America Cooks with Chefs Launches Healthy Cooking Video Series to Help Americans Eat Well In 2015

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- America Cooks with Chefs, a nationwide health and wellness movement, announced today the launch of its seven episode video series streaming at www.AmericaCookswithChefs.com. The series goes coast-to-coast, following six James Beard Award–winning celebrity chefs as they show everyday Americans ways they can "make-under" their favorite high-calorie dish and turn it into a healthy, tasty and practical meal.

America Cooks with Chefs teams the chefs with contestants from across the country to learn cooking skills that will help them manage many health-related issues that Americans face, including cooking on a budget, weight loss, encouraging kids to eat nutritious foods, and more. The series chronicles this journey to healthier eating and living and also gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the nation's top restaurant kitchens. The contestants are also paired with Weight Watchers Personal Coach Catherine Gunia to discuss their healthy living goals and come up with an action plan of healthy behavior changes in an effort to change their relationship with food for good. After visiting restaurants in six cities, the series culminates with the contestants showing off their new healthy cooking skills in front of a live audience at the Clinton Health Matters Summit in January 2015.

The episodes are available on the newly re-launched AmericaCookswithChefs.com. The website also hosts resources for healthy eating and living including exclusive recipes, tips and tricks from the chefs and more.

The initiative is an effort among Palisades Media Ventures, the Clinton Foundation, the James Beard Foundation, and Good Housekeeping and is sponsored by Deloitte, Weight Watchers, Barilla, Aetna and Mayo Clinic.

The six James Beard Award-winning chefs are:

• Maria Hines - Co-Owner/Head Chef, Tilth, Golden Beetle & Agrodolce
• Jimmy Schmidt - Executive Chef, Morgan's in the desert at La Quinta Resort
• Mary Sue Milliken - Co-Chef/Owner, Border Grill Restaurants & Truck
• Naomi Pomeroy - Owner/Chef, Beast and Expatriate
• Tony Mantuano - Chef/Partner, Spiaggia and Bar Toma
• Michelle Bernstein - Co-Owner/Head Chef, Seagrape and Crumb on Parchment

Aetna, one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, is a new sponsor of America Cooks with Chefs. As part of its efforts to help transform health care to create healthier communities, a healthier nation and a healthier world, Aetna is collaborating with America Cooks with Chefs to help all Americans make healthy changes in their lives. "We believe that creating healthier communities can start with the simplest of changes," said Floyd Green, vice president of Community Relations and Urban Marketing, Aetna. "That's why we love the idea of 'making under' the foods our families enjoy, creating meals that are both healthier and easier to prepare. We can't wait to see the creativity of the chefs and contestants and are eager to share their recipes and tips with our members."

About America Cooks with Chefs
America Cooks with Chefs is nationwide health and wellness movement that connects Americans with celebrity chefs to translate food into healthy, tasty and practical dishes. Through an educational and entertaining cooking competition, the initiative provides videos and resources to inspire people to make healthier choices in their daily lives. The initiative is an effort between Palisades Media Ventures, the Clinton Foundation, the James Beard Foundation and Good Housekeeping and is sponsored by Deloitte, Weight Watchers, Barilla, Mayo Clinic and Aetna. For more information visit www.AmericaCooksWithChefs.com.

About Palisades Media Ventures
Palisades Media Ventures (PMV) is a media development company with a single purpose: to create innovative public affairs projects for the digital age.  Our projects include town halls, video series and documentaries and our partners include leaders from media and public service.  We are committed to shining a light on matters of public importance and bringing them to the public in new and engaging ways. For more information visit www.palisadesmv.com.

About The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation
The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.  Because of our work, 26,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; 36,000 farmers in Malawi and Tanzania have improved their incomes by more than 500 percent; 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced in cities worldwide; more than 5,000 people have been trained in marketable job skills in Colombia; 8.2 million people have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications; $200 million in strategic investments have been made, impacting the health of 75 million people in the U.S.; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 3,100 Commitments to Action to improve more than 430 million lives around the world.

About the James Beard Foundation
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors America's diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful and delicious food. Today the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org.

