cooking shows.
Could Food Network listen to suggestions and try out a vegan or vegetarian cooking show soon? Time will only tell. Until then, enjoy watching your favorite TV chefs or find a cooking show style that fits your tastes. Follow along with your favorites and have a happy home cooking experience!
