Jamie Oliver: A food brother from another mother

Usually I don’t like to post more than once a week but after watching the series premier of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution while eating my Big Mac and fries, I couldn’t resist. For those of you who don’t know who Jamie is, here’s a really cool timeline the NY times created. For my roommates in 207, they will know him better by the recipe I cooked during one of our Sunday family meals. Remember the herb baked chicken with red mashed potatoes? I took that from watching one of Jamie’s shows.

So the plot of Jamie’s new show is to have him change the food culture in the fattest city in America (based on death and disease): Huntington, West Virginia. This not only includes changing the food itself but possibly American school and government policies. Honestly, this Brit sounds like he’s way over his head on this one. I think Jamie went in believing everyone in town would be very accepting of him. Delicious and nutritious food? Hell yea mate, come on in! Instead a local radio jock is questioning who is this guy? What’s he doing here? Who made him king? The local elementary school lunch ladies, whoops I mean cooks, think he’s condescending and like the system they already have in place. Processed food is absolutely a-ok by the lovely ladies of Huntington. What was most disheartening to him was some of the kids preferred their processed pizza over baked chicken and salad made with fresh ingredients. There is one bright spot though, the family he visited actually welcomed him with open arms.

Everything that has happened to Jamie is not the least bit surprising to me. How do you change or at least motivate people who don’t want change? (I wonder if my therapy classmates read my blog…) Even when statistically speaking, it is literally killing their town. This ties in a little with my article about saving the world. Don’t get it twisted, I love Jamie. He’s only 34 and he’s wanted to change things in Huntington and possibly the world for several years already. I love his heart. I love his ambition. I love his sacrifice. I love his diligence. (Altruistic? Maybe, whatever I don’t want to get into that discussion) But to those he’s trying to change, he’s a tourist. An outsider. Especially with that cockney accent, yea bro you ain’t from around these parts are ya? Now maybe the rest of the series will prove me wrong, but I believe he could have gone a different angle for people to be more accepting. He could have gotten a local chef who shares the same passions he has about a nutritious diet and partner up with him/her to change their town. Someone who has grown up in Huntington, knows the culture, knows the people, and is disgusted by the town’s eating habits. Maybe it’s a stretch to find that guy, but come on, an entire city with not ONE chef who sees it differently? Someone with the credentials to back up Jamie and say yes, this is my buddy, I vouch for this man. Of course you don’t have to go this route, but eventually I hope his part is in training others to instill that change in others and so on.

Now the thing I like about Jamie that makes me prefer him over the other altruistic tourists of society is that he’s a professional in his field. He wants to change a problem he can actually solve with his set of skills. If you look at his background, he did the same thing in the UK with his “Feed me Better” campaign. Through that he met with Tony Blair and their Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and secured 280 million pounds for proper equipment, training, and ingredients. That my friend, is when it works. What doesn’t work is if, say you’re an actor, a decent one at best, and you want to end a war. Wtf?

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