UPDATED editor's note: Thanks for all of your supportive comments. Jamie, the dailySpark would LOVE to interview you! Readers, let's tell Jamie how and why we can help his mission. Jamie Oliver is better known by the moniker "The Naked Chef," which, salacious as it seems, actually refers to his clean, simple, and healthy style of cooking than his apparel in the kitchen. After spending the better part of the last decade leading a one-man healthy food crusade in the U.K., he's hopped the pond to take on America's obesity epidemic. (Disclosure: I'm a HUGE fan of Jamie Oliver!) In his new ABC six-show series, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, the chef starts in Huntington, W.Va., which is statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in America and in 2008 was named the fattest city in the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jamie Oliver has a lengthy, impressive resume: He launched a successful campaign to introduce healthy food to British schools and put up his own home as collateral to start an organization to train 15 young adults who have a disadvantaged background, criminal record or history of drug abuse, to work in the restaurant business Oliver, a father of three with one more on the way, is passionate about cooking and food, but he's even more passionate about kids and family. His motives aren't financial. They aren't egotistical. They're altruistic. Yes, he's a bit of a zealot, but shouldn't we all be when it comes to our health? Some people argue that a Brit has no business poking his nose in America's obesity problem. But he does: 1. He's already had success instituting similar programs in England and 2. He knows that if he can make a difference here in the States, the rest of the world will follow our lead. As with any reality TV show, it's hard to distinguish reality from TV, but this one has real potential--and it's certainly food for thought. What kind of welcome did Oliver receive when he arrived in Huntington, a beautiful city of 50,000 people along the Ohio River? I grew up in a small, blue-collar town in southeastern Ohio, where the people work hard and take pride in it. It's the kind of town where the locals gather on weekends at the VFW, the Legion, and the Moose for steak frys, fish frys, and all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinners. When someone passes away, ladies at church whip up tater tot casseroles, chicken and noodles, and creamed corn for the family. If someone gets in a car accident, loses everything in a fire, or falls ill, friends and family often will host a benefit, complete with home-cooked comfort food. When I tuned in to watch a sneak peek of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC this Sunday, I was reminded of my hometown. The people are proud, and they're skeptical of an outsider--from England, no less--who's trying to change their long-held traditions. Huntington seems very close-knit, with a strong sense of community and deep-held loyalty to the city and its residents. If they ultimately decide to make healthy choices, those traits are going to be very beneficial to Oliver and his team. For now, in the first episode, those are hurdles for Oliver. The When he's outraged at pizza for breakfast, dehydrated potato products and sweetened milk, they're nonchalant. It's food, they're on a budget, and the kids will eat it. When he tries to serve his healthier food (real chicken, brown rice, vegetables) to the kids, they choose the standard pizza, nuggets, and fries. (No surprise, considering that it can take up to 10 tries to get a kid to like a new food.) Oliver is interviewed by a local shock jock, and the TV editing makes it seem like he's steamrolled by the DJ. (Watch the clip below.) There are some hopeful moments: Jamie helps an overweight teen learn to cook and talks to a pastor who's trying to save his congregation from meeting their maker prematurely. Still, most of the media headlines are similar to this: West Virginia eats Jamie Oliver for breakfast. I sought out the local paper's web site and found a different, more hopeful story, along with (warning) some spoilers. As it turns out, even that "bully" of a DJ is eating his vegetables and cooking at home with the help of a slow cooker. I hope you'll tune in to watch the show when it airs on Friday. (If you miss it, don’t worry: full episodes are available on ABC.com.) In the mean time, tell me what you think: Do you support Oliver's mission? Do we need to overhaul school lunches? Will you tune in to watch the show? What do you think we need to do to get kids to eat right? If you're a parent, do your kids' schools serve healthy options or is it mostly nuggets, pizza, and fries? If you're not a parent, think back to your own cafeteria food: Was it healthy or mostly processed? Photo source: PRPhotos.com |
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