Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:27 pm

This is a new TV show everyone should watch. Very informative. Friday evenings on ABC

http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

They will repeat the 1st episode on friday and then it'll be the 2nd episode right after that. Friday evening on ABC, here it starts at 8pm EST.

I'll watch the 1st episode again since when they presented it this past Sunday there were
big things going on in Washington and they cut to a special report right in the middle of the show so I missed at least 10-15 minutes.

Jamie Oliver, famous UK chef goes to a small town in West Virginia and he tries to get people to eat better, more healthy ...
He was going to the elementary school where they serve pizza for breakfast to the kids and at lunch kids were eating
disgusting greasy food and throwing whole fresh fruits in the garbage, sickening display really.

The lunch ladies there were thinking it was all fine apparently, serving all that processed unhealthy food to lil' kidz. The kids are so used to it even when they are presented better food they still go for the pizza and whatnot.

A lot of the people in that town are very fat, dying early from all sorts of disease ... I forget the name of the town now but it was the worst in the whole country apparently.
They were the 'best' only when it came to obesity, heart disease and dying young.

At one point he was visiting
a family and everyone in there was super fat and unhealthy, even the lil' girl of the family was like 5-6 years old and
looked really fat. Then he goes in the kitchen and they were eating nothing but fried crap day in and day out ...
I was shocked when he opened the freezer and there was nothing but boxes of frozen
pizza in there, unbelievable. They were all stacked neatly, 30-40 boxes at least in there. I liked how they were neatly stacked though.

Anyway, I liked the show ... the part I saw so I thought others would enjoy it as well.

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 190 Pounds

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:55 pm

I've heard about this show but haven't seen it. Of course, I agree that there are many people--and maybe entire communities of people--who have very unhealthy eating habits and little or no understanding about how to choose foods that are nourishing or nutritious.

However, I'm not sure a show like this is the right way to go about creating change. The cultural and personal roots of food run deep, and having some rich, famous guy invade a small town with a camera crew and basically tear down a part of said town's culture probably isn't going to go over very well. It might even be insulting--I haven't decided.

Yes, eating greasy foods and frozen pizza day in and day out or not being able to tell an apple from a tomato is a bad thing. But I don't think this is a positive or even effective way to encourage people to change.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:16 pm

Thanks, Marygrace, for expressing the idea so gently and compassionately. I agree that good health habits are incredibly important, but I think that "shocking documentaries" may not be the world's best tool for change.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:29 pm

Well, I thought Jamie Oliver was very respectful actually ... he hardly said anything when he saw they were serving greasy pizza to the kids for breakfast. He should have unleashed hell on everyone in sight, especially the snotty (arrogant) main lunch lady (Alice ?) who kept harping the food was good for the kids just based on the first ingredient listed on the frozen box.

He did a lot of good work in the UK to get people to eat better (Of course still more work to do but you can't focus on the big picture or else you'll go crazy next time you see all those people lined up near fast food places)

He was trying hard to make them change their ways but they seemed very reluctant to do anything, except for a few people who were supportive. You have to teach the kidz to eat in a better way so they keep their good habits later on, that was something he was focusing on during the show.

I was shocked seeing kids hardly eating any fruits at all and throwing whole apples in the garbage at one point, the US government was paying for all that nutritious food (Fruits and vegetables) being wasted too. Plus later when people get ill from the bad habits, more $$$ required of course. It was pretty funny actually they cut from the show to a news bulletin about THE HEALTH CARE REFORM or something ... geesh ... Yeah, reform it, Stat...

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 190 Pounds

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:40 pm

bluebunny27 wrote: He should have unleashed hell on everyone in sight, especially the snotty (arrogant) main lunch lady (Alice ?) who kept harping the food was good for the kids just based on the first ingredient listed on the frozen box.

Sounds like Alice is pretty misinformed, but unleashing hell probably wouldn't have helped matters. Sure, it would've made for great TV, but it wouldn't have done anything for anyone in the town except reinforce the (usually false, but not always) idea that healthy=holier than thou.

