Jamie Oliver is Starting a Revolution - a Food Revolution

According to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - a new ABC series premiering on March 26th featuring Jamie Oliver of Naked Chef fame - today's generation of children are expected to have a shorter life span then their parents. How is this possible? Americans have adopted an unhealthy diet of processed and fast foods that have contributed to the skyrocketing number of people with obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Jamie Oliver wants to turn this around by encouraging families to eat wholesome foods, fresh fruits and vegetables while cooking meals at home. On Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Oliver heads to Huntington, West Virginia, dubbed the unhealthiest city in America. When TV Guide asked Jamie Oliver what was the worst thing he found served in Huntington's schools, Oliver replied,"I think having pizza for breakfast and then cereal next to it with milk with nearly as much sugar as it can have and then going off to nuggets."

Where was Jamie Oliver when we needed him?
Growing up in the '60s and '70s, I was raised with very little processed food in the house. My mom cooked from scratch and limited the sweets we were allowed to eat. Snacks were usually fruit. I do recall when I was in junior high taking Space Food Sticks to school in my lunch. Do you remember those? They were a "non-frozen balanced energy snack in rod form containing nutritionally balanced amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein." The snacks were developed by the Pillsbury company for the astronauts in the NASA space program. We loved them because ... well, it wasn't fruit. It wasn't until high school that my parents started stocking more packaged and processed food in the house. Jamie Oliver could have taught us a lesson or two back then. A food revolution in the '60s or '70s? Uh, no.

No Food Revolution in the '80s and '90s Either
Jump to when my own children were growing up. Being a two income family with children in multiple after-school activities, convenience was the name of the game. Our cupboards were loaded with easy to grab, easy to make food that we could throw together in a pinch. Our children were not familiar with baking or cooking from scratch. One day an older neighbor was making homemade rolls and my daughter was helping. My daughter proceeded to tell our neighbor that her favorite type of rolls were the kind that come in a can and you hit it on the edge of the counter to open. You got it ... Pillsbury's Poppin Fresh Rolls. Our neighbor exclaimed, "My, what a modern woman you are!" We certainly could have benefited from the advice of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution back then.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Jamie Oliver is hoping to start a food revolution. Launched in conjunction with his latest cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution, the show will visit towns all across America and try to change the way people eat. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will visit local schools to show how you can adapt healthy local ingredients into your every day life. But don't expect it to be easy. Jamie Oliver will encounter more than enough naysayers. Oliver told TV Guide, "Just because people give you crap about something and don't want to change, doesn't mean you've got to stop. If you know in your heart what you're talking about is right and fair, I think you've got to keep putting your head down and working at it."

Support Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Efforts
Starting a food revolution won't be easy but Jamie Oliver is determined to make an impact. If you would like to join Oliver's food revolution, sign his petition here. Jamie Oliver is hoping to get over a million signatures to take to the White House, hoping the administration will support his cause.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions and Fresh One Productions.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Series Premiere Friday, March 26, 2010
ABC at 9/8c

Sources:
http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/index
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution
http://www.spacefoodsticks.com/history.html
http://www.tvguide.com