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 Hello Tiffany

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Italy runs a close second.

By jant ramosj

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I am a big fan of the food channels and watched Jamie years ago, he is awesome, he has his heart and brains in the right place, Bless him and i say GO JAMIE TAKE NO PRISONERS, Those lunch room Women are just AWFul

By Heather

@ Pat... do some research on Jamie Oliver pal, he DID start it in England... and has been dubbed one of the most influential figures there for doing such.

He started slow, encountered much the same amount of resistance and then spurred the parents, kids, schools and eventually the law makers to make substantial changes.

By Colleen

Jamie has balls to go into West Virginia and change the way schools run their lunch programs. He's going to be met with a lot of resistance, especially since 2 breads counts as the end of pizza crust as well as the crust buried beneath the cheese? I wish him the best of luck.

By dontfeelyourpain

Really? Actually, he didn't have the "balls" to go anywhere. Duh! He's basically
a PERFORMER! He gets PAID for what he's doing and he doesn't give a rats tush
about people in W. Va. or anywhere else. And you probably vote ...

Thursday 25 March

By Kristy

I can't believe people are being so critical and closed minded. If I were a parent there and the school said we're going to serve your children healthy and tasty food I would be thrilled. It's unreal that these people don't even want to TRY to change, he has to beg and plead and try to charm people into feeding healthy food to children. I always had healthy lunches from home when I was a kid, we didn't have sugared peanut butter etc. Then when I was a Junior I started having hot lunches because all the football players went for hot lunches (hormones ya know) anyway I was always a very skinny kid but that year I gained 5 pounds. This was 20 years ago, It looks like school lunches have gone extremely downhill even from the fatty foods we were fed. At least our lunches included fruit and a salad. If you are an adult and want to eat yourself to death it's your right, but what is wrong with feeding kids healthy and tasty food. I've seen Oliver's previous cooking show and his recipes and they are very simple and very tasty. I applaud him for being willing to try and help people who are so rude and closed minded.

It's irrelevant whether or not people are "stupid" in W. Va or anywhere else. Oliver
doesn't give a hoot whether or not people there eat "healthy". He's selling the series
and those of you who are getting all worked up over it and helping him sell it. If he
was a government official, it would be an entirely different matter and I would
encourage the locals to escort him/her to the border and declare them persona non grata.

By mgster1

He should worry about what he eats - he looks pasty and bloated.

By catsrule

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No telling what slop runs through your intestines and is eating you alive you idiot!

By garyrjas

West VA, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisianna, Kentucky, and even North Florida, all full of backwoods morons.

By Lisa

Hey you are the moron....I am from Louisiana am college educated as is my husband and our children...you better get the fact straight before you start spewing venom about something you are too ignorant to get right.....you are the moron

By mj

I have been a healthy eater most of my life. However I do have a problem with his show. I think it wrong to give the speeches and all his routine but show it on tv. If he wants to help people, fine. Why shove it down our throats, not to mention making those people look bad. I am sick if hearing trite speeches about fat people. Do people want to be fat? No. But why humiliate them? Maybe if instead the media stops having ultra skinny people as heroes, and constantly have shows depicting overweight people as disgusting, things would be better.

By andy

I think what he is doing is Amazing!!! Life changing stuff !!! Why is he the only one doing it??? On this scale. I'm so proud of him! Welll done Jamie!!! Your the greatest!!! One town... thousands more to go! :)

By MandiP

To be honest, I am shocked that school food ANYWHERE got this bad. Jamie is educating the best he can with food, but parents need to get deeply involved with school menus. In my day, they did.

By dvdfrnzwbr

I miss School cafeteria food to the point that it saddens me that I can no longer get it. Some brilliant mind out there should open a resturant featuring school food with the lunch line, hairnet servers, and cashiers that can't add correctly.

By Amy

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Oh Yes I would love it to watch Jamie Oliver show this Friday. It is soo cool and sadly! I agree with Jamie!! I love it this show. It is very good program!! It is terrible in Va food junks not good to them!! I live in Oregon. Im watching tv Jamie Oliver. Yes Please start the show. I love it. Go for it Jamie!!

By Lynda

For the love of God, WEST Virginia is a state all of its own. It hasn't been part of Virginia since 1863 (That's 147 years for the math challenged). WEST Virginians didn't believe in slavery and fought to break away from Virginia during the Civil war.

WEST Virginia does have indoor plumbing, the residents do wear shoes, have their own teeth, and can string together coherent sentences. Do you think that maybe ABC is playing up the stereotypes just a bit for drama?

So, before you bash the ignorant morons from WEST Virginia, you need to brush up on the historical ignorance that was taught to you in your superior state which I am sure doesn't serve processed foods to its young residents! Hallelujah

By Sherri

Way to go, Lynda....I'm with you!

By MOMMY FROM WV

I am from Huntington,WV ....I do not appreciate being referred to as ignorant. I do not appreciate being called backwoods. We are people also. We have jobs...we have college degrees...we are not STUPID NOR ARE WE IGNORANT. This show was about teaching people how to eat more healthy. Just because some of the people shown on the first episode did not act like what normal people would consider nice--does not mean that you can put all of us in the same category.
I was upset with the way Mr. Oliver was spoken to during his encounter with the LUNCH LADIES....but I WOULD NEVER PUT EVERYONE IN THIS BEAUTIFUL STATE INTO THE SAME EXACT CATEGORY. THAT IS CONSIDERED AN IGNORANT ACTION!

By rick uhl

there seems to be peopl that write rude blogs to make serious and intelligent people angry. thank you for a non emotionional reply. If half the people in West Virginia are like you it must be a excellent place to live.

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