Television Food Personalities: The Pioneer Woman v. Mary Berry

The difference in American food programing and British food programming are these ideologies: the American-held importance of community, frugalness, and having a strong, working husband to feed; and the British-held importance of appreciation, steadiness, and the joy of food.

The programs of The Pioneer Woman (American) and Mary Berry (English) have many narrative similarities. They follow the day of each woman and deliver recipes primarily, if not entirely, in flashbacks. The women praise themselves for making the food in advance, showing the pride a woman gains in the chore of cooking.

For The Pioneer Woman, each episode starts with a set-up, a reason why she’s cooking, which gives to the old (Victorian) cookbook tradition of appropriate recipes for events and how to organize and be a proper hostess. She will often use store-bought ingredients to save time and money, as well as discussing left-overs, directing her program at the average middle-class household woman in America. Her program changes between her preparing food in the kitchen to her driving a truck and visiting neighbors, to her husband and children, mainly, riding/taming horses or doing farm work. These scenes promote the value of the farming family, speaking to a large rural part of middle and southern America, and encouraging them to do the best they can in this quaint American condition, appreciating their family and small way of living.

Whereas, for Mary Berry, each episode starts with a theme (i.e. indulgence), giving more to the modern division of a cookbook by category. And her day does not follow an event, but mulls through many different outings, some not related to food, as she speaks of appreciating the day and the tasks she gets to do, be it a picnic in the park or a visit to her grandkids. This program involves higher-form ingredients; whereas most ingredients in the American show can be found at Walmart, the fresher and higher-quality, the better the food will be for Mrs. Berry.

Through showing the hard work of The Pioneer Woman’s family and her frugalness and efficiency in the kitchen, The Pioneer Woman promotes the American pride of feeding a large family, being a strong figure in the community, and cooking resourcefully. Through Mary Berry’s appreciation of good ingredients, Mary Berry’s program promotes the English’s appreciation of food and cooking with care, and the value of never rushing.