This season seems much more adversarial than previous seasons, and I'm not if I like that. Other seasons had lots of competitive chefs, but you could sense at least a little respect and comraderie among the cheftestants. I don't see that this season at all, and in fact, Angelo attempted to get rid of Kenny in a Survivor-ish fashion.

I don't know if I want to watch a bunch of egotistical backstabbers for the entire season...I could watch Survivor for that. I want to see talented, likable chefs rising to the occasion while facing serpentine twists and obstacles.

As a teacher in an urban public school, I applaud every facet of what you did with this challenge and with the blog. My students constantly tell us about the imaginary "rights" they think are being violated (a "right" to talk to the teacher any way you please, to be able to come into class with your iPod's earbuds still blocking your ears, etc.), but they have far too little awareness of the way their country's letting them down in terms of using the tax dollars efficiently and effectively to do what's best for our students AND our farmers AND our shared planet. I'm especially intrigued by the point raised that making school lunches no longer a need-based program would remove the expense of means-testing (though we might still need some of that in some other area of schooling, since free- and reduced-price lunch eligibility have become proxies for so many other SES-related stats).

One caveat on your argument - we only *theoretically* provide free textbooks these days, since our large urban school district generally only provides the teacher with a single "class set" of 30 that are not to be removed from the room. Supposedly the parents retain the right to insist their child be issued a textbook (which would be mighty handy, since it would cut down on our having to decide either to make gobs of tree-killing copies of the readings OR only study what there's time to read in class). Just FYI.

Go, Tom! As usual, I love what you have to say. If we don't pay to fix school lunches now, we'll end up paying for it later.

Loved the blog more than usual this week, very cool to get such information about this problem that's really always been an issue but with the economy being what it is today, it's even more of an issue now.

Our school lunches were pretty bad growing up. Every Friday was pizza, and it was that square spongey stuff. The rest of the days varied but it was definitely low-quality "chicken patties" and "hot turkey" and "BBQ beef" and stuff like that. There was also the sandwich option, which would either be PB&J or a daily-variety cold cut such as ham and cheese. We did have a salad bar as well. Thinking back to how I did at that young age, I never wanted the salad bar and the sandwich option to me was dull, so I always went for the stuff that was least nourishing. So did most other kids.

Knowing what I do now, I know why the meals were such low-quality. Money's tighter now than it was in the 1980's so I can only imagine what kind of low-quality is being served now, and I'm not even taking into account the french fries and soda machines that exist too. Free school lunches is an option but I really doubt it could ever work, because if the stuff is free, you can bet that kids WILL be getting the absolute lowest-quality ingredients out there, and the ability to have the options such as a salad bar would be out the window as soon as the school budgets start drying up. To me, if and when I have kids, they're going to brown bag it. The food's better from home anyway.

I do think great strides have been made in school lunch programs in many places but there's still a lot of work to be done. As for those places such as NYC that are now trying to have schools serve BREAKFAST as well, that to me is just ridiculous. There's already enough budget-squeezing going on just for the lunches. Eat breakfast at home. If the kids aren't doing that and they're sluggish at school, well...not to be crass, but too bad. We all had to do that growing up and we turned out fine.

As for this week's episode, I don't know what Angelo's deal is but if he's going to play like this he won't be sticking around for very long. People will get wise to that garbage. Amanda is out of her frigging mind with the sherry chicken idea even being BORN, much less executed. My lady was watching this week with me and she had a conniption when Amanda said she was going to make that. How the rest of the team didn't immediately take her for a psychiatric evaluation is beyond me. And as the guest judge said, they had the budget for sherry but not for EGGS so Jacqueline could make a dessert that didn't need an overload of sugar to taste decent? Pathetic showing by Amanda and right now, while she might look a lot like Leah Cohen, she damn sure isn't in her class as a chef. She's not even in the same school district. Hell, Amanda was originally making the dessert anyway, wasn't she? I can only imagine what THAT would have been like. Bananas Foster? Maybe just some cognac.

Farewell to our Kate Hudson doppelganger...she kind of got the shaft but with back-to-back trips to the chopping block, it seems like a justifiable choice.

