5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Cleveland-based chef Michael Symon - and his famous laugh - have a full plate these days.

Since winning the first season of Food Network’s reality competition series “The Next Iron Chef,” Symon has gone on to be a regular on "Iron Chef America" and host a Cooking Channel spin-off series, “Cook Like An Iron Chef.” And now, he's got a new show, “Food Feuds," premiering tonight at 10 p.m. on that same little network all about food.

Symon’s not all stand-and-stir television though: the Cleveland restaurateur and Iron Chef currently operates five restaurants, won the 2009 James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” and was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s "Best New Chefs" in 1998.

Despite all of the above general busyness, he still remains an open champion for finding time for family meals - and Symon says why.

Five Reasons Family Dinners Matter: Michael Symon
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From CNN South Carolina affiliate WMBF:

A national Muslim civil rights and advocacy group is calling on the FBI to investigate a message written in bacon at mosque in Florence.

Three chair members of the Islamic Center in Florence discovered the words "pig" and "chump" written in strips of bacon on the walkway along the mosque Sunday afternoon.

CNN Belief Blog has the STORY

Last year, in what became known on the Interwebs as "the flying ham incident," a video emerged of Food Network superstar Paula Deen getting hit square in the face with an airborne pig haunch.

So when the sassy southerner teamed up with Smithfield Foods and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union last week to deliver 150 thousand servings of protein to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Deen decided to take the high road - by doing the throwing herself.

See the full video of Paula hamming it up on iReport.

Previously - Paula Deen talks the food of love and shrimp 'n' grits

Earlier today, we shared the story of Debi Mazar, a successful Hollywood actress who grew up on food stamps and now volunteers to feed the less fortunate via Los Angeles-based charity Midnight Mission.

In 2009, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children - commonly known as WIC - had 9,121,779 participants throughout the United States and the most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture shows that in 2008, 49.1 million people lived in food-insecure households, including 16.7 million children.

If you need or have needed help feeding yourself or your family, you're hardly alone.

Please share your stories of survival, or how you've helped someone else, below and don't be shy about giving a shout-out to your favorite charity. We may feature your response in an upcoming post.

Full disclosure: I've been on the committee that oversees the Journalism Awards for the James Beard Foundation for three years now, and we've gone and blown the whole thing up.

For the first time in the history of the awards - established in 1992 and often called the "Oscars of the food world" - categories will be determined by content, rather than medium. Gone are the days of "Newspaper Food Section with Circulation of 300,000 and Above" (and corollary "Under 300,000"), "Magazine Writing with Recipes" and catch-all categories like "Internet Writing on Food, Nutrition, Travel, Restaurant and Beverage" that existed in years past. Enter, "Food Section of a General Interest Publication," "Environment, Food Politics, and Policy" and "Humor" - with newspaper, magazine and online submissions allowed for all.

Why? Because we cracked a window in the Peter Kump Boardroom and noticed it was 2010 outside.
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• The fifty brews that'll help your beer belly grow. - The Daily Beast

• Wal-Mart plans to sell more locally sourced food. - Reuters

• A McDonald's in Riverside, California has turned their golden arches green. - SlashGear

• A Ohio prep chef has become Cosmopolitan magazine's 2010 Bachelor of the Year. Bon appétit indeed! - Cleveland Plain Dealer

• America's Test Kitchen host Chris Kimball recreates an elaborate meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 cookbook. Luckily, no corsets required. - NPR

Actress Debi Mazar and husband chef Gabriele Corcos know that a good, solid meal can feed more than just your stomach. They've counted their blessings and they're giving back by volunteering with L.A.-based Midnight Mission.

Meet the CNN Heroes

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday and the most delicious finds on TV.

Well, we do éclair! - October 14 is National Dessert Day.

No need to feel tart as you whisk yourself through the daily routine - slice into the action and cobbler together a sugar-fueled celebration.

Cheesecake, tiramisu, apple pie, oh my! You'll get out of the holiday what you pudding to it.

[We apologize retroactively for the crumby puns that just occurred.]

What's on TV?
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