Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stars in a new cooking show featuring celebrity chefs preparing foods made with inexpensive, “real ingredients.”
Mr. Kennedy, who carries around his own stash of kimchi and adheres to a mostly carnivorous diet, invited chef Andrew Gruel to the inaugural show.
“I’m traveling across America, connecting with renowned chefs to show families how to cook delicious, nutritious meals with real ingredients and all at affordable prices,” Mr. Kennedy said.
The first 20-minute episode of “The Real Food Show,” which as of Thursday had garnered more than 2,000 views on YouTube, featured crispy salmon cakes with apple, white bean and greens salad, which Mr. Kennedy prepared alongside Mr. Gruel in the chef’s Huntington Beach home in California.
The recipes used in the shows, Mr. Kennedy said, cost under $5.
The Health and Human Services Department is producing the show. It launched as consumers face the highest beef prices in history. Ground beef costs nearly $7 per pound and the average cost of a sirloin steak is up to $17 per pound.
Mr. Kennedy talked on the show about the rising cost of meat and the need to beef up the size of the nation’s cattle herds to increase supply.
“Until that happens, this is a fantastic option,” Mr. Kennedy said as the two prepared the salmon cakes. “This has the omega-3s and many of the vitamins and nutrients that are not available in meat.”
Mr. Kennedy, who as part of his Make America Healthy Again agenda has championed overhauling the American diet, blamed the government for overemphasizing the consumption of carbohydrates — or, as he put it, “Froot Loops.”
He recently spearheaded a revision of the nation’s dietary guidelines and the food pyramid, flipping it upside-down and prioritizing full-fat dairy, meats and protein while calling for reduced consumption of grains.
“When you eat protein, you don’t eat the other stuff,” Mr. Kennedy said.
Mr. Gruel said “a few simple ingredients that are fresh and whole and real” would help people break the addiction to chemically processed food.
Mr. Gruel used frozen wild sockeye salmon for his recipe, which is cheaper than fresh fish.
The chef said Americans should eat more seafood because people are deficient in the nutrients found in fish.
The two men discussed revising their diets to eliminate processed foods and seed oils as they prepared the salmon cakes.
The show featured graphics showing viewers how to make the dish and save money while eating better. It warned against processed food like salad dressings, which are often high in sodium.
Homemade vinaigrette ingredients, viewers were informed, cost about $1, and lemon peels contain pectin, a prebiotic fiber, and can be grated into the dressing for extra nutrition.
Mr. Kennedy had Mr. Gruel explain how to sharpen his knife before he cut up vegetables.
The secretary tasted the final result and called the salmon cakes “amazing. ”
Viewers chimed in with compliments.
“Father of 4 here, finding this gives me hope,” one individual posted under the YouTube video. “You are leading us households on a healthier diet which overall will give us a better mental life. I’ve been following you and your stance on how we can change the way of American food. Thanks again.”
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