Religion Brown is a devout born-again Christian. Political Views Brown consciously keeps his political views to himself, though he's got a thing or two to say about America's obesity issues.

Alton Brown was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in a small town in Georgia.

Brown is a born-again Christian, though he objects to the term “born-again,” commenting that it’s like saying “see-through window.” He is quite devout and regularly attends the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia. He’s the kind of guy who says a prayer before his meal at a restaurant.

He has said it’s a bit of a challenge being so religious in his work in the media, but he’s gotten used to it. He said:

I’m not a spooky snake handler because I live in Georgia and I’m Christian, that I believe in the Bible, that I travel with the Bible, that I read the Bible everyday… I don’t hit people over the head with the Bible. I don’t speak in tongues. But I will tell you yes, we live in an extremely materialistic society. Food people, I think, tend to be more spiritual, but it is very tough to be in media.

Food people being more spiritual? I wish he would expand on that. Perhaps enlightenment is to be found in a nice bula base, or the unity of all things exists in a creamy vinaigrette dressing.

Fat Cat politics

Brown isn’t going to get into his political views–unfortunately for us here at the Hollowverse. But don’t worry, we have our ways (insert mad scientist cackle). During 2012 election day, Brown simply tweeted: “Vote cast.” When one fan asked for whom Brown voted, he responded with a Twitter photo of a Post-It note that read:

Nope! I hate it when entertainers get political. I stick to the ‘shut up and play your guitar rule.’ #shutupandcook.

Fair enough. But Brown, being a foodie and all, has weighed-in (pun intended) on America’s obesity problem. Brown has struggled with his weight himself, but he feels it just goes too far at times:

I was on my most recent book tour I was shocked by the number of overweight families. People would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, we love the Food Network.’ Well, no shit; did you eat the TV? There’s only four of you and you can’t ride in an elevator together. I’ll probably make fat people angry, but we need, as a culture, to be ashamed. It’s not… healthy.

I’m not sure if that’s a Republican/Democrat, liberal/conservative position. I wonder if there are any studies on the political preferences of overweight people… You know what, I’m not even going to look.