I really wasn't fully aware of the absurd nature of our agricultural subsidies. Thanks for helping make that clear. We really do such an awful job managing the national budget to our best interests when big lobby groups can buy congressmen.

Great start to the season. As always, you make the show, Tom!

I was absolutely appalled by the chefs tonight. I listened to Sam Kass very carefully explain the parameters to the chefs and what would be expected of them. And then I listened to them whine about not having enough money. Obviously, not a one of them has any interest in feeding children healthy food. I work in a private school which has a lot of scholarship children and makes every effort (thank you FLIK!!) to feed breakfast to those who need it (without calling attention to it) and serves incredibly healthy food every day. One of the teachers started a garden and it is, like Michelle Obama's garden, extremely successful and the pride of all the children.

Unfortunately, this is a competition and the children were important only as a means to an end. Angelo could very possibly win this competition. Interesting that TV Guide has already picked him as the one they want to see lose. So either your editors are having field day with him, or he really is a cold-hearted person.

Tom, I've never been one to agree to "universal" anything but on this topic, I agree!!! I live in a farming community in Texas and have recently been watching truck after truck after truck of harvested wheat unloaded at the railroad tracks behind our business. I've just read in our paper that our farmers are having a hard time selling their wheat and what's worse is that they're having an even harder time finding storage for it until it's sold. How wonderful it would be if more farmers could focus on growing food that could be used immediately in the school systems within their communities!!

Kudos to you for a great blog!!

Angelo was definitely trying to roll Kenny. Real class act.

I cannot believe someone would feed an alcohol sauce to school children. (Contrary to popular belief, it does NOT evaporate during cooking.) And to buy it, instead of the chocolate for her teammate's dessert? Talk about sabotage. True, Jacqueline should have fought for her chocolate. - Amanda's alcohol is far less acceptable to give children than some sugar. In my preschool Jacqueline would have been reprimanded, but Amanda would have gone home.

Chef Colicchio, you make a very interesting point in that desks and textbooks are required to learn and they are available for "free" and then extrapolate that into saying that meals should also be provided for "free". You are aware I hope that there is no such thing as (pardon the joke) a free lunch! Everything has a price and must be paid for.

You then talk about how training "tens of thousands of workers to cook in schools" would be an economic boost. Are you not aware that school employees are paid by tax dollars. NO federal or state employees are a boon to the economy. ALL government employees' salaries come from taxpayer dollars, therefore they are actually a drain to the economy, not a boost to it. The only employees that help the economy, that actually generate taxable incomes are in the private sector. The simple truth is that free food is not a right. It is not guaranteed by the U.S. constitution and it was not listed in the Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers made provision for a government that would provide us with protection and opportunity, the parental type of role you are recommending for our government is ridiculous and extremely short-sighted and it is the kind of thinking that is saddling our future generations with a debt that can never be overcome. A government that stays out of the home,the kitchen and the school would be a FAR more beneficial thing for all children.

Tom, you have given us an eloquent, impassioned, and well-reasoned argument for why we should, as a nation, take responsibility for improving child nutrition. You've also shared some great ideas for how to make that happen. I hope people are paying attention and are ready to get out there and make a difference. Your suggestions are, in the larger scheme of things, relatively simple and inexpensive ways to improve the quality of children's lives.

Hope the behavior of the chefs this episode was just a fluke, otherwise you've got a lot of jerks and egomaniacs on your hands for the season. Might be hard to find someone to root for.

For group challenges, maybe it would help shy chefs who don't speak up if the budgets were allocated individually. Also I wonder if the judging should have been done conditional on the cost of the meals- Jacqueline obviously spent less than Amanda.

Seems like there is always a ton of unnecessary controversy in group challenges.

