Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

[legant]

Did anybody catch this? I know this country has a big problem with obesity and nutrition et. al, but the first episode seemed heavy handed and... I hope... heavily edited. First graders who can't identify vegetables? Or, don't know how to use a knife or fork? Or, would eat a mushed up fried "chicken" patty... rather than whole chicken parts... simply because they were hungry?

I don't doubt Oliver is trying to make a difference but it feels as if he's using editing theatrics to make his point.

[Pat]

Last night was the second episode. I watched the first one online because I didn't see it on tv. Last night was supposed to be two hours but was only one, so I guess that had something to do with that first episode being split off and shown earlier. I'm still confused about scheduling.

I assume things were pretty heavily edited, particularly in the exchanges between Oliver and the DJ and Oliver and Alice, the not-lunch-lady.

The knife and fork thing really struck me because if kids only have spoons and fingers to use as utensils, the range of foods they can be served is seriously limited. Thus chicken nuggets and pizza on a regular basis. (I'm not sure why they needed a knife and fork for a burrito, but it would be helpful for eating overflow, and a fork would be necessary for cole slaw.)

The footage of kids' inability to identify fruits and vegetables was a major component of the preview video that was circulated while the show was in production. Maybe they didn't show kids who know what some of those foods were, but it's also possible that the raw and the cooked looked different enough from each other that kids were unfamiliar with the raw (and had never encountered foods like eggplant).

More and more as I see documentation of the school lunch (and breakfast) program, I'm convinced they need to change the guidelines on calories, fat, etc. It's much easier to get a lot of cheap calories now than when that calorie level was set, even for kids who don't get much to eat outside of school. Meeting a caloric minimum is not today's problem. Instead, they're pumping up school food and beverage calorie counts with lots of excess sugars/carbs, because there's a cap on the amount of fat and saturated fat kids can have AND they have to meet a calorie minimum.

[V.H.]

Does anyone remember a few years when Tyler Florence basically did the same show?

One thing that turned me off from Food Revolution was the dirty reality TV feel to some of the scenes. Waiting for the kid's diabetes results in the hospital and the portrayal of the tension with the lunch lady come to mind. I also wonder how much of Oliver's efforts are coordinated with some of the existing efforts already afoot, like Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard.

It was interesting that my daughter brought home a note Friday from Arlington Public Schools Food Services that explained the healthy food choices available at breakfast and dinner. They also said that they were in the process of making upgrades to all the Elem. school kitchens to allow fresh meals to be cooked daily in them and ended with a pitch for families to buy more school lunches so that they could make more improvements. I am curious as to the timeframe for this is what sort of meals they think they can cook within their budget constraints.

An excellent model to look at is the Good Food Company, based out of Arlington. They provide school lunches to a lot of the daycares and some private schools in the area, including my daughter's old preschool. They grind all meat in house, bake bread daily, and make everything from scratch. A typical preschool lunch for her might be turkey fajitas with a corn and black bean salad, mexican rice, and cut up fresh fruit. It was not unusual to have baked fish, soups made from scratch, or quiche with scratch made crust. It was such a shock to us when we got to elementary school and saw the difference in food menus.

[Anna Blume]

An excellent model to look at is the Good Food Company, based out of Arlington. They provide school lunches to a lot of the daycares and some private schools in the area, including my daughter's old preschool. They grind all meat in house, bake bread daily, and make everything from scratch. A typical preschool lunch for her might be turkey fajitas with a corn and black bean salad, mexican rice, and cut up fresh fruit. It was not unusual to have baked fish, soups made from scratch, or quiche with scratch made crust. It was such a shock to us when we got to elementary school and saw the difference in food menus.

I for one really wanted to see Jamie Oliver's "School Dinners" which aired back in the UK some years ago. While it appears that he is England's revolutionary in making meals kids eat at school an issue ripe for social reform, Oliver has been criticized for not acknowledging the work of Alice Waters, Ann Cooper and countless cooks, chefs, parents and administrators in private and public schools. I was told his producers are correcting that.

And legant, it is dramatic, for sure, but that bit with the potato is too true. Given the role of cherries in popular culture, I bet most folk can identify them. However, when I brought fresh, local cherries to a family event in a DC neighborhood last summer, there were young men in their teens and twenties who wouldn't even try them since they never ate one before. (Not a problem with the young kids.)

[Pat]

The episode last night was the worst one so far, IMO. The heavyhanded scripting of the storyline with Rod was so painfully contrived that it was hard to take seriously. And that choreography bit? What was that? All I could figure is that it was due to some Ryan Seacrest influence.

