Celeb Chef Jamie Oliver Wants to Start a 'Revolution'

By Denise Warner Posted Mar 24th 2010 03:30PM

Jamie Oliver traveled to what was called the unhealthiest city in the U.S. -- Huntington, West Virginia -- to educate the residents about the food "that's killing America" in his new series, 'Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution,' which premieres March 26 at 8 PM on ABC. (A special preview aired on the 21st.)

During his tenure, the people of West Virginia put up a lot of resistance. A radio DJ in the town bluntly told him, "We don't want to sit around eating lettuce all day!" And the women in the school cafeteria were equally upset with the British chef's presence -- causing Oliver to break down in tears. "They don't understand me," he cried.

However, the British chef persevered, determined to make a difference in everyone's diets and consciousness about their health. Jamie chatted with PopEater about his experience on the show.

"We're not painting a perfect picture of me walking in there and going 'Da da dah.' We follow what really happened. Even to the bitter end," he says.

I really enjoyed the premiere. There are so many misconceptions about the people from that part of the country, and I think you're really helping the world to understand.
Thank you. I think Huntington comes out looking just beautiful over the series. Reality TV has got a bit of a dodgy rep, so we played with it very sensitively.

Were you expecting the kind of resistance you encountered when you first got there?
Honestly, yes. I've never done anything worthwhile involving change that hasn't gotten resistance. Change is the hardest thing in the world and resistance is normal. It's never particularly much fun, but you have to just keep going and push through it and try. It did take about a month and a half before I broke the back of it. The thing that really helped was working with individual families – them spreading the word that I was there for good reasons and I actually was changing their lives and allowing them to live differently.

Watch the First Episode

It seemed that the first family you visited were much more willing and positive about the experience than others.
All of the families that I came in contact with were never saying, "We don't want you, get lost, go." It was more of the opposite. It was, "Help, please. I feel like a bad mom. I know what I'm doing is wrong, I just don't know how to do it right. No one's ever taught me to cook at home or at school, so I'm sitting here with four kids wondering, 'What on Earth do I do?'" Telling that story is quite important. I think there are going to be a lot of parents feeling a bit bad about that. You can't really blame the parents when the whole culture and the whole horizon of food is all the same. Knowing how to shop and to cook a few things gives you so many choices to live differently.

You just want to tell them it's not all their fault.
Absolutely. It's not their fault to a point. Obviously, there comes a point when they've got to deliver. It's all right saying, "You know, you're doing it wrong," but you've got to go and do it. You have to invest time in it. It's not like when your kids learn to ride a bike, they've done it straight away. You've got to invest time in that. When your kids learn to talk or walk, you have to invest time in that. Cooking is no different. Cooking knowledge is no different. I know I'm a biased, but the way I look at it, you use cooking three times a day, normally in your life. Then, probably the second biggest amount of money that you spend in your life is at the supermarket. You might as well get good at shopping and save yourself the money. I haven't actually worked with a family yet who I haven't saved them $100 to $150 dollars a week.

You said it took about a month and a half for the people of Huntington to accept you. Will we see more struggles in upcoming episodes?
The show is very fun and natural and it is what it is. We're not painting a perfect picture of me walking in there and going 'Da da dah.' We follow what really happened. Even to the bitter end ... I'm not saying it's a happy ending. I'm saying that wonderful things are achieved. Really, the happy ending is what's going to happen in the next year or two years.

What's the best advice about cooking that you have?
Oh that's a hard one. Of course, you can keep it simple. You really only need, I call it ten recipes to save your life. Recipes that you enjoy from stew to pasta to sauces to stir fry -- knowing how to make salads taste delicious and making greens taste delicious. Everyday dishes like that, that's the kind of thing you want to have in your repertoire. And ten simple recipes, as well. The other thing is when you're shopping, organizing what you buy so you don't waste money. But one of the biggest things is -- if you turn around a pack and you don't understand what's on the back, if it sounds like a science lesson, don't buy it. That's a quickie.

