A native Georgian, Curtis’ attraction to produce began as a small boy, as he followed his Grandfather Curtis through the garden. His interest grew during high school, when he worked at the Conyers, Georgia A&P Market. “I was supposed to be in the grocery department,” he recalls, “but I hung out in produce because that’s where all the action was.” His enthusiasm soon became a career.
He has been with the Food Network since its inception, previously as the host of Pick of the day, From My Garden, Meals Without Meat, and Food IN A Flash. Curtis is Quick to point out that his expertise with produce does not mean that he is “anti-meat.” “I just love fruits and vegetables,” he says.
Curtis is also a regular cast member of ABC’s Good Morning America, ! where he dispenses both food-related advice and creative, heal! thful re cipes. Then at ABC in 1991, as part of the popular morning show, Home, hosted by Gary Collins and Sara Purcell, who dubbed Curtis “The Home Grocer”. Curtis is (to our knowledge) the only African-American culinary personality featured regularly on network television.
A natural for television, due to his good-natured charisma and unaffected charm, Curtis has appeared before the worldwide audience of CNN (where he fielded cooking questions “live” via international telephone). His other television credits include the Oprah show, Entertainment Tonight, The NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, as well as dozens of other local network affiliates.
The subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, Curtis has appeared on the cover of USA Today. Curtis Aikens’ Video Cookbook, a home video cassette featuring recipes and produce tips, is now available.