So have you heard of Jamie Oliver, the “Naked Chef?” I of course love him, because I like all things naked. Natural fit for Stretch Naked, don't you think?
Well, he is a pretty amazing chef and is trying to get both England and America to eat the healthy way. Ad man and I watched his new show "Jamie Oliver Food Revolution" (ABC) on Friday night. It was eye-opening. According to the show’s site “the impassioned chef is taking on obesity, heart disease and diabetes in the USA, where our nation's children are the first generation NOT expected to live as long as their parents. “ Agh! Scary!
Ok, so Jamie kicks off the show and quest be venturing to Huntington, West Virginia and has vows to revolutionize the way the city eats. Huntington was deemed the unhealthiest city in the U.S. Ouch. Not totally sure what that is based on.
Anyway, Jamie had quite a few antics as he tried to prove his point about eating more healthy, less processed foods - running around in a pea pod costume, hosting a cooking showdown at the local elementary school, opening a free cooking school in the center of town and helping one family cook healthier. All very light-hearted really.
However, there were a few parts of the show that really made me take pause. One part in particular just broke my heart. Jamie went to this family's home to examine their food consumption over the course of one week. It was a family of five, stay-at-home Mom, Dad an on the road trucker. They submitted a list of weekly meals to Jamie and he cooked all of it and essentially laid it all out on a table to show the family the junk they consume in a short period of time. It was enough to make your stomach turn. In fact, I had to stop eating my dinner it was so vile. Piled up in the center of the table, this family of five glared at a pile of garbage. They were regularly consuming homemade fried donuts slathered in chocolate, corn dogs, pizzas, cookies, chicken nuggets, french fries, greasy meats, heavy pastas, nachos...the list goes on and on. All fried or severely processed. When the family saw all that piled up, they did agree it was disgusting.
Then Jamie gave them all the ingredients and recipes to eat healthy for a week or so and left them to it. When he went back a week later, he asked the 4-year-old little girl what her favorite meal of the week was. And she replied "pizza!"
Failure.
The mother had resorted back to serving horribly unhealthy food. Now I don't want to be overly critical because there are many people that cannot afford expensive, fresh, healthy ingredients. But, the mother had the "fry-Daddy" as the main cooking tool in the kitchen. She almost went out of her way to make things even worse for her family. Needless to say they were all obese.
Later in the show, the family went to the doctor to see how their health was faring. They found out that the 12-year-old boy already had Type II Diabetes. I was heart-broken. This mother (and father as a willing participant) was killing her children. It's borderline child abuse in my opinion. Well, they vowed to get healthy as a family. I hope this was the wake-up call they all needed to really make the effort.
So, ok. Sad, right? Well then Jamie went to an elementary school for a food lesson. He held up various vegetables for the kids to identify. And, they couldn't correctly identify any of the veggies. They didn't know what a tomato was, or a potato, or broccoli! But when Jamie wheeled out fries and pizza, they sure knew what it all was. I have tears in my eyes as I type. My heart just breaks for people that really don't understand that a foundation of good nutrition must start at a young age.
So, Jamie did make an amzing break through with a live demo for parents. He laid out a large tarp and poured all the garbage that the elementary school was feeding the kids and then wheeled out a truckload full of fat. I mean ick! It was deplorable that the school was feeding kids that rubbish. I know that sounded very British of me.
All this to say, that I think this show is phenomenal and I hope that it furthers the emphasis on teaching healthy habits at a young age. And perhaps schools will start serving better for you options in schools. Kids cannot make these choices for themselves. When given the choice between grilled chicken and salad and a slice of pizza. They are most likely going to choose the pizza. They must be guided in the right direction.
Poor nutrition and too much fat, sodium and processed food items at a young age can lead to disease later in life. Or in the case of the 12-year-old boy featured, at a young age. There are so many preventable diseases out there. Let's prevent them, for goodness sakes!
What a soap box for a Sunday! I'm climbing down. But check out the show and consider signing the petition to save cooking skills and improve school food.
Jamie would like to take his petition to the White House after the TV series airs, to show The President and First Lady how many people across the country really care about this and ask for their support.
Link to info about the show: abc.go.com
Link to petition: petition
I believe that this country needs to eat less and move more. Rock on Naked Chef! Stretch Naked supports you!
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