Tom:

I wish that someone on the panel would have pointed out the fact that Angelo's dish of peanut butter and celery would not have been allowed to be served in lunch rooms now in any school. Being a person that has had a lifelong allergy to peanuts, when I was in elementary and middle school in the 70s, it was up to me to ask when there would be bake sales and such, "what is in it" so I was sure not to get anything with peanuts or peanut butter. My mother even told me that when I was in 2nd grade, my teacher wrote on my report card "Karen is picky" meaning that when the other kids would bring in treats or at bake sales, I was also asking "what is in this", so I was perceived as being a "picky" child by my teachers. NOW, I have watched since my 14-year-old nephew has been in school and they do not even allow children to bring in anything with peanuts or peanut butter because of other children's allergies. Now, peanut allergies are more mainstream then they were when I was a child. SO, I really wish Angelo would have lost his challenge on that merit alone and I am disappointed in that. I would think that not making something that children would have an allergic reaction too would be in the forefront even before the nutritional value.

Thanks.

Loved the blog more than usual this week, very cool to get such information about this problem that's really always been an issue but with the economy being what it is today, it's even more of an issue now.

Our school lunches were pretty bad growing up. Every Friday was pizza, and it was that square spongey stuff. The rest of the days varied but it was definitely low-quality "chicken patties" and "hot turkey" and "BBQ beef" and stuff like that. There was also the sandwich option, which would either be PB&J or a daily-variety cold cut such as ham and cheese. We did have a salad bar as well. Thinking back to how I did at that young age, I never wanted the salad bar and the sandwich option to me was dull, so I always went for the stuff that was least nourishing. So did most other kids.

Knowing what I do now, I know why the meals were such low-quality. Money's tighter now than it was in the 1980's so I can only imagine what kind of low-quality is being served now, and I'm not even taking into account the french fries and soda machines that exist too. Free school lunches is an option but I really doubt it could ever work, because if the stuff is free, you can bet that kids WILL be getting the absolute lowest-quality ingredients out there, and the ability to have the options such as a salad bar would be out the window as soon as the school budgets start drying up. To me, if and when I have kids, they're going to brown bag it. The food's better from home anyway.

I do think great strides have been made in school lunch programs in many places but there's still a lot of work to be done. As for those places such as NYC that are now trying to have schools serve BREAKFAST as well, that to me is just ridiculous. There's already enough budget-squeezing going on just for the lunches. Eat breakfast at home. If the kids aren't doing that and they're sluggish at school, well...not to be crass, but too bad. We all had to do that growing up and we turned out fine.

As for this week's episode, I don't know what Angelo's deal is but if he's going to play like this he won't be sticking around for very long. People will get wise to that garbage. Amanda is out of her frigging mind with the sherry chicken idea even being BORN, much less executed. My lady was watching this week with me and she had a conniption when Amanda said she was going to make that. How the rest of the team didn't immediately take her for a psychiatric evaluation is beyond me. And as the guest judge said, they had the budget for sherry but not for EGGS so Jacqueline could make a dessert that didn't need an overload of sugar to taste decent? Pathetic showing by Amanda and right now, while she might look a lot like Leah Cohen, she damn sure isn't in her class as a chef. She's not even in the same school district. Hell, Amanda was originally making the dessert anyway, wasn't she? I can only imagine what THAT would have been like. Bananas Foster? Maybe just some cognac.

Farewell to our Kate Hudson doppelganger...she kind of got the shaft but with back-to-back trips to the chopping block, it seems like a justifiable choice.

Tom: This is one of your best blogs ever. I wish more of what you wrote here had been incorporated into the actual show since it is a real and serious problem. I understand why Jacqueline was eliminated and most of us could see it coming the moment she opened that bag of sugar to "fix" her dish but I also still wish both her teammates and the judges had rebuked Amanda more strongly for using alcohol in any kind of a challenge involving minors.

As a teacher in a school with 90% free and reduced lunch/breakfast, I really enjoyed this episode. Incidentally, our kids ALL have cards with bar codes to use in the lunch line, and the cards are identical regardless of free or paid lunch/breakfast, so no stigma is attached to receiving a free lunch. One thing that does help financially is having a district nutritionist and that buys in bulk for all of the schools. Some local groups have started working on feeding our kids on weekends and holidays, which is a BIG problem for parents who can't earn enough to feed the kids all the time. Some of our students hide food at lunch to take home for dinner. How sad is that?

Very informative blog--and I'm very happy that you are shedding light on this issue. As a child I was a recipient of reduced lunch and I will admit that I was hesitant to accept as it was evident to my classmates that I wasn't paying full price for lunch. Keep up the good work!

great post Tom....and a very interesting read, highlighting a few huge problems in our country--hunger and obesity. Keep up the great work!