Tags: jamie oliver, jamie olivers food revolution

Comments

(152)

Wednesday 24 March

By Dana

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Hey James...Maybe u could arrange for him to have a ONE WAY TICKET TO PANDAR....But he probably would not be happy there either...HE WOULD BE THE ONLY A HOLE THERE....But he would have a whole new planet to poison....

Thursday 25 March

By catsrule

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Dana...you have got to be even more demented than those WV hillbillies. I'd say you need to watch the show and learn something but you are probably hopeless.

By Joyce

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Did you watch the show? Most of these people were closed minded and ignorant. They were not willing to make an effort to help the children be healthy. Those he talked to individually were more receptive, and will probable be better for it. Look at the stats, this town and this country needs all the help it can get.

By dontfeelyourpain

Yeah... Isn't it frustrating when you just can't tell people how to live their lives
as they see fit? Hitler, Mao. Kim, Pol Pot and Stalin all had the same problem.

By Luluu

Joyce, you are so right. I watched the preview show and thought the idea was great. I was not surprised the kids didn't want to change, but the fact the cafeteria women were so hostile really surprised me. I have 3 grandsons brought up on "fast food" and they will hardly eat anything that is good for them. When I have them over for dinner, I have to fix chicken nuggets in addition to what I am serving or they eat nothing. I can't get them to try anything new. I worry about their health and wish I could do something to change their eating habits, but I don't se them that often.

By PAT

START IT IN ENGLAND

By Hello Tiffany

Why? I think it's about time someone tried to help the US instead of going to every other country to make it better there. I stand behind what he's doing here. But I will say that if a person doesn't WANT to eat healthy, you can't make them. It's all in your mind.

By ziggy

He did start it in England. He pushed for the schools in England to revamp their lunch programs to promote healthier eating.

By FD

Get a clue. That's where it all started.

By hla2535

He did - moron - and changed the way school lunches were prepared there.

By Jennifer P

I saw the premiere episode. He said that he has already done this in England. Someone asked him that on the show.

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He did already stupid...did you even listen to the show. He is quite a sucessful man and by the way our diets stink and the school menus stink and people are lazy and they are killing themselves and their kids. WAKE UP!!

By PJ

He did....he has rec'd grants from the British govt. as a result of his work on school lunches. We aren't the only country with terrible eating habits.....so let's support his efforts and start a food revolution of our own....we know we have terrible eating habits so why fault anyone trying to help improve our childrens health?

By sandyb

He did do this in england. Did you not watch the show. I can't believe they required 2 breads per meal.The normal plate is half fresh fruits and veg. one fourth meat or protein and one fourth grains starch or pastas. Good job Jamie.

By Stephanie

The show is fantastic. The WV people need all the help they can get. I can't believe the school serves it's kids pizza for breakfast. Unbelievable!

By Kat

They do the same at MY school-pizza for breakfast, chicken fingers and fake potatoes for lunch-grade "D" fruit...it's really sad to think that you could get a more nutritious meal at Mc D's than at school, but it's true. I thought I was watching OUR lunch ladies!

By Taylor

Being a student first hand, that is most of the kids food for the whole day. He has made our town look terrible.

By Neil

They serve pizza or similar food for breakfast in a whole lot of schools in the nation, not just West Virginia. One interesting story out of Illinois that is worth checking out is the teacher who is eating school lunches for a year, and recording her thoughts and experiences in a blog. I don't have the blog link, but you could probably Google and find it. Horrifying.

By Kitten

I saw the show. It's amazing how people would rather go for convenience and feed their family junk. Cooking a simple, healthy meal is not hard, it's not rocket science.

The kids in the elementary school didn't like the healthy food because all they've ever eaten is processed junk.

Wake up people, you are what you eat! No wonder America is the fattest country in the world.

By kjbrugman

First off, it was West Virginia, and yes, some of them are ignorant. Jamie held up some TOMATOES and asked the kids what they were. Some didn't have a clue while others thought they were POTATOES!!!!!

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