Ray, Rachael

Rachael Domenica Ray (1968–) is a celebrity chef. She hosts a number of cooking shows for the Food Network and the Cooking Channel, and an eponymous daytime talk show (co-syndicated by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and distributed by CBS). Ray is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks, most of which are themed on the economy of time, money, and cooking skills central to Ray’s primary brand, “30-Minute Meals.” Her product line also includes a magazine (Every Day with Rachael Ray, launched in 2005 by Reader’s Digest), a range of cooking utensils, cutlery, kitchen staples (oils, vinegars, stocks), accessories (aprons, “moppines”: kitchen towels that double as a potholders), and Rachael Ray Nutrishtm, a brand of pet food (proceeds from which are administered by her pet charity, Rach’s Rescue, to go to various animal welfare organizations). In 2006, Ray founded the charity Yum-O!® in collaboration with the National Restaurant Educational Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Yum-O! aims to curb childhood hunger and obesity in North America by “teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids and funding cooking education and scholarships.”