Farmers markets and television don’t mix too well. So when the Cooking Channel came out with Farmers' Market Flip, I had hope that the two finally found an ideal mix.
The network launched the show a few weeks ago, but aired a pilot episode last year. So we actually have a pair of versions. We'll illustrate the best and worst of each version then we’ll present a more ideal version of the concept.
Each show has 2 teams of 2 chefs and they compete for $5000.
The pilot that aired in 2016 is, as a lot of pilots are, kind of a mess but also nice. There are dual hosts, Lara Spencer, who introduces the segments, and Chase Ramsey, who is involved with the contestants.
The chefs are given a $200 budget and 30 minutes to shop. We get to see them shop at various vendors and there is a lot of time devoted to what farmers markets offer to them.
They make a main dish and side dish and have 1 hour to prepare. We are talked through what they are doing. Even in rushed time, we get a real sense of what is going into those dishes.
The teams are asked to price their wares and get 1 hour to sell as much as they can. Since this is a reality show, we get a dumb challenge to make things tougher on one of the teams. The pilot invokes the lame short-straw ploy where the team with the shortest straw has to sit for 5 minutes.
The team that didn’t have to sit sold out of their food. That team also priced its food lower than the team that, though they sat for 5 minutes, outpaced the other team to win. The losing team sold out by underestimated the output. We got actual money totals, $429 to $294.
The 2016 pilot and the 4th episode of the 2017 version has a team with a male and female. Interestingly, the first 3 episodes of the 2017 version fell purely along gender lines in a male-female matchup.
The 2017 version went down to a single host: Jeff Mahin. He doesn’t have the hipster beard of Ramsey but has lots of arm tattoos. Mahin is more intense than Ramsey or Spencer but has that in rather good control. He doesn’t really add anything other than walking the audience through what is happening.
The new version adds a preliminary challenge involving a ingredient from the market. The vendor of that product from that market ends up singularly judging which team best pulled off the challenge. The best dish doesn’t always win but it’s more about how well the team did to keeping true to the ingredient.
Winning that challenge gives a team an advantage. The losing team is punished by arbitrary fashion such as being limited to 6 vendors in the next challenge or using main ingredients that started with A, B, and C. While better than short straws, the show needs to spend more of its budget coming up with less arbitrary punishments. The teams still get $200 but only 20 minutes to shop.
The teams don’t set prices but the consumers voted with large disks placed in the pot of their favorite choice.
Mahin will tell us how close the vote has been. One episode had a 1-vote difference; another had a 3-vote contrast. He does interview consumers as to what they liked or didn’t like about the dishes.
Narrowing down the hosts was a smart move. I thought Spencer would be the best host in the narrowing down (Spencer remains as executive producer). A farmers market needs a softer host; Spencer isn’t too soft. Mahin isn’t really friendly but fits in well as the kind of host you find on the other Food Network/Cooking Channel reality shows.
Having 2 challenges takes away from time spent in the farmers market but does give the viewer an extra opportunity to see a finished product. We could lose some of the prep time footage to show more shopping. 22 minutes isn’t often enough time but that is the time you get.
Speaking of which, the viewer could use some good farmers market shopping tips either from the host or the chefs. Teach us as well as show us about the farmers market.
On Junk Food Flip, we have a running count of how the votes went in the final challenge. That drama feels more real plus we know how many votes each team got. You don’t want to spend too much time on the counting. It does seem like Junk Food Flip does a lot with its 22 minutes.
In reality shows, the individuals become the “stars” of the episodes. A show involving farmers markets should make the fresh food be the stars. Given that California markets will carry produce not found in most markets, such as the blood oranges below, the food should speak for itself.
Farmers' Market Flip does an overall good job of presenting what farmers markets can offer. The show could use some improvements and better time management. But the show is worth investing time and energy to see what farmers markets can do for people not participating on the show.
Farmers' Market Flip airs Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern on Cooking Channel. You can find more information about the show here.
photos credit: Farmers' Market Flip/Cooking Channel