About Deloitte
In the United States, Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries have 65,000 professionals with a single focus: serving our clients and helping them solve their toughest problems. We work in four key business areas — audit, financial advisory, tax and consulting — but our real strength comes from combining the talents of those groups to address clients' needs. Fortune and BusinessWeek consistently rank our organization among the best places to work.

About Weight Watchers International, Inc. 
Weight Watchers International, Inc. is the world's leading provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of Company-owned and franchise operations. Weight Watchers holds more than 40,000 meetings each week where members receive group support and learn about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and physical activity. Weight Watchers provides innovative, digital weight management products through its websites, mobile sites and apps.  Weight Watchers is the leading provider of digital weight management products in the world. In addition, Weight Watchers offers a wide range of products, publications and programs for those interested in weight loss and weight control.

About the Barilla Group
Created in Parma in 1877 out of a shop that made bread and pasta, Barilla is today among the top Italian food groups, a world leader in the pasta and pasta sauce businesses in continental Europe, bakery products in Italy, and the crisp bread business in Scandinavia. Currently, the Barilla Group owns 30 production sites (14 in Italy and 16 abroad) and exports to more than 100 countries. Every year, its plants turn out around 1,700,000 tons of food products that are consumed on tables all over the world, under the following brand names: Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Academia Barilla, Wasa, Harrys (France and Russia), Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico). For more information, please visit: www.barillagroup.com or www.barilla.com.

About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. Mayo Clinic is also a leader in wellness and digital wellness with offerings like the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, The Mayo Clinic Diet, and Better. The Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program is redefining healthy living. It's a comprehensive, whole-body wellness experience guided by medical research and evidence-based medicine to offer guests trusted solutions to improve quality of life. The Mayo Clinic Diet is the official diet developed by Mayo Clinic, based on research and clinical experience and detailed in the book of the same name, published in 2010 as a book and now a consumer online offering. Better provides individuals and families with their own Personal Health Assistant (PHA) to ensure expert coordination, continuity and advocacy across all aspects of their health care and wellness. In addition to their dedicated personal health assistant, Better provides its members with tailored Mayo Clinic health information, 24/7 access to Mayo's experienced and highly-skilled nurses and a Mayo Clinic symptom checker, all delivered through a iOS and Android mobile application. For more information, please visit www.mayoclinic.org/healthyliving, www.mayoclinic.org/dietsubscription and www.getbetter.com. 

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 46 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @aetna

About Ora.TV
Ora.TV is a television production studio and on-demand digital network with its home at www.ora.tv. Ora (which means "now" in Italian) launched in July 2012 with "Larry King Now," available on Hulu and on Ora.tv, and is viewed millions of times per month online, and broadcast on TV around the world. Ora.TV's other programming includes Politicking with Larry King (globally distributed both digitally and on linear TV), NewsBreaker, NewsBreaker en Espanol, Daily ReHash, DweebCast, and the recently launched Off The Grid with Jesse Ventura. In April 2013, Ora.TV acquired Stick Figure Studios, an Emmy award-winning documentary and reality series production company based in New York. Stick Figure is the producer of Catching Hell, which premiered on The Weather Channel on June 1 and airs digitally on Ora.TV. Ora.TV is funded by America Movil, the leading Latin American wireless service provider, with a majority interest held by noted global business leader Carlos Slim Helu.

About Good Housekeeping
Since its inception over 128 years ago, Good Housekeeping has been the brand that women turn to for tested and trusted information. Powered by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute and the Good Housekeeping Seal and Green Good Housekeeping Seal, she can be confident that she will find quality and value for every aspect of her life. Content that delivers the "service of discovery" -- innovative features, tips, and tools designed to delight, surprise and enrich her everyday routine. Good Housekeeping's distinctive coverage of food, beauty, style, health and home is presented to the reader in a colorful and contemporary package. In a world inundated with misinformation, Good Housekeeping empowers our audience to be smart consumers and always in-the-know women.

SOURCE America Cooks with Chefs

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http://www.americacookswithchefs.com