Great challenge! One of my favorite so far because it focused on an issue and shows how chefs can have an important impact on society. I commend you for bringing attention to this. It is important to emphasize that if the food doesn't taste good the kids just dump it. This happens all the time in our schools when kids are required to get a whole meal, but they just get rid of the veggies they don't like.

So far I am not too impressed with the chefs this year. It is early, but they seem to be lacking some common sense, creativity and charisma. Sigh, I knew it would be hard after last season's extraordinary group. You obviously picked the right winner but I was wishing more could have gone home.

I commend your work with public school lunches. I know my own district has come a long way from where they were five years ago, when school breakfasts consisted of Pop Tarts.

However, free lunches aren't stigmatized like they used to be, because in most schools students have no way of knowing who gets free lunch and who doesn't. In our schools (and most others around the country) students have accounts that are accessed by entering a number at the register at the end of the line. There is no difference between kids on free or reduced lunch, or kids whose parents put money into the student's account.

Thank so much for taking the time to devote an episode of Top Chef to this very crticial issue. There are far too many out there who would politicize the issue of nutrition in schools. This is something that goes beyond politics, this is about communities taking care of their children. There is nothing...NOTHING more important than that.

I also loved how you showed that kids are far more sophisticated than adults give them credit for (awesome that the one kid figured out the "whipped cream" was yogurt!) Kids can be picky, but I think anyone can appreciate good food.

I most sincerely hope America is listening, and I couldn't agree with you more, Tom. What we are currently doing to our children (in the form of a high-stakes testing environment that in no way measures a student's ability or potential) and our food supply is madness. As a teacher in a non-public (and very, very non-profit) school, I am fortunate to work in an environment where teachers have a great deal of input when it comes to curriculum changes. In the past year we have implemented a "Kitchen Science" program that addresses not only chemistry, physics, agriculture (we have our own garden and greenhouse... built by volunteers), and social sciences (we look at the cultures from which our recipes/ ingredients come), but also health and nutrition. Add that to daily PE classes and it's easy to see why the program has been WILDLY successful, fast becoming a favorite of the students and parents alike, and attracting a donor who will be underwriting a modest remodel of our kitchen this summer. I wish you and your wife the very best in this endeavor and look forward to seeing the film upon its release.

Tom, I'm so relieved, elated, excited to read your blog about funding free breakfast and lunch in our nation's schools. While everything you said is completely true, it just raises a more urgent question - Why won't our representatives fight for and implement change on Capitol Hill? How is it that lobbyists of MonSanto and Cargill and other food/oil giants are able to manipulate our leaders so easily - and for so long? This crisis is decades in the making. I was in elementary school during the 70s and 80s and it was bad then, but it was just the beginning. Today, some schools have a salad bar option, but then they also have the unforgivable vending machines selling insidious energy drinks and pop. I'm sure you are aware of Jamie Oliver's attempt to make the American public aware of the dire situation in our public schools with his brief look at the school lunch system in Huntington, WV. While the show had its pitfalls and problems, the message was clear - we are poisoning our children and the current system is perpetuating the ill health of our children because of budgets, subsidies, and lack of healthy options. I was wondering Tom, how you felt about his show and if you think it helped the cause at all? I think it was eye opening, but couldn't see where things could go beyond it. Other than writing endless letters to our representatives, what can we do as common people and if I'm struggling as a middle class mom with only one teenage son to feed - what is the mother of four on welfare doing? How can she have hope that things will change? One great illustration from Jamie's show was the lack of education and knowledge the children had about fruits & vegetables. Thanks to programs like Food is Elementary, implemented in my community by Local Matters, low-income kids in my community of Columbus Ohio are getting an education: http://local-matters.org/page/nutrition-education-curriculum I just wish this program was mandatory in all elementary schools across the country and I wish it wasn't just a 14 lesson program for kids through 2nd grade. Healthy eating needs to be instilled in children throughout their youth, through their high school years, if we really want to create a strong, healthy generation. My 16 yr old son has Crohn's Disease and nutritional changes are our last hope for alleviating his pain. Unfortunately, I was just like every other single mother with a tight budget, and even less time from working 2 jobs - I didn't teach him to eat healthy and I didn't provide him with as many opportunities to experience fresh food as I should have. I didn't eat well either - I'm obese and close to diabetic myself. Trying to change his eating habits now is like climbing Mt. Everest with a broken foot. There's no foundation. He will go on a feeding tube and have formula fed to him to calm his system down, and then we will start over from scratch. We will both have a chance to re-educate ourselves and start a new food journey. I now lead a wheelchair accessible community garden and eat local food as much as possible. My health is getting better, but my focus is teaching my son about growing our own food and living as locally and cleanly as possible. In Columbus Ohio, that is becoming easier every year. I belong to a network of six urban gardens and we have great farmer's markets full of local meats, veggies, grains, and fruits. It's so exciting to live here in this moment. Thank you Tom for providing such an informative blog to the thousands of fans of Top Chef. The biggest hurdle in this battle is beating down MonSanto and Cargill so if you have any thoughts on how to stop them from forcing GM food on the market and into our farms, I'd love to hear them. The Public need good information. Armed with that, I still believe in our American ideology - that our government will listen to us if enough of us fight. We need more people like you, Tom, and we do need the help of celebrities with deep pockets. It's sad, but true. And yes, I think Angelo threw his team off on purpose - shameful. It's clear he only cares about himself and he didn't care about his customer at all. I hope he screws up again soon and doesn't have immunity to hide behind. He doesn't deserve to be Top Chef.