And glad you agree, Noel!

sophiasapientia · Post by **sophiasapientia** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:25 pm

Thanks for the info Marc! While I agree that "shock documentaries" may not be the best method of educating the masses, I do think that they can make a positive impact. For instance, I know people IRL who definitely rethought their dietary choices after seeing "Supersize Me" and "Food Inc." I'm interested in watching an episode or two before passing a judgment.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:03 pm

Hum, the host was Jamie Oliver, not Gordon Ramsay ... so it wasn't really too extreme, it wasn't 100% over the top as what you see on Ramsay's shows, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen nightmares ... people throwing up, bugs in food, rotting meat that has been in the fridge for a month, etc.

This was a more informative and positive show actually, trying to help out people who need it dearly.
I think there are only 6 episodes ... but that would need to be confirmed. On Tv.com, they only list 6 at the moment.

I saw a similar program on a French Tv station here not too long ago actually, they were visiting high school cafeterias and trying to improve the menus so they would be more healthy ... it was called 'Bouffe ou malbouffe', which means : 'Food or junk food' ...

Food or ... junk food ... huh ...

Junk !!

Yes !! Woo hoo !!

It was a very similar program really. A local chef was going from school to school interviewing people, taking samples of the food to be analyzed in a lab, trying to cook fresh food instead of just putting processed frozen food in the ovens, etc.

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 190 Pounds

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:34 pm

Sadly the quality of fruits and vegetables at schools is usually pretty awful.. my son loves fruit and veggies, but he says that the stuff they have at school is not good and apples are mealy and old etc.

I haven't seen the show Marc mentioned but I do like Jilian McKeith's "You are what you eat".. I think that's what it's called..
I always like the part where she puts all the food the participants eat in one week on a table and it's usually looks like a gluttony nightmare.

In reality, the main problem with most overeating, is that it's an unconscious habit.. I think anything that raises consciousness has ultimately got to be helpful, especially when someone is in heavy denial..and a few mild "wake up" tactics sometimes aren't so bad.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:38 pm

I'm going to watch it, too.

I think this is the way he went about it in England, too, except it was called Jamie's Ministry of Food.

I haven't seen an episode yet, but my biggest concern is what he's going to teach them to eat. I've seen the cookbook and didn't buy it because there was very little that would appeal to me and my family. Now if he teaches them to make the foods they like only with real food -- that's okay.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:27 pm

Oh yeah, Deb's ... I've seen many episodes of Jilian McKeith's "You are what you eat" too ... Good show ! She always makes me laugh when she is commenting about people's excessive farting, lol !

Wosnes, In the show Jamie Oliver cooks a meal for the kids at one point, nothing too fancy or strange, just chicken, veggies ...
it looked like perfectly good food but most of the kids still wanted pizza instead, that was rather disappointing, even when they had a better option, they would still prefer pizza. Looked like 80% + wanted pizza and fries.

Debs, The apples they were throwing away looked alright to me .. but I didn't taste 'em ... The kids didn't either mind you.

Anyway it's not just an american thing, in the canadian program I watched it was the same thing, they had a special room in the back of the cafeteria with 1,001 kinds of candy, chips, bonbons ... I did notice the basket of fresh fruits on the side, old habits die hard (!) 99% of the kidz wanted candy bars and whatnot though so that was not too surprising.

The Jamie Oliver show be on again friday evening, I am pleased because I missed part of the show the first time around due to the national health crisis in the USA. I would also have missed my beloved : "The amazing race" if I had not checked, I recorded it on the canadian station (CTV) instead of CBS where it was postponed due to a special news bulletin.

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 190 Pounds

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:12 am

wosnes wrote: I haven't seen an episode yet, but my biggest concern is what he's going to teach them to eat. I've seen the cookbook and didn't buy it because there was very little that would appeal to me and my family. Now if he teaches them to make the foods they like only with real food -- that's okay.

I hadn't even thought about that, but it's a really good point. Knowing Jamie Oliver, I'll assume he's going to encourage them to make the foods they like with real, whole ingredients. Hopefully it doesn't end up like the (admittedly minimal) amount of nutrition talk on shows like the Biggest Loser where they talk up nonstick cooking spray and pre-packaged oatmeal.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:23 am

It's amazing how we've dumbed down food.

Jamie Oliver will be on Oprah Friday.

gemma52 · Post by **gemma52** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:44 am

Jamie Oliver shows have made a huge difference in the UK He is a gentle caring man who is passionate about very simple good food for EVERYONE . He has taken young people with little hope and trained them as chefs both in the UK and Australia and changed their lives In New Zealand we love his cooking .

