Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
To be honest, I hadn't planned on blogging Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Heck, I hadn't even planned on watching it. I figured it would be sort of like Super Size Me (which I also didn't watch) but with an English accent. And in a serial form.*
But, which flipping channels, I let it stop on ABC for just a few minutes. And that was enough. I was drawn in, scared by what I was about to see, but even more scared to look away.
Now, don't get me wrong: I am, first and foremost, an ardent believer in two things. Those two things are: individual liberty (and its corollary, freedom to choose), and parental responsibility. Which means I feel that the parents have the responsibility to raise their children as they see fit, and that they have the right to choose the path they feel is the best one to go down. In fact, things like this (and this) really, really get me riled up. I simply don't think it takes a village to micro-manage the parents doing their job - in part, because I don't buy the line that either communal wisdom, or self-proclaimed "experts" (whether appointed or elected to their government positions) are inherently smarter than individual people are.
Which probably explains why this show drew me in, and hit me the way it did. We watched, in the first episode, a government bureaucracy (the Los Angeles USD) basically give the cold shoulder to a person who (a) has some training in nutrition, (b) has some experience in working with school cafeterias to improve the quality of the product they offer, and (c) had the support of at least some of the members of the local community. Those members, whether they had children in school or not, happen to be taxpayers, and as such they have a right to make sure their tax dollars are being spent appropriately.
The kicker? When Mr. Oliver went to the conference and sat in on the presentation on "how to keep flavored milk from being taken out of the schools," followed by his graphic demonstration of how much sugar is being fed to the children of the LAUSD on a weekly basis via that particular beverage. In case you missed it: the total was somewhat over 50 tons, more than enough to fill up a school bus (three, actually.) Each and every week. My God, no wonder our their our children are so large. And so diabetic.
Having put a child through school, I have my own issues with the food service in the public school system. In addition to the quality of food, my main issue centers on how long the kids get to eat. After standing in line to get their meals, they all too often are left with about 5 minutes to inhale consume the food on their plate, which means that they likely eat way too fast, a habit which will lead to them eating way too much if allowed to develop too far. (I know this from personal experience, having worked for years where "lunch" was consumed while on the clock, working as fast as possible. It's amazing how much crap you can shove down your throat in a short period of time. Not so amazing? How your gut looks after several years of eating like this.)
But, I digress. Back to Jamie Oliver, and his pending battle royale with the Los Angeles public school system.
And it wasn't just the schools, either. Sadly, Mr. Oliver also tried to talk a local fast-food eatery into allowing him to "tweak" the menu. Unfortunately, that didn't work out so well either, as the owner of the eatery feared that change would hurt his business, which he depended on to pay his bills.
Of course, he is facing opposition not only from the powers-that-be in the Los Angeles USD, but also from folks in the media (including one of our local bloggers.) Does he tend toward the overly dramatic? Yep. Did he also direct his lambasting to line employees, who aren't the "deciders--in-chief?" Yep. Does this make for good "Reality TV?" Again... Yep. At the same time, and in his defense, those same line employees do have some ability to effect change, especially those who consider themselves "food service professionals." But sometimes, they need to be shamed into actually changing their mindsets, without which any attempt at reform - no matter how well-intentioned - is doomed to fail.
Next week: the battle lines are drawn, as Jamie is told he is not to set foot on school district property - and that there are police officers to shoot him while resisting arrest remove him from the property should he dare defy this order. I suspect that I will be tuning in, to find out what happens - and that I will be letting you know what I think about it.**
* Pun totally intended.
** This ought to be interesting. After all, I'm a Red State type of guy, and this is a crunchy-granola type of theme that is more likely to appeal to Blue Staters. However: as I alluded to above, I have (too much) personal experience with what kind of trouble following our national dietary habit can get you into, so I am totally willing to keep an open mind and watch - and, more importantly, listen - to what Jamie Oliver has to say. Is he going to be able to work "within the system" and show them (and us) a way to turn this train wreck around? Or, is he going to basically repeat earlier seasons