Friday, May 18, 2012

A bit on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

First of all, the first time I got to know about Jamie Oliver was an episode of The Naked Chef, a few years ago. His strong British accent was that of Cockney, I think, and his casual style was a breath of fresh air among those who are more concerned about posing for the camera. My wife used to comment on the common sight of obese Americans on television shows. Even in Pawn Stars, the two grandsons are good examples. Friends who had been to US also commented about the huge portion sizes of steaks, burgers and so on.

Anyway, last night, I chanced upon an episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution in Huntington, West Virginia. Below is a link to his Foundation website...
http://www.jamieoliver.com/foundation/

When I started watching this particular episode, Jamie brought along local DJ of 93.7, Rod Willis, to a funeral parlour. Rod was described as Jamie's biggest critic of his (British) role in the US, in trying to have 1000 people to join him to cook. They actually had a bet on it. Anyway, at the funeral parlour, they were shown a huge casket meant for an obese person. The representatives commented that besides the casket size problem, there is the plot size problem at the cemetery. Even the alternative of having a cremation instead could pose a problem in the burning process! Anyway, it was meant to be a shock treatment to convince Rod of his mission to change the eating habits of kids and everyone else. A group of obese people were invited to give their views on their problems and they expressed hope since Jamie started the campaign.

Governor, Joe Manchin and his wife (referred to as First Lady by Jamie) with backdrop of 1000 pics

Later, viewers were shown a big board where pictures of all those who had cooked with Jamie were pasted on. There were over 100 vacancies to be filled before Jamie could win the bet with Rod. It was in this episode that the biggest critic was won over and became a fan himself when he too joined in the cooking. It was nice to watch the use of Chinese woks and Chinese style of stir-frying by flipping the contents. They actually cooked noodles too. The enthusiasm shown was evident in all those participants and soon the board was filled with the last of 1000 pictures - that of Jamie and Rod!
Link

No comments:

Post a Comment