Jamie Oliver, a British chef, is apparently a big hit in Europe. (Perhaps here, too; that I had never heard of him doesn't mean a lot.) He has cooking shows, a Tupperware-style home party business, and has taken on school meals in England and the eating habits of an entire West Virginia city. I find his flamboyant style annoying, and some of his information dated or controversial (e.g. demonizing saturated fat without mentioning the more problematic trans fats), but there is still plenty worth watching. (H/T Janet)
Grandchild warning. Forty-five years ago, my British-born Girl Scout leader explained to us some of the differences between the US and the UK when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable language. Some words considered normal here were horribly offensive there, while certain words for bodily functions were unacceptable here but commonplace there. She tried to clean up her language in deference to her adopted country, but sometimes slipped—hence the explanation. Oliver's videos are best watched without grandchildren in the room.
Oliver's TED lecture on teaching children about food and good eating habits. He's not a great speaker in this context, but I like the format better than the other videos. He's a little too inclined to look into non-personal (i.e. government and business) solutions, but an important message nonetheless. If nothing else, this one's worth it for the clip at 11:16 where he asks schoolchildren to identify foods in their natural state—and they are baffled by tomatoes and potatoes.
Eat to Save Your Life looks like a reality TV show and probably is. This is the first of eight YouTube videos, each just under 10 minutes. Oliver has some pretty dramatic ways of making his points about the unhealthfulness of our eating habits, including a scary autopsy of a morbidly obese man. I have a few minor quibbles, such as the above-mentioned out-of-date information on fats, and the fact that their definitions of various weight classes seem slightly different from ours, and I do find the format annoying, but his graphic presentations are unforgettable. The comparision of a fatty human liver with fois gras, and the sight of large amounts of fat engulfing internal organs and squeezing the lungs into a fraction of their natural size is worth any number of lectures on the dangers of overeating. And you don't want to know how much salt and sugar are in your pizza!
Jamie's Fowl Dinners is a novel way to look at factory-farmed vs. free-range chickens and eggs in Britain. This was less shocking to me, only because of having already watched Food, Inc. and read The Omnivore's Dilemma. If Oliver's information is true, however, Brits have a better, clearer choice, with their free-range chickens being truly free—you can tell that by the bright-orange color of the eggs as well as the shots of the farms. If the UK has the same problem with loose definitions that enable eggs from chickens that never go outside to be labelled "free range," Oliver doesn't mention it. This is part one of a nine-part series, oddly numbered 1-7 and 9-10, of 2 to 10 minutes each.
I thought the UK went metric decades ago, but apparently not completely. In watching the Eat to Save Your Life video it is helpful to know that 1 stone = 14 pounds or 6.35 kilograms.
I'm not sure if your definition of "reality TV" is correct. The show is orchestrated by Jamie and though it does involve real people, they are not free to play their own roles within an established frame, which is more my understanding of reality TV. They can simply obey and make comments. I just thought I'd comment in case the label scares people off from watching.
I liked the TED lecture the best. I agree that there was too much talk of what the government can do to change things and not enough about personal responsibility. However, I think that given the number of meals children receive at school, there are some changes that need to be made there.
The second set of videos was interesting, but I hate that theatrical nonsense. The way the M.E. was dressed and the staging. I thought his information was interesting, but could be delivered in a more straight forward manner. The woman in the bathtub full of fat? But, again, the show had some valid and important points to make. This is obviously Jamie's passion.
The last set of videos about the chickens was not as compelling to me as the first, perhaps because I had seen the conditions in Food, Inc. It is true, I had never really thought about what happens to the little male chicks, although, perhaps they made out the best in the end.
People's reactions reminded me of a trip to Mexico I took my freshman year in college. We were driving around and camping in new places each night (In hindsight, I do not recommend this). We would stop in a village to get ingredients for our meals each evening. One day our professor decided on chicken for dinner. He purchased a couple of live chickens, which traveled with us the rest of the day, and met their fate that evening. There were quite a few students who would not eat the meal that night.
At the end of this set of videos, Jamie shows the range of chicken products from cheapest to most expensive (factory farmed to free range). I think he is wise enough to realize that the jump is not going to be made from purchasing chickens at one end of the spectrum to the other, but advocates a step in the right direction. I did not watch it, but I saw that there was another video on Youtube titled something like "Why Jamie Oliver Hates the EU". My guess is that this has to do with the EU allowing even more chickens per square foot of cage. This makes it difficult for British farmers to compete and why educating the public is critical.
Will this change how we buy chicken? Honestly, it hasn't so far. I feel like I am in the fact gathering stage, although you would think I have enough information at this point. I think the real thing we need to change is our mindset. We do not need meat at every meal. If we reduced the number of meals with meat, then paying more for the meat we do buy would be more palatable (sorry).
All the while reading the previous comment, I assumed it was S talking...until the final line. Either that's D, or S has finally been corrupted. ;)
It was S.
Excerpt: Janet alerted me to Jamie Oliver; DSTB followed up with what is apparently a new show on ABC. It starts next Friday, but the pilot was shown last night; fortunately it's available both at the show site and Hulu, so I was able to watch it. ...
Weblog: Lift Up Your Hearts!
Date: March 23, 2010, 3:35 am
