Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Food Rev Fires Up San Diego

Story by The Food Revolution Team
 

As part of national activities around Food Day, the Field Director of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, Seth Nickinson,was invited to visit San Diego, California.

He engaged parents, students, and interested community members about the food movement sweeping our country, and joined them in exploring what one person can do to change our relationship to food.

Thursday Food Day Kickoff at USD

Last Thursday evening, the University of San Diego played host to a local “Food Day kickoff” open to the community. College students, parents, young schoolkids, and professors mingled and met their neighbors. Before and after the presentations, they enjoyed tasty, sustainable veggies and snacks, and learned directly about local programs relating to nutrition education, farming, and good food.

Seth’s address to an overpacked room focused on the toxic food environment that makes it hard to eat fresh food, and the inspiring reality that a movement really is happening to change that environment.

Participants dug into the causes of why kids eat badly, and shared their own experiences. Seth urged that we have to take actions that fundamentally change our relationship to food: “Plant It, Provide It, and Prepare It.” Attendees looked at places in their own lives where they can plant something, provide something different when food is offered, and cook fresh food. By tackling school food and teaching kids to cook, the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation is doing its part to reorient the “provide” and “prepare” relationships.

Watch a brief clip of the talk here.

Seth was joined in the talk by amazing Sara Salo of the School Food Tour, who has been previously featured on our website. Sara described how she took the notion of riding her bike across the country to promote healthy food to kids from an admittedly “Crazy idea” to a reality. She is now 1500 miles into her ride!

The USD event was co-sponsored by Slow Food Urban San Diego and The Network for a Healthy California. University hosts included Outdoor Adventures and Sustainability Programming, Dining Services, and the Office of Sustainability. A number of amazing student groups pitched in to coordinate and bring out their members: AMSA, Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity, Medical Brigades, and USD Environmental Law Society.

Friday Nourish Day at High Tech High

The next day, Friday, was “Nourish Day” in San Diego, sponsored by Healthy Works and featuring opportunities for community members to discover and discuss great food available locally.

The campus of an innovative local charter school – High Tech High – played host to an afternoon of family-friendly activities. There was a live farmers market, with produce and plants available. There was a play area for children. Local community groups involved with food, farming, and health promotion set up stands to share their products and wisdom with community members.

As the sun set, a group of locals gathered on lawn chairs and blankets to watch movies:
an absorbing set of shorts about local food, several featuring Jamie, and the feature film, a 26-minute award-winning PBS film called Nourish.In his talk following the screening, Seth helped warm the spirits of the crowd against the chill night air by enthusiastically telling the tale of the Food Revolution that is spreading across the country. He helped the audience understand that together they have a deep store of knowledge about how to get and cook brilliant, fresh food, and asked them to connect with what is already exciting them about food locally.

As event organizer Dan Bennett stated, “The people who were there will walk away talking about the issues.”

The Food Revolution Team

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