“Good food is a global thing and I find that there is always something new and amazing to learn — I love it!” says acclaimed Chef Jamie Oliver, who parlayed the two seasons of his TV series Food Revolution into an annual Food Revolution Day.
It’s goal: To put compulsory, practical food education in the school curriculum.
“With diet-related diseases rising at an alarming rate, it has never been more important to educate children about food — where it comes from and how it affects their bodies,” he insists, pointing to these startling statistics:
- Worldwide, more than 42 million children under the age of 5 are overweight or obese.
- Children today are the first generation predicted to live shorter lives than their parents.
- Diet-related illnesses are among the world’s biggest killers.
So, Oliver insists, “we all need to do our bit.”
Step one, he says, is to sign his petition and share it with your social media contacts. As of Sept. 24, 2015 — 1,619,348 people have taken him up on the offer. With the goal of getting 3 million people to sign, he’s aiming to tap 1,380,652 more.
Oliver also suggests bringing his Food Revolution home:
- Challenge your work colleagues to a cook-off using some of his recipes, such as his Squash It Sandwich.
- Round up your friends and host a dinner party, picnic, or barbecue.
- Take your kids to a local farmers market, try a new ingredient, and cook it from scratch.
Why do we need a food revolution?
Click here to watch and share Oliver’s TED speech.
Learn more at foodrevolutionday.com.
About Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver has been drawn to the kitchen since he was a child working in his father’s pub-restaurant. He showed not only a precocious culinary talent, but also a passion for creating (and talking about) fresh, honest, delicious food. In the past decade, the shaggy-haired “Naked Chef” of late-1990s BBC Two has built a worldwide media conglomerate of TV shows, books, cookware, and magazines, all based on a formula of simple, unpretentious food that invites everyone to get busy in the kitchen. And as much as his cooking is generous, so is his business model — his Fifteen Foundation, for instance, trains young chefs from challenged backgrounds to run four of his restaurants.
Now, Oliver is using his fame and charm to bring attention to the changes that Brits and Americans need to make in their lifestyles and diet. Campaigns such as Oliver’s School Dinner, Ministry of Food, and Food Revolution USA combine Oliver’s culinary tools, cookbooks, and television with serious activism and community organizing — to create change on both the individual and governmental level.
More at jamieoliver.com.
