February 28, 2008
‘Galloping Gourmet’ promotes healthy eating
Graham Kerr is best known as The Galloping Gourmet, his on-air personality for a television program broadcast in the United States and 37 other countries from 1969 to 1971 on the Public Broadcasting Service.
On the show, Kerr was frequently featured with a glass of wine in hand and was not shy in using butter, cream and fat in his dishes. His calorie-laden cuisine even made him an enemy to health-conscious groups at the time.
Kerr was a self-described globe trotter from 1960 to 1976, traveling the world eating four or five — even eight — meals a day. But in the late 1970s, Kerr had an epiphany of sorts. He decided the way he and his family were eating was not so wise. Then in 1987, Kerr’s wife, Treena, had a stroke. She was also diagnosed with untreated diabetes and later had a heart attack. Kerr said a prayer at the time that he would “make some changes” if his wife was able to leave the hospital.
These days, the Mount Vernon, Wash.-based Kerr promotes healthy eating and has worked with institutions including the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center to design healthy meals for patients and the public. Kerr recently spoke here on campus with health educators, nurses and physicians from UW Medical Center’s Diabetes in Pregnancy program, which is part of the Maternal Infant Care Clinic. He later spoke with University Week; an edited transcript of the interview follows.
Q. Where does your interest in science and medicine come from, and how much of it stems from the health issues your wife, Treena, has battled?
A. It goes back to May 19, 1971, the day after we celebrated Treena’s birthday in the south of France at a very famous restaurant called La Bonne Auberge in Antibes. We ate very unwisely and spent the night on a boat that was going up and down in its moorings by about a foot. When you’ve eating unwisely and you go shake the test tube around like that, you get extraordinarily ill. The next day, the unwise eating had resulted in an extra experience of seasickness. We all decided we would change — and that was an unusual cause and effect.
We gradually went back into a way of life that was counter-productive, but my interest in cause and effect continued. I initially went off on the wrong track, and read every book that proposed triumphantly how one should live. It was almost always hype, without any justification for their opinion except that it was strongly held, violently proclaimed and included a string of anecdotal evidence. I was subject to the whims and fancies of this type of rhetoric for years, until I became responsible and wanted to understand science.
Q. During your talk at UWMC, you said that you have worked on federal nutrition initiatives, including the 5 A Day program (aimed at encouraging Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables). How would you advise the government to proceed in the nutrition realm these days, given the rising numbers of obese children and adults?
A. (Kerr chuckles.) The government recently announced that private businesses are trying to creatively address the obesity issue. That’s very important, that they do not leave out the people providing real food that people can eat as an alternative. I don’t think we need too many more Weight Watchers, Jenny Craigs or these sorts of things. We need to have the marketplace change to some degree. Kelly Brownell, a psychologist from Yale, has proposed a “Twinkie tax” (aimed at junk-food users) which upset everybody.
Beyond that, we have now been working with a standard statement for many years — that we need more fruits and vegetables and whole grains, less saturated fat, less refined carbohydrates and lower fat dairy products. There isn’t anybody who would really disagree with that message. If that message was really carried out, it would result in a tremendous reduction in cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and death rates from heart disease and cancer.
What I would suggest to the government is this — invest in convenience-styled products. At certain poverty levels, both the husband and wife are working, sometimes multiple jobs, and convenience is a real factor. What about creating a mechanism to bring low-cost great food into the inner cities, particularly supported by the government?
Q. Behavior change, as you noted, can be tricky to navigate. Please describe your “treat v. threat” approach to engaging people to change (bad) behavior.
A. In the word “treat,” if you put the letter “h” behind the letter “t,” that’s the only difference between “treat” and “threat.” “H” equals harm, and the harm occurs through high portions and high repetition. If I order large fries and do that regularly, the large fries will accumulate to being a problem for me and will do me harm.
Q. What can we expect next from Graham Kerr?
A. We’re in discussions now to produce a program for PBS which features the neglected plant. Almost all TV shows, except for vegetarian programs, feature meat or fish or whatever. That’s not necessarily the healthiest way of cooking. I know that because I used to do that.
Bastyr University and I are in discussions for a show to make the plant the “triumph” in itself. We would have four plants to a plate, and if you don’t like one of those plants, then by all means, you could use a piece of meat. The concept is to make a contribution, not to level a criticism. Each one of these plants makes it own contribution to our health and enjoyment.
If it all comes off, we would cook four plant foods and have an audience to sample the creations. The audience would rate the relative enjoyment of each one and we’d get an instant rating from randomly selected participants.
For more on Kerr, visit www.grahamkerr.com and www.daybydaygourmet.com. You may also view his work with the University of Michigan at www.mcancer.org/recipes.
