Real Celebrity People Eat Real Food?

Angling off the Seinfeld debate, does celebrity really matter in terms of making the food we eat popular? The Jessica Seinfeld cookbook Deceptively Delicious makes clear that it certainly can help. She has a best-seller with over 200,000 copies of the book sold. Ask Sneaky Chef Missy Chase Lapin and you'll learn that without the big-name and big-name publicity, you have only a small niche market for the same fare.

Famous, or "almost famous" people eating well makes headlines, as a few other recent articles note.

• Chad L. Coleman a Brooklyn-based actor who plays Cutty on The Wire belongs to my beloved Park Slope Food Coop. Profiled in this Sunday's NYT City section (01.13.08), he sums it up.

“We all eat, sleep, breathe, and we all have lives to take care of, regardless of the celebrity or notoriety or whatnot... ‘What are you doing in the co-op?’ Well, my family’s in the co-op. My wife would kill me if she couldn’t get her organic food."

• Ang Lee, the genius director of Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Eat Drink Man Woman, to name a few, is also down to earth and deeply connected to food. In fact, he raises chickens in his Westchester backyard. and he cooks traditional Chinese dishes whenever he can. A Chicken Coop, but no Tigers, NYT, 11.25.07

Can we make eating well trendy? Paul Newman's Newman's Own food line is a great example. The company has raised over $200 million for charity since 1982 and is also committed to organic and sustainable food with its Newman's Own Organics. Tell me, Paul Newman's blue eyes on the label have nothing to do with it!