Jamie's a famous chef from England, whose claim to fame is teaching people to eat better and make fresh meals at home. He's very community oriented. He saw a CDC report that statistically named Huntington, West Virginia as the unhealthiest town in America (which, by the way is the unhealthiest nation in the world). So he decided to go there and inspire a revolution.
What's in the first 2 episodes is absolutely horrifying. Jamie decided to get started by addressing the school lunch program. The crap that the schools are feeding the kids is ridiculous. In the elementary school- pizza and cereal for breakfast, then chicken nuggets and fake mashed potatoes for lunch. Milk is required at both meals, but the kids can choose between regular milk, chocolate or strawberry. The crates of regular milk remained untouched at every meal. Jamie asked the kids what they had for dinner the night before. All answered chicken nuggets, pizza or hamburgers and french fries. And the high school wasn't any better. So, his plan was to bring wholesome, fresh food into the schools. You can't believe the resistance. Here are a few of my favorite moments regarding the school lunch program:
Jamie was told by the lady in charge of food for the schools that the fresh veggie and pasta dish he was serving did not contain enough vegetables to meet USDA nutritional requirements for school lunch. She then said this could be remedied if he served the dish with a handful of french fries.
The school lady told him that fresh baked chicken with brown rice dish he made could not be served because it did not contain 2 breads, which is the USDA requirement. The lunch being served on the line next to him was frozen pizza and fruit. He was told that the pizza crust contained enough bread to meet the requirements.
Jamie pointed out that the chocolate and strawberry milk contained more sugar than equal amounts of soda, and therefore the school should carry regular milk as the only option. He was told that the USDA felt that it was more important for the kids to get the calcium from milk, than it was to worry about how much sugar the kids were drinking. Basically, they're saying the only way to get kids to eat or drink something healthy is to load it with sugar.
When Jamie went into a 1st grade class with various common fresh vegetables, and the children could not identify any of them. We're talking tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant. Sad. Real sad.
This is the future of our nation, folks. Something has to change. I'll be posting more about this show, as well as my thoughts on what I get from other shows, blogs and literature. This whole topic concerns me a great deal. Our nation is the unhealthiest in the world, with respect to the obesity, diabetes, and cardiac disease. Jamie Oliver has been doing this Food Revolution in England. He had a book out about it, containing beautiful fresh recipes you can make at home. And he has a very pay-it-forward approach to the movement. He wants everyone who is interested or on board to tell their friends or family, etc. So, I'm on board. And I'm telling everyone I know. Now, this isn't about dieting or weight loss. It's not about preaching vegetarianism or some greater good. It's about fresh wholesome food. It's about saying "No!" to processed junk that's killing us slowly.
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