In a nutshell, Jamie Oliver, chef/campaigner/ general hero and master of the food universe, goes to the statistically unhealthiest city in the United States - Huntington in West Virginia, spends time with school dinnerladies, high school students and families and tries to get them to change their eating ways for the better.
I think it makes great viewing. I thought I was no saint when it comes to junk food but these primary school kids are given pizza for breakfast and their lunchtime french fries are considered one of their 5 vegetables a day. Is it any wonder the majority of the American nation are obese?
The people of Huntington can't stand Jamie because they feel he is belittling their way of life. They see this UK celebrity waltzing in to their little American town with all his wealth and status, demanding they swap their processed chicken nuggets for fresh chicken drumsticks, trying to change people's habits of a lifetime. And they hate him for it."No-one understands me." Jamie says in today's Guardian. "You think I'm going to America to make money? That is probably the worst financial use of my time in the world, going to America next year, cos there's no money in TV, and they don't buy books. I just really want to get school food sorted, and it ain't going to get sorted by the government."
And I agree with him, though all I wanted to eat for lunch aged seven was jam sandwiches and Quavers. Luckily, packed lunches were common practice at my school and I had a health conscious mother. So I think it's really refreshing to see Jamie try to change such depressing bad habits like feeding a ten year old doughnuts for breakfast. He is giving the younger generation a second chance for their future. What chance do they have in life for their health and bodies, eating stuff like that on a daily basis? It's sad that Jamie has to go to such extreme lengths to make it happen and that he gets so slated for it.
However, the show won him an Emmy, so every cloud and all that....
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