Jamie Oliver - News - jamie oliver to take school dinners / ministry of food to the usa

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jamie oliver to take school dinners / ministry of food to the usa

Tue 26 May 2009 @ 14:55
peter berry

British chef will tackle America’s obesity crisis in new prime-time ABC series

Jamie Oliver is set to work with leading US TV network ABC to film an American production combining his two hit British series, “Jamie’s School Dinners” and “Jamie’s Ministry of Food”. In the original Ministry series, broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, Oliver filmed for over two years in the London borough of Greenwich (for School Dinners) and the Yorkshire town of Rotherham (for Ministry) and inspired people there to change their unhealthy diets of takeaways and ready meals in favour of cooking fresh, nutritious food whilst saving money. Jamie is currently looking for an appropriate American town in which to start a food revolution.

The new series will be a co-production between Oliver’s TV company, Fresh One and Ryan Seacrest Productions. Filming begins later in 2009 for a prime-time slot on ABC early in 2010.

The Ministry of Food centre in Rotherham, which provides cooking lessons and advice for everyone in the town, is about to celebrate its one year anniversary and is booked up until July with local people wanting to feed themselves and their families ‘proper’ food. The centre has been so successful that many other British councils are looking to copy the Rotherham model.

Oliver says: “I believe that now is the time when America is ready for big change and I’ve been working on ideas for the American series for five years now, inspired by what has been achieved by the wonderful people in Greenwich and Rotherham. This is without question the most important and challenging thing I’ll ever do in my life but I truly believe that I can at least plant the seeds of change in America in terms of helping a community to cook better, feed their kids better and save money. I’ll be using everything I’ve learned over the last 10 years to try to get meaningful, sustainable change.”

Oliver’s plan for the series is to not only change the way that the people in the chosen town think about food and cooking but also to inspire a massive change in US schools, as he has done in the UK. In 2005, Oliver’s series “Jamie’s School Dinners” led to a public outcry about the state of school food in Britain and resulted in over £500m of British government investment in new, nutritious school meals. Recent research suggested that the new meals had been instrumental in improving both attendance and exam results.

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19 comments

1. Jen Mon 26 Oct 2009 @ 21:46 Jamie -

We're so excited about what you're doing in England AND the States! Come on over to Portland, OR and check out Abernethy Elementary's Garden of Wonders program. We're very thrilled to have a school with a "scratch" kitchen (lunches made on-site using ingredients from its own garden). Our program is successful, but we find we have to fight for every bit of "real" food that we're giving our kids. Any support you could throw our way would be awesome!

2. Kristi Carter Thu 17 Sep 2009 @ 03:36 Please come to Louisiana! We just received a D on our children's health report card. We have great food in this state, but the schools (government) is clueless about healthy cooking. I would love to coordinate something to educate children about healthy eating. i hope to hear from you. Even if you can't come to Louisiana maybe you could give me some suggestions. thank you for your time and inspiration.

Kristi

3. gabriel Tue 01 Sep 2009 @ 00:39 I’m writing to express my opinion that school dinners should be provided by the government.

Some parents might not be able to provide lunches for their children. This will solve the problem of kids not having lunch. Parents won’t waste money on school lunches. Some students can have nothing in the cupboard.

It will cut down on stealing. People will not get jealous of someone else’s lunch because everyone will have the same food. People will not go hungry because someone stole their lunch.

The food will always be hot. By having a school kitchen you will always have something warm to eat. You will not have the problem of having cold left-overs. Also some foods like pizza, tastes better warm than cold.

In conclusion I believe that the New Zealand government should provide school dinners.

4. Christine Mon 24 Aug 2009 @ 03:53 I think Jamie Oliver should come to Amityville, NY...it would be a great town for him to bring the ministry of food...it is a diverse community...

5. Katie Cabana Fri 05 Jun 2009 @ 03:25 I am so very proud of Jamie for the effort he is putting forth. This change is so desperately needed all around the world. A big thank you, if you're ever in Canada look me up, I'd love to help. Well done and thanks again.

Katie Cabana

6. DJ Tue 02 Jun 2009 @ 23:14 I just finished reading Jamies Biogarphy by Gilly Smith and was very taken with the impact he had on the change in Food being dished out in thier school system.
I sincerely hope your message gets across to the powers that be here as well.
Best of Luck, Keep Up the Good Fight!

