Jamie Oliver TED Talk

I did a search and couldn't find anything on this already...so if this is a repeat, apologies.

While I've generally found Mr. Oliver to be a bit annoying, I found his TED Talk to be moving and distressing. I really didn't know that kids are so disconnected from their food. I grew up with a garden, and working on a farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc

Are any of you involved in any programs to help kids/families with this issue? Do you know of one you can recommend? I'd like to do something in my local community but I'm a bit lost for how to start.

TX!

I have always enjoyed his shows when cooking in what appeared to be his garden kitchen, especially when he utilized the wood oven.

As to your question, become part of, or start, a community garden.

His Mockney accent (he's from a village in northern Essex) is annoying, but I like his approach to cooking. Most of his shows are concise and entertaining, with a focus on basic flavors and colors, and simple, appetizing presentation.

He's a great guy. I find it hilarious how he's resented sometimes - or treated with such suspicion, for example like in that show he made where he was going to transform school lunches in small town America.

He should have known that vegetables are unAmerican!

They're un-British too!

My first impression ( just from TV) was not so positive. Then my brother in law met him, and said he was a stand up guy. I changed my mind. I don't spend much time thinking about his cooking, but to be very fair, I saw him do a brushetta with favas, peas, mint and parmesan. It's a fantastic spring dish when the favas and peas arrive....so credit due to him.

tgraypots said:

As to your question, become part of, or start, a community garden.

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Tom, I don't understand how working with a community garden could help kids with food knowledge or help families to cook more healthfully...can you elaborate?

... Growing food, learning where food comes from, experiencing the difficulties in producing food, getting a sense of nature and how in essence food comes from nature, how food tastes better when it is grown naturally and with care, developing one's taste for natural ingredients, developing one's eye for what's naturally grown, experiencing being part of a community that grows and might respect food more, and not feeling alone doing this, like some might in their back garden, when around them everywhere there is Mc-food and superstores full of manufactured food products... Seems obvious to me

Cutty Sharp said:

... Growing food, learning where food comes from, experiencing the difficulties in producing food, getting a sense of nature and how in essence food comes from nature, how food tastes better when it is grown naturally and with care, developing one's taste for natural ingredients, developing one's eye for what's naturally grown, experiencing being part of a community that grows and might respect food more, and not feeling alone doing this, like some might in their back garden, when around them everywhere there is Mc-food and superstores full of manufactured food products... Seems obvious to me

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Oh, the suggestion is to take kids to a community garden...for a tour, or to help out. Got it...

That's an idea. Any others?

Some of our elementary schools have gardens that the kids help with and eat from.

Start a garden at a local school. You supply some time, seeds and tools and I bet at least one class would be more than willing. I know my daughter's kindergarten class planted a few vegetables. Also, look into 4H in your area.

-AJ

Just my opinion:

Jamie Oliver is a charlatan" The most obvious sell out of the bunch. Find a cause and promote the band wagon. ***? How is the food in his home country's schools? Why pick on us? ............................This is the market.

ajhuff said:

Start a garden at a local school. You supply some time, seeds and tools and I bet at least one class would be more than willing. I know my daughter's kindergarten class planted a few vegetables. Also, look into 4H in your area.
-AJ

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Good idea, thanks!

Salty dog said:

Just my opinion:

Jamie Oliver is a charlatan" The most obvious sell out of the bunch. Find a cause and promote the band wagon. ***? How is the food in his home country's schools? Why pick on us? ............................This is the market.

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I'm sympathetic to this....I'm not interested in promoting Mr. Oliver though...or who's schools suck the least....just interested in what I could do on a personal, sustainable level to make a difference and share my passion for food.

Scott, I'm not here to defend Jaime Oliver--he's got an annoying attitude, and his chocolate truffle recipe is a bass-ackwards piece of crap...

...but he did the "Food Revolution" thing in the UK first. He was VERY successful, and didn't encounter nearly the institutional ramparts he ran into the U.S. The Police don't force off public property in the UK for asking to see the cafeteria, or speak with students after school.



I think the best thing you can do for your kids is feed them well. Make sure they know where their food is coming from, which is done by answering their questions, and correcting them when they are wrong. My daughter is 3 and asked me where Carrots come from the other day.

Edit: I was too slow, what Eamon said.

Salty dog said:

Just my opinion:

Jamie Oliver is a charlatan" The most obvious sell out of the bunch. Find a cause and promote the band wagon. ***? How is the food in his home country's schools? Why pick on us? ............................This is the market.

Click to expand...

As Mr Burke said above, JO had a show previous to the US version called 'Jamie's School Dinners'. I'm not going to check because I'm on my mobile, but I'd guess that it was a US network that arranged the US version of the show after, so I don't think it was a cynical money-making move on his part. Check:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie's_School_Dinners

Seems the show had a quite positve impact in Britain and the idea was to develop kids' taste for better, healthier food and influence the school boards there, which is what happened, though with inevitable debate as in the US. Don't see what's wrong with that, and many other countries could certainly use the same type of show too. Seemed the most popular lunch in my school in Canada was fries with gravy. Ugh...,

Cutty Sharp said:

Seemed the most popular lunch in my school in Canada was fries with gravy. Ugh...,

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You got poutine for lunch in school! I am so jealous.

-AJ

Without the fresh cheddar curds it's just frites-sauce.​

SameGuy said:

Without the fresh cheddar curds it's just frites-sauce.​

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No, MecMême. Without the curds it's not poutine anymore. It's just plain pou.

Or at least that's how it looked and tasted, like pou.

:fanning:

LOL! I joined www.hardware.fr to post about my first Tokyo trip, and used the nick MêmeGars. ​[I use SameGuy on Quebec car forums]

Ugh that was popular in my school too. uke:

Man I love fries and brown gravy, the big steak fries.

Another idea is to reach out to local scouts. They are always looking for guest speakers. I helped my daughter's Daisy troops bake cookies for one of our fire houses. You could do something similar. Maybe a fresh batch of spaghetti made with fresh ingredients as a teaching element. I bet most kids only experience a jar of Preggo.

-AJ

Salty dog said:

Just my opinion:

Jamie Oliver is a charlatan" The most obvious sell out of the bunch. Find a cause and promote the band wagon. ***? How is the food in his home country's schools? Why pick on us? ............................This is the market.

Click to expand...

Gotta completely disagree w/ you on JO, Scott. Of all the celeb chefs - and I mean ALL - he's done the most by using his position to try and create positive change (and I hate that ******* "P" word) for those that are less fortunate than him. While everyone else is out there hawking their next show or trumping up their next big restaurant or selling some crapo kitchen tools that no one needs, he's making a difference.

+1

Studies have proven (please don't ask for references) that we do nothing unless we get a return from it. Sometimes the only return we get is a good feeling; nevertheless, a return from our investment. There are very few "branded" chefs I'd walk across the street to meet, but he is one of them.

mpukas said:

Gotta completely disagree w/ you on JO, Scott. Of all the celeb chefs - and I mean ALL - he's done the most by using his position to try and create positive change (and I hate that ******* "P" word) for those that are less fortunate than him. While everyone else is out there hawking their next show or trumping up their next big restaurant or selling some crapo kitchen tools that no one needs, he's making a difference.

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Hear! Hear!

tgraypots said:

Studies have proven (please don't ask for references) that we do nothing unless we get a return from it. Sometimes the only return we get is a good feeling; nevertheless, a return from our investment.

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+1,000,000