A food revolution

Jamie Oliver | Photo by Wikipedia

Tonight, ABC will show the first “official” episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

After watching the “preview” episode, I’m really intrigued.

The show stars Jamie Oliver, a celebrity chef and health campaigner, who tries to make a grassroot effort in the US to curb obesity, starting with Huntington, West Virginia, one of the statistically unhealthiest places in the country.

I’m interested in this show for a few reasons…

  • Simple food. Oliver’s not about a special diet of certain foods as much as he is about eating foods in their simple, raw, natural form. Get rid of the processed junk.
  • Showing that healthy food doesn’t break the bank. I’m always amazed at how much cheaper it is to eat crap food. From the first episode, it appears that Oliver’s goal is to show that you can eat healthy food without killing your bank account.
  • Food/health education We can all use a lot more of this.
  • Genuine care. After watching Oliver’s recent talk at TED, it’s obvious that he’s genuinely passionate about this issue. This is his passion groove — which is always great to witness in people.
  • The church gets involved. In the first episode, an entire segment shows a pastor in Virginia that is working to educate his community of faith about obesity and the dangers of unhealthy eating. I don’t know if they’ll play a role in the rest of the show or not — but it was great to see.
  • I love food. Yup. Maybe not as much as my dad… but I love a good meal. And I love variety as well. And I want to make good decisions for me and my family (especially now that I’m planning and cooking the meals each night. I want foods that are healthy, free of junk and easy to prepare — oh and Laurie has to like them as well. So I’m always up for more information and ideas.
  • I hate exercising. While it doesn’t appear there’s much focus on exercising, there’s a huge focus on eating healthy and how it can help you lose weight and live a healthier life. Personally, I’d rather eat better than spend an extra 30 minutes at the gym.

So our DVR is set and I look forward to seeing what happens in this small Virginia town.

The show kicks off tonight (Friday March 26 at 7 p.m. CST). If you missed the preview show you can watch it online via Hulu or ABC.com…

Will you be watching? Did you watch the preview episode? What’d you think?

Published by

Jonathan Blundell

I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.

7 thoughts on “A food revolution”

  1. jamie oliver always well worth watching…for both being genuine and passionate

    similar to shows he's done here…as well as trying to sort of school dinners (he's some kind of advisor to the government) he runs restuarants that take unemployed kids and trains them up to work in the catering industry…in fact his very successful eatery 15 is just round the corner from my office and is always busy

    recommend watching just to show all british cooks aren't like gordon ramsay

  2. I love Jamie Oliver. Surprisingly, Russ doesn't care for him. Still can't figure out why – he's all about everything we believe concerning food. I know I will be watching via hulu, don't know about my better half. 🙂

  3. Yeah I would have thought Russ would be a fan. Must be a personality conflict. His ideas sound similar to Michael Pollan but shows a lot of practical ideas as well. Thanks for the comment!

  4. You don't like Gordon Ramsay?! 😉

    From what it sounds like he did a lot of good in the UK. I'd be interested in checking out his classes as well.

    You should go grab some photos of the restaurant and give us a review!

    Thanks for the comments!

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