7. CNUSA Tue 02 Jun 2009 @ 19:00 Please add your influence and voice to that of Alice Waters, who has worked so passionately to change the way America regards food. She has been a longtime proponent of getting this country into the gardens and eating organically. Ms. Waters developed model school gardens to teach children how to eat fresh. She also actively pressed the White House to plant a garden for many years!
The fats, sugars and processed foods, so abundant in the U.S., continue to fatten our population and the wallets of our food and beverage corporations. We need all the help we can get!
Looking forward to you duplicating the success here, you have had in the U.K.

8. makichan Tue 02 Jun 2009 @ 00:35 Any chance of coming to Australia?? Australia is having same problem...

9. polgaberry Mon 01 Jun 2009 @ 01:24 I have all of your cookbooks and have to say that my family (four children ages 10 to ten months) is well fed because of them. I was not a great cook before and now pass on your recipes and cookbooks to my friends here in the States because the recipes are very accessible, not too intimidating, and are kid-palate friendly.

This is WONDERFUL news and best of luck for great success on ABC.

10. cretece Sat 30 May 2009 @ 04:38 I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is a success. We have only to look around the playgrounds at our local schools to see that this is an initiative in dire need of some sincere attention.

11. Lorraine Fri 29 May 2009 @ 02:50 I just had a conversation with my daughter (5th grade). I know the school lunch is bad, but when the kids will not eat it and would rather go hungry, it gets me very upset. I have seen first hand what the food looks like. All prepackaged and frozen. The milk they get is either frozen or expired, as is other foods I have seen. I refuse to let my daughter eat that lunch and pack a healthy one for her. Unfortunately, I can't pack one for every child. I hate knowing they would rather go hungry. The schools blame it on money, I say it's plain LAZY. Too many pockets being filled and no one cares about the kids. I have seen what you accomplished at other schools, please come to ours!
Sincerely,
Lorraine

12. Ann from Philly Thu 28 May 2009 @ 16:07 You should speak with Christopher Kimball, Editor of Cooks Illustrated. He also heads an organization called Parents Against Junk Food (parentsagainstjunkfood.org). There mission is to get junk food out of public schools. It sounds like you both are on the same page with the same goals.

Good luck and I will look forward to watching.

13. ANN Thu 28 May 2009 @ 14:03 I can't wait to see it!! Thanks Jamie!!

14. gloucestergirl Wed 27 May 2009 @ 17:47 Best news of the day! We look forward to your expertise and enthusiasm in making this project come alive here in the US, god knows we need it. Be well!

15. Sofia Tue 26 May 2009 @ 22:35 My family and I live in Louisville, Kentucky. We have a very healthy minded Mayor who has taken proactive measures and established "The Mayor's Healthy Hometown Movement." This is a multi-faceted community program that includes promoting local farmers, hosting farmers market and healthy foods/organic foods markets around town, a "Get Active" element with various walk events and bike runs, and has even been successful in securing a grant from The U.S. Department of Public Health & Wellness to Fight Childhood Obesity which he is putting to good use in his "Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities" outreach program throughout 12 neighborhoods in Louisville.

My family and I admire your passion and philosophy and we would be thrilled to see you work together with our Mayor. Please consider our city as a target site. I do not work for the city or the Mayor's office but I would be a genuine advocate and do whatever I could to get involved and assist your endeavours.

I am attaching a link to the Mayor's website where you can get more information about his movement.

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Health/MHHM/

Best of luck to you Jamie! Look forward to watching the show.

16. LTG Tue 26 May 2009 @ 20:46 I will so watch this show, I knew this day would come!
Congrats, Jamie

17. dawnrigoni Tue 26 May 2009 @ 17:46 That's wonderful news! Look forward to that...

18. Aiko Tue 26 May 2009 @ 16:53 I think I read something about this on twitter :)
Anyway... God Bless you on this adventure Jamie. that it will be successful like your previous movements to promote proper nutrition.

19. Criswell Family Tue 26 May 2009 @ 16:30 We have 2 school-age kids and see the huge problems with attitudes towards food, nutrition and healthy living choices in their schools. Kids aren’t getting what they need at home nutritionally and definitely not in the schools. It is obvious that the US population is suffering greatly and will continue while on this path. We have a farm and work with the Farm-to-School programs to provide produce in our area on the central coast of California. It means to be a good program, but the farm produce is paired with substandard cafeteria heat-and-eat meals. I do not feel responsible allowing the kids to have school lunch with these options-and don’t. Would love to see the attitude change and have school lunches like those featured in Jamie’s Great Escape. We also sell at Farmer’s Markets and after 20 years people have not taken to this as much as it is available to them. We are in a prime farming area and it baffles me. This is a huge task. Looking forward to what Jamie’s Ministry can do. Our young kids are growing up in this society –and we’d love to see a better option for them in the future. Best to Jamie on this next venture!