It was definitely game play. Angelo was caught on camera saying he didn't like Kenny. Not only should the Top Chef be a great cook, but also should have integrity. That is what you talk about all the time with food. A cook should respect his product. A cook should also respect people. Angelo is talented enough to win on his own merit as a cook. Shouldn't have to resort to antics like last night.

Tom, My sister in Atlanta has a program called Snack Sax. Every Friday she and a group of volunteers pack brown paper bags full of healty snacks for low income children that the schools anonamously provide them with. She heard of a similar program and being a mother of six, was horrified at the idea of children going hungry over the weekend. MOst of these children only eat when they have free lunches at school. Fruits and such are packed for these kids to take home so that they have something to get them through till the following Monday. They will even provide extra bags if the family is in need and asks for them. But, thier main focus is making sure the children eat. What started out as a few dozen bags has blossomed into several hundred. Other schools are now on her program and she is kept very busy. She and others like her are an inspiration. I hope everyone soon realizes how much nutrition and learning go hand in hand. Thank you!

What fanstatic blog entry and important issue! My family was working poor and I try to forget being hungry and tired in school. I just wish all the other contestants had the right priorities and spirit for this unique challenge. I suppose this is why I enjoy Top Chef Masters more. The professionals do not rely on cheap tricks like sabatoge and refusing to lend a tool to compete. Instead, they focus on their performance and the dinner's experience.

Amanda should have been the one chopped, she forced her expensive habbbits onto the team and they paid the price, when on a budget spending on something that could have been replaced by tomato paste is unbelievable to me.

Tom, Not only would kids opt for better food choices if they had the option, but a lot of adults would also. For many years, I was in charge of a group that would throw a holiday party for HIV-affected families and their children, more than 800 people. Part of the festivities was a from-scratch holiday dinner, with fresh roasted turkeys, stuffing from fresh vegetables and fresh croutons, mashed potatoes from real potatoes, lots of fresh salad, etc., etc. To do this, a group of us would stay up for 36 straight hours to get it all done and served. The families, though poor, absolutely knew the difference between what we were doing and food that could have been brought in or made from processed mixes, and they were not bashful about expressing their appreciation. At the end of the day, the families could take home what wasn't served in take-out containers were provided. Yes, the desserts and proteins went really fast, but, much to my surprise at first, the families would line up for the bags of salad we also gave out. For these families, the salad was one of the treats they savored the most.

Wonderful blog! Thank you for what you are doing to improve school lunches. As an ex-teacher, I can tell you that many children depend on school lunches for their only hot meal a day. As caring and responsible adults, I believe we MUST make sure that this meal is nutritious, helping to insure that our nation's children are physically ready to learn. If we can't take care of our children, whom can we take care of?

