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'Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution': Back for a second helping, this time in L.A.
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Jamie Oliver, erstwhile naked chef, was in for a bit of a rude awakening when he set out to bring his "Food Revolution" to Los Angeles. Oliver was a victorious vet of the food wars -- having had a massive impact on school fare in his native England, he brought his "Food Revolution" across the Atlantic last year, working with the Huntington, West Virginia school system to improve children's health and earning an Emmy for his efforts. But when he tried to take that small-town success and super-size it, he was stopped in his tracks when the Los Angeles Unified School District denied him access to schools.
"I had to accept that this year is about motivating the public through TV and motivate parents to get pissed off about stuff that isn't right," Oliver tells Zap2it.
"This year, as opposed to Huntington where we did everything we wanted to do, I had to accept that wouldn't happen in LA."
So instead of working with the school system, Oliver and his team worked around it -- opening a kitchen to teach kids and parents about better lunch alternatives, attending a school lunch convention, staging a demonstration and trying to get a local fast food chain to adopt a healthier menu.
Does Oliver think he made a difference in L.A.?
"Maybe I'll regret going there," he says. "We were banned before we even landed. It set us on a different track. I feel like I filmed some of the most incredible scenes of my life."
"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" premieres Tuesday (April 12) at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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Photo/Video credit: ABC
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yawn
school lunch accounts for less than 1/3 of your kids meals each week. If you make sure they are eating healthy at home and encourage them to make as healthy as possible choices at school and get daily exercise, they should be okay. And cut the sugar.
US of ignorance. Get down from your perception of the greatest country in the world and change it to the fattetst. 1/3 og daily meals is still 33% and its nessesary to change that, and off course your home meal as well. But why dont you go with the flow and start the change. At least 1 person is doing something, and hes not american.
Dear Jamie,
I worked in the school industry for many years and at that time we received supplies from the government every summer I supplies would come in turkeys, hams potatoes vegetables flour cornmeal and all the essentials to make our menu's we made everything from scratch every day, real mashed potatoes , baked turkey and made all our bread from scratch. I am so ashamed how they have turned lunches for our young children into fast food. I'm so sorry and it makes me very angry.
I'm a 77 year old lady and it breaks my heart. I wish you much luck in your quest to correct what has happened.
Love your show and what you are trying to tell the public what has happened
I wish you the best.
Yours,
Joan Vender
Dear Jamie,
I worked in the school industry for many years and at that time we received supplies from the government every summer I supplies would come in turkeys, hams potatoes vegetables flour cornmeal and all the essentials to make our menu's we made everything from scratch every day, real mashed potatoes , baked turkey and made all our bread from scratch. I am so ashamed how they have turned lunches for our young children into fast food. I'm so sorry and it makes me very angry.
I'm a 77 year old lady and it breaks my heart. I wish you much luck in your quest to correct what has happened.
Love your show and what you are trying to tell the public what has happened
I wish you the best.
Yours,
Joan Vender
Dear Jamie, I am so glad i was able to catch the re-run of your show on May 27. I live in Canada and the school where my child is in does not provide lunches - luckily. I do try to pack healthy, wholesome lunches and snacks although I do sometimes grab the convenient, pre-packaged snacks available from my grovery store.I must say, I was sickened by the quality of foods that LA is feeding to these children for breakfast and lunch. I have bought flavored milk for my child often as it is all she can stand to drink, but what I learned from your show is that it should be cut back to a very seldom treat. I am also now wondering what is the quality of the extra lean ground beef that I am buying from my local grocery stores. I will definately make inquires as to what "meat" is being used. Thank you so much for educating us and I cannot wait to see the rest of your Food Revolution episodes. I will make sure not to miss one!