[lackadaisi]

An excellent model to look at is the Good Food Company, based out of Arlington. They provide school lunches to a lot of the daycares and some private schools in the area, including my daughter's old preschool. They grind all meat in house, bake bread daily, and make everything from scratch. A typical preschool lunch for her might be turkey fajitas with a corn and black bean salad, mexican rice, and cut up fresh fruit. It was not unusual to have baked fish, soups made from scratch, or quiche with scratch made crust. It was such a shock to us when we got to elementary school and saw the difference in food menus.

My daughter's preschool uses Good Food Company too, and at first I was very apprehensive of "school lunches," especially as they started when she turned one. But, the menus always look healthy and diverse, and all of the food that I have seen has actually looked pretty good. I especially like that they mix in some meatless meals as well.

[Heather]

An excellent model to look at is the Good Food Company, based out of Arlington. They provide school lunches to a lot of the daycares and some private schools in the area, including my daughter's old preschool. They grind all meat in house, bake bread daily, and make everything from scratch. A typical preschool lunch for her might be turkey fajitas with a corn and black bean salad, mexican rice, and cut up fresh fruit. It was not unusual to have baked fish, soups made from scratch, or quiche with scratch made crust. It was such a shock to us when we got to elementary school and saw the difference in food menus.

My daughter's preschool uses Good Food Company too, and at first I was very apprehensive of "school lunches," especially as they started when she turned one. But, the menus always look healthy and diverse, and all of the food that I have seen has actually looked pretty good. I especially like that they mix in some meatless meals as well.

I'm curious - how much do you pay for the lunches? And also curious what the company cost per child runs.

[lackadaisi]

I'm curious - how much do you pay for the lunches? And also curious what the company cost per child runs.

It is included in the daycare fee (along with a breakfast of fruit and some sort of whole grain and a snack), and I have no idea what they pay.

[Heather]

It is included in the daycare fee (along with a breakfast of fruit and some sort of whole grain and a snack), and I have no idea what they pay.

I poked around their website for a bit. They give out no information about costs and they keep their recipes secret. I found that interesting. I'd like to see what it costs them to operate and what it charges the day care center.

[lackadaisi]

I would ask at my center, but communication is not their strongest attribute, and thus I am very skeptical that I would get a helpful response.

[DanielK]

I poked around their website for a bit. They give out no information about costs and they keep their recipes secret. I found that interesting. I'd like to see what it costs them to operate and what it charges the day care center.

If I owned that business, I'd never never never give that information away.

[Heather]

If I owned that business, I'd never never never give that information away.

Of course not. But without that information, it's hard to say that public school lunch programs that feed thousands of children could look to that company as a model.

[DanielK]

Of course not. But without that information, it's hard to say that public school lunch programs that feed thousands of children could look to that company as a model.

But they seem to do only preschools and small private schools. One lesson we've taken away from the whole food industry is that what works on the small local scale doesn't translate to mass quantity.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I guess I'm with Anthony Bourdain on this one. Jamie Oliver and Rachel Ray are two personalities who just plain annoy me, and I really don't understand their popularity. I do everything I possibly can to avoid their presence on the air waves, at all times.

[Barbara]

I guess I'm with Anthony Bourdain on this one. Jamie Oliver and Rachel Ray are two personalities who just plain annoy me, and I really don't understand their popularity. I do everything I possibly can to avoid their presence on the air waves, at all times.

Not having cable TV, I don't watch either one and so am not already annoyed. However, I have checked in with this ABC series from time to time to see how Oliver is doing. He is preaching to choir here, but not in Huntington. As I have discovered, trying to follow the Ornish diet and make tasty low-fat, vegetarian meals is quite the challenge, even for people like me who already know how to cook and have access to all kinds of fresh, organic produce. He is trying to change the culture and doing it in a place which doesn't have all the resources that we do. I wish him well because he and Michelle Obama are up against powerful agricultural and processing industries. Those folks in WVa who want to save their children, as well as themselves, just break my heart. They have been sold a bill of goods and are paying a terrible price. If Oliver can get that message through to at least some people, then I don't much care what Bourdain thinks about it.

[lackadaisi]

I spent a week last year trying to eat somewhat healthily in Huntington (and neighboring Ashland, KY), and it was virtually impossible. The healthiest (and best) I could find was the chick-filet, but that was in Ashland.