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:33 am

marygrace wrote:I hadn't even thought about that, but it's a really good point. Knowing Jamie Oliver, I'll assume he's going to encourage them to make the foods they like with real, whole ingredients. Hopefully it doesn't end up like the (admittedly minimal) amount of nutrition talk on shows like the Biggest Loser where they talk up nonstick cooking spray and pre-packaged oatmeal

A couple of years ago a friend mentioned that she needed to teach her kids about nutrition. I'm not sure we need to know much about nutrition -- it hasn't done us much good in the last 50-60 years! When I was growing up there wasn't much nutrition talk, and while people were beginning to be less healthy and more overweight, it was certainly nothing like now.

I think all we need to know about nutrition comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat food." Then we need to know what food is and what it isn't.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:37 pm

wosnes wrote:I think all we need to know about nutrition comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat food." Then we need to know what food is and what it isn't.

If you cook for yourself from scratch, you're ahead of the game. What I notice is that few people want to do that.

And honestly? Making the transition from not cooking to cooking must be hard. I remember when I was about five, my mother went on a health food kick. This was back in the early 1970s when it was believed that artificial coloring was what caused children to be hyperactive (which my brother definitely WAS).

She stopped buying Wonder bread and started MAKING this WEIRD bread. It was a three flour bread that's actually REALLY good. I still make it. But, at five I was furious. There were fights at the dinner table, as well as tears, tantrums and making myself gag to yuck Mom out to make her give up on making me eat cooked veggies. (True story: I would eat raw ones, but didn't get into cooked veggies until I was in my thirties and decided I needed to set an example for my very young children).

Mom was a homemaker without an outside job. She had TIME to deal with that crap. I don't even want to think of what that would be like on a full time job. In fact, the idea horrified me so badly that I put my foot down about mealtimes, and had only certain foods in the house on PURPOSE to prevent that. I can remember my son gagging at eating a green bean, too. I was meaner than my mother, I admit. We did the "eat what's set before you or go hungry until the next meal." thing. That's going against not only cultural conditioning, but a pretty strong biological imperative that WANTS to see your child eat. And if your child is older, they'll sneak into the kitchen. I was dealing with VERY young children when I did this.

I'm sympathetic to people who have a hard time taking stern measures when they're trying to sort out not only their OWN bad habits, but their children's as well. That can be QUITE an energy-draining fight. It was rough on me and I had a lot of household support from other adults in the home.

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:38 pm

wosnes wrote: I think all we need to know about nutrition comes from Michael Pollan: "Eat food." Then we need to know what food is and what it isn't.

Amen to that.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:27 pm

I've worked full time and cooked mostly from scratch and don't think it's that difficult. I did buy bread -- but I've been able to find a couple of sources where the ingredients are recognizable. When working full time it takes some thinking, planning and doing some things in advance, but it's not that difficult. I think the major reason more people don't cook from scratch more isn't that it's more time consuming, but that people think it's more time consuming. And they really don't know because they haven't done it. Or, while some things DO take time (cooking beans or making stock), most of that time you don't need to be paying any kind of attention to the food on the stove.

Bread baking is something I've never done much. I don't think anyone I knew when I was growing up was baking bread (about 20 years before you, Noel. I was 5 during the early part of the Eisenhower administration!). I have baked bread, don't think it's that difficult, but rarely do it!

ShannahR · Post by **ShannahR** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:46 pm

I think alot of your attitude towards cooking and/or baking comes from your parents. In my case (I know this probably sounds horrible) but my mom always used mixes for things like pancakes, cakes, muffins, etc and relied pretty heavily on premade ingredients when she made meals. A few months ago my fiance and I were snowed in and were talking about breakfast and I mentioned how I'd really love to have pancakes but we didn't have any pancake mix. My fiance turned to me and said "we've got flour!" Before then I hadn't ever made pancakes from scratch! I'd either just not eat them, or buy a healthy mix--arrowhead mills buckwheat.
I think it's really difficult to change the thinking that you grew up with. It's not an EXCUSE not to change, but it is difficult.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:01 pm

I don't have much to say except those kids sound like the way I ate when I was little .... lol. I didn't eat in excess, but I swear I lived on Ellios, my mom's speghetti and meatballs and at one point all I wanted to eat was SpeghettiOs and hotdogs - EWWWWW. I don't even BUY Ellios pizza, canned speghetti and we hardly EVER have hot dogs. I used to LOVE canned soup but I also think that's nasty now.

