Food presentations

sammi20 · ‎06-28-2016

Being cooped up in the house, we have been watching QVC a lot more than usual. One of the things I have recently noticed is the hosts are not eating their way through the food shows anymore. This leads me to believe that the food used in the presentations is being thrown away when the presentation(s) is/are over. If this is true, I implore you to use less food in presentations. When Heartland Chicken was the value of the day, there was so much chicken displayed on the table that could have fed at least 25 people. With the miles of lines at food banks today, you really need to limit the amount of wasted food you use. Thank you for considering this suggestion.

Janey2 · ‎06-07-2010

I would add...show a fraction of of the food you usually present and donate the remaining amount. Too many people are in the need of food right now

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

Many times the food you may see on TV, magazines, etc. is not actually edible, but rather 'styled' by a food stylist to make it look more appealing especially after sitting under hot studio lights for an extended period of time.

What does a Food Stylist do?

A food stylist showcases food for photography, video, or film.

A food stylist's job is to arrange food so that it looks appealing, tasty, and fresh. This is particularly important when the food is being photographed. Examples of food being 'styled' are the pictures of food that one may see in cookbooks, magazines, advertisements, and menus. In some cases, the food stylist might be the food photographer as well, but more often than not, food stylists will work closely with a team of people such as chefs, editors, assistants, and photographers.

Typically, food stylists are also in charge of shopping for, prepping, and cooking the dishes from start to finish. Food has to stay looking very fresh between the time it is bought and the day of the shoot, so knowing how best to store food is crucial to the success of the final product.

Professional food stylists have several tricks to make food appear as delicious as possible:

Meat will often look much smaller or even shrivelled when it is cooked completely due to loss of moisture. To avoid this, meat will only be cooked until it 'looks' done.
Many food stylists will use paint brushes to apply edible glazes to foods like cake to give them some sheen.
To keep food upright (for eg., a stack of pancakes, or a hamburger), wooden skewers or toothpicks can be inserted in order to stabilize the food.
Putty or wax can be placed between the food and a hard surface to keep it from rolling away or tipping.
To make certain drinks look bubbly or to make whipped eggs look frothy, bubbles are often used.
Faux ice cubes don’t melt in warm environments, and are often used instead of regular ice cubes in drinks or for dishes like shrimp cocktail.
Dye and paint is often brushed on after the food has been prepared to give it better colour. For example, chickens and turkeys sometimes get that golden brown “fresh from the oven” look from wood stain or shoe polish.
Real pancake syrup can be difficult to photograph, so motor oil is sometimes used in its place.
Fast drying glue can be used to reassemble crumbled food, and ordinary white glue can be used as a replacement for milk in a bowl of cereal.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

LizzieInSRQ · ‎12-27-2010

The food used in a tv demo wouldn't make a difference in the least. Not one bit. Nice thought but it's a drop in 100 Olympic sized swimming pools.

KKJ · ‎03-11-2010

@KingstonsMom wrote:
Many times the food you may see on TV, magazines, etc. is not actually edible, but rather 'styled' by a food stylist to make it look more appealing especially after sitting under hot studio lights for an extended period of time.

What does a Food Stylist do?
A food stylist's job is to arrange food so that it looks appealing, tasty, and fresh. This is particularly important when the food is being photographed. Examples of food being 'styled' are the pictures of food that one may see in cookbooks, magazines, advertisements, and menus. In some cases, the food stylist might be the food photographer as well, but more often than not, food stylists will work closely with a team of people such as chefs, editors, assistants, and photographers.

Typically, food stylists are also in charge of shopping for, prepping, and cooking the dishes from start to finish. Food has to stay looking very fresh between the time it is bought and the day of the shoot, so knowing how best to store food is crucial to the success of the final product.

Professional food stylists have several tricks to make food appear as delicious as possible:
Meat will often look much smaller or even shrivelled when it is cooked completely due to loss of moisture. To avoid this, meat will only be cooked until it 'looks' done.
Many food stylists will use paint brushes to apply edible glazes to foods like cake to give them some sheen.
To keep food upright (for eg., a stack of pancakes, or a hamburger), wooden skewers or toothpicks can be inserted in order to stabilize the food.
Putty or wax can be placed between the food and a hard surface to keep it from rolling away or tipping.
To make certain drinks look bubbly or to make whipped eggs look frothy, bubbles are often used.
Faux ice cubes don’t melt in warm environments, and are often used instead of regular ice cubes in drinks or for dishes like shrimp cocktail.
Dye and paint is often brushed on after the food has been prepared to give it better colour. For example, chickens and turkeys sometimes get that golden brown “fresh from the oven” look from wood stain or shoe polish.
Real pancake syrup can be difficult to photograph, so motor oil is sometimes used in its place.
Fast drying glue can be used to reassemble crumbled food, and ordinary white glue can be used as a replacement for milk in a bowl of cereal.

I don't think this is the case with the Q. For example, when they are showing the Germack nuts they pour container after container into bowls. Don't think they need to pour out 20 big jars of it to show what it looks like. Lot of waste

mspatmac · ‎06-10-2015

@LizzieInSRQ wrote:
The food used in a tv demo wouldn't make a difference in the least. Not one bit. Nice thought but it's a drop in 100 Olympic sized swimming pools.

If it helps one person or family it would make a big difference.

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

I wouldn't be surprised if 1/2 that food is "styled"...which makes me think of a couple months ago with Antonella & Temptations Lisa showing the ice cream in cups from temptations.

Oh my gosh, I died laughing -- Antonella took a big spoonful of the "ice cream" and poor Lisa wasn't quick enough to tell her it was "styled food" -- actually scoops of Crisco shortening with Chocolate syrup over it and cherry.

Next time, Antonella was presenting and it had ice cream I clearly remember he stating " Is this real or Crisco? cuz I'm not doing that again!" Lisa said NO its ice cream just for you!

So maybe, the stylist have these items preserved and only a bit is used which they eat (or do they no longer eat).

I haven't watched any food shows ...

sammi20 · ‎06-28-2016

I understand that much of the food is "staged," but do they have to "stage" so much?! There is also a lot of food that is not staged, because I have watched hosts eat their way through shows in the past. When they are using a slicer/dicer, those potatoes, zucchinis, etc, are fresh and not staged and look lije they are being thrown into some sort of container. I was always appalled at the food waste on the show, but with everything going on now with the lines at food banks, I can barely watch these shows and they were always my favorite.