Hi Tom, Really enjoy the show, although i think the chicken with sherry should have gone home ,as there was no redeeming qualities about it and sherry in school lunch WTF, that alone should have sent her packing. Anyway i love the push for the school lunch reform. I hate the argument that kids will only eat junk, really? Since when do they get to dictate what they are fed? Do they have that control at home, can you imagine your daughter dictating what you and yor wife serve for meals at home? NO No No.So why do people think that rule applies to school lunches, the kids don't dictate the curriculum so why the cop out for lunch. ok rant over, love the D.C. location also. Always a mouthwatering fan at the end of the show, Denise

First off I completely agree with everything you commented on that our children are not getting the proper nutrition and I am grateful that you are trying to bring awareness to this issue. On another note, Amanda said that there is soooo much sugar in peanut butter and that its unhealthy for our children? I just looked at my jar of skippy and it has only 3 grams of sugar per serving- that a tiny amount of sugar!

We recently moved to a Border town in Texas, the poverty rate is extremely high here and although my daughter goes to a school that is in a middle to upper middle class neighborhood, every child is provided breakfast and lunch. When we were told she didn't have to pay for lunch or breakfast here I actually went to her school to make certain. Her school is an exceptional school 10 years running now. There just might be something to feeding all the kids. In addition, no one knows who is a has and who is a has not, uniforms and free lunches takes out the two major markers of income.

i enjoyed your post, and as an educator believe that hunger and malnutrition and poor nutrition has a terrible impact on our kids, and our future.

quick question-- somewhat related to setting examples for kids. why do so many chefs smoke, should the show address that since they are addressing nutrition in schools? so many clips (every season) show chefs smoking. doesn't smoking destroy a chef's palate, and ability to smell and taste with accuracy? i have always been amazed at how many chefs smoke. what do you think?

Chef Colicchio,I am a big fan of TC but this group does not compare to TC Vegas, there is no talent nor collegiality . thanks

As a child who received free and reduced lunches, I remember the stigma - we were required to work in the cafeteria to get our free lunch (interestingly, I ended up working in restaurants all through college and law school so it couldn't have traumatized me too much, right?) but in the end, I knew it was what would help my single mother - knowing I had a good lunch to eat was a big help to her. I love the idea that ALL kids should have access to free breakfast and lunch. I'm amazed at the statistics here in North Carolina of students who the only meal they eat all day is lunch. That's heartbreaking. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for an outstanding and thought provoking segment. We parents often make the mistake of keeping our homes well stocked with junk to facilitate quick satiation of the appetite. Also, it's just too easy to swing into McDonald's after one of the usual school practices. My 15 year old watched "Food, Inc." and decided it just made more sense to eat healthy foods and to be more active. As a result, the whole family is eating better. There is nothing quite so wonderful as heading out to the Mennonite community in my little Kentucky county and snatching up some just picked green beans, squash, tomatoes, corn, blueberries, cantaloupe . . . . . .

Thank you for this GREAT elimination challenge!! I was very excited to watch and see what the chefs did with their "huge" budget (considering that the school district my children attend has a budget ~$2.20-2.40/meal!). Our school has 68% of children receiving free/reduced lunch - and for many of these children that meal is their best of the day (and it is NOT even close to being healthy enough - how does "cookie dough" count as a healthy part of a school lunch!?!?). The kids at the school were lucky this past year to be part of a grant from the USDA that provided healthy snacks 3 days each week - fruits and vegetables including a day from a local farm. When my kids came home telling me they loved kohlrabi - I knew something amazing had happened (even my picky eater loves it!). Thanks again - can't wait to see the documentary!

Tom, your blog is right on and the work your wife is doing is really needed. Thanks for signing on. Last week I had Angelo as a front runner and after winning the quickfire challenge I was certain I was right. However..... I was extremely upset at his actions during the main challenge where he had ammunity. I know it's a competition but win by your talent not by cold calculations. Keep up the great work!