I don't think I tried salads until I was.... 15ish maybe. And fruit? I think I only had bananas and oranges - very rarely - and didn't try an apple until who knows when. I don't know why I'm sharing this. I just find it funny that I started this way and ended up a semi-health-freak who cooks her own meals and checks labels for ingredients lol.

And regarding working and cooking ... It definitely can be done! I manage to exercise for a half hour and cook. I try to make meals as simple as possible. Last night we had baked salmon and a fresh salad and it only took about a half hour.

Also, I LOVE "You Are What You Eat"! I've learned lots from that show.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:24 pm

Another reason I think people don't cook is that we've gotten away from simple meals. Dinner doesn't have to be a gourmet feast.

Speaking of cooking...I made a pot of chicken stock this morning. It's about finished -- and IT SMELLS SO GOOD!!

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:32 am

Heh, you're making me hungry now talkin' about all that good FOOD !

There are a few things I make myself ... I usually like to cook/experiment anyway. I make bigger portions and only reheat what I need for that day usually so it's not as if I have to do it all the time, I usually cook a couple of times per week only.

I make yogurt once a week, 3 containers.

Just last week I started making bread too. My first one turned out quite nice so I will make more. Tastes great, saves me a few $$, and I know what's in it too, just like my yogurt. I was surprised how good my bread was ... it was huh .. awesome ! Not bad for a first attempt.

Once a week I can make some bread, maybe 2 at a time in the future instead of one, it'll last longer, no problem. I've got this simple recipe that only takes 10-15 minutes of actual work to make the dough ... it smells really nice too, cooking in the oven. Actually the odor was makin' me hungry, darn ! I'll have to remember to put the bread in the oven right after I've eaten, so it's easier on me.

Cooking doesn't take that much time really, I have a system, I do most of my cookin' on saturdays and wednesdays usually. a couple of hours prep time twice a week, more or less.

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 190 Pounds

sophiasapientia · Post by **sophiasapientia** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:45 am

One of the things that helped me when I was working outside the home was to freeze meal-sized portions of some of our favorite homemade entrees. I made -- and still make -- a weekly meal plan and, if I knew an especially busy night was coming up I'd plan to thaw something in advance. Stuff like homemade lasagna, soups, meat for taco salads and the like. Then, we were ready to eat, I'd just have to warm the entree up and make a salad or steam some veggies. In fact, even though I'm a stay-at-home mom, I still do this on a regular basis on the nights we get home late due to meetings, lessons or activities. It makes life so much easier.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:24 pm

Jamie was on Oprah today. Here's a link and if you click on "sign the petition" it will take you to his website and you can support his cause.

Grammy G · Post by **Grammy G** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:59 pm

I'm going to take a different tact and speak to lunchrooms in schools: I watched the JO show and, in fact, watched his similiar program done in England years ago. School lunchrooms that I have seen, as a parent and as a teacher, are absolutely not a place YOUwould want to have a meal!!
In the program, Jamie was almost brought to tears when he learned the children were given only spoon..no knives..no forks..with which to eat their meals. SPOONS!! Please try to enjoy your meal using only a spoon.
In the episode i watched, the principal was helping the youngsters and said he realized this was an opportunity to interact with students. How many principals do you think are in lunch rooms..or teachers? That leaves the "lunch ladies" who are overworked and not trained in managing children, to deal with the kids. How do you think this works? I was a teacher and I ate lunch at the same time as my students..my one "break" from them of the day and I am not saying that teachers should be required to eat with the children but something must be done to enhance the atmosphere of the lunch room as well as the food.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:51 pm

I caught the last half of that Oprah the other day. It was really good. I like the guy. He seems gentle and nice. People were understandably resistant at first, especially since they had already gotten so much negative attention. But he won over the radio DJ, especially after showing him the extra large caskets, which is apparently a booming industry right now. I also like that he took the time to say that it's not only overweight people not eating right, it's skinny/thin people, too.

And I think I am going to pack my kids' lunches, just like my mom did for me

. It's cheaper anyway.