I agree with the labeling and teasing if children are marked for free or reduced lunch, it should be free lunch for ALL children. Even as an adult who is on foodstamps, it really hurts my pride to have to use it and there are MANY times when I am in line to buy groceries and someone gets in line behind me so I refuse to use my foodstamps out of shame.

SHAME ON YOU, TOP CHEF!! The challenge was to address childhood obesity and is set in D.C. But you elected to do the challenge at Deal MS, the most monied, Caucasian, chi-chi public middle school in D.C. You could have picked any number of middle schools where 90%+ are on reduced price lunch plans and where you know home nutrition is poor. Shame!

I have loved every previous season of Top Chef, primarily because it's never been a typical reality show, relying on personal drama and appalling behavior of the contestants to make the show interesting. Even when there were one or two chefs on previous seasons that did not get along with the other competitors, there was a true sense of camaraderie, mutual respect and the desire to win because of personal talent.

This is completely missing in these first two episodes – quite the opposite. While some of the chefs might have some talent (still unclear since the editing has not focused on the food at all) the personalities that have been shown are disgusting. I don’t care if any of them win, in fact, compared to the amazing chefs in previous seasons, none of them deserve to share the stage with the losers of previous seasons.

There was a recent article written by a critic who was ejected from a New York restaurant after expressing his distaste for the chef’s behavior towards his staff (chef yelling and berating a server in front of the entire restaurant). I agree with the critic – I don’t care how wonderful the food is, if you are a miserable person, I don’t want to eat your food or patronize your establishment. I certainly don’t want to watch you on TV.

Either the producers made serious errors in choosing the contestants this season or in the editing of this show, but the result is truly sad.

I have to say, I hope that you all didn't let Chef Kass' "tomato is a fruit" retort to Kenny fly and that any response to it just got left on the cutting room floor. Botanically, yeah, tomato is a fruit, but vegetable isn't a botanical term. It's a cultural/culinary one that regularly refers to savory (botanical) fruits, including tomatoes. It was blatantly apparent that Kenny's team didn't live up to the standard the other teams set in terms of inclusion of vegetable matter, but cutting down his defense in that way just struck me as smug.

In happier news, I think that this is a spectacular cause, and I'm glad to see it get any exposure that it can. On a show like this, you may be preaching to the choir a bit, but you raised some very enlightening points in this blog post. I will definitely be writing my congressional representatives in the near future about school lunches (and the Farm Bill, but that was on the agenda already).

Thanks for your work.

I would be happy to pay more in school taxes to have free nutritious lunches for all. My children have complained about the quality and taste of school lunches for years - it says alot when kid choose a premade sandwich over the hot option!

A friend whose child was in the episode says the kids loved Angelo's peanut butter and celery, that it was the favorite dish.

What a wonderful blog and important cause. My family was working poor and I try to forget those days I was hungry and tired in school. Just wish the contestants had better priorities and spirit. Guess that's why I enjoy Top Chef Masters more. The professionals do not rely on cheap tricks like sabatoge and refusal to lend a tool. Instead, they focus on their performance and the dinner's experience.

The most delicious part of the show? SAM KASS. I could just watch him all day. YUM.

Thank you so much Tom, and Top Chef for really highlighting this issue. I was glad to see that the Chefs realized what a large challenge they were up against and that school cafeterias face the same one daily. I'm glad that in addition to an entertaining episode you effectively put a spotlight on this issue. Thank you.

I have to say that it is so disappointing to see that one of the most obviously talented chefs would lose a challenge as a tactic. He may be able to cook but, to me, that shows a lack of character. I hope he learned his lesson and I'm glad Kenny is still there as it seems he is also one of the most talented chefs. I love the idea of kids eating in the classroom instead of the cafeteria. I hope someone in Washington is listening! As always, the show looks exciting this season.

Ps. I've eaten at CraftSteak several times and it was amazing each time!

"I just looked at my jar of skippy and it has only 3 grams of sugar per serving- that a tiny amount of sugar!"

Dear Emily11,

Did you look at what is the serving size on your jar of peanut butter? Typically a serving size of peanut butter is one tablespoon. Peanut butter is a food that is verboten from my "diabetes diet," due to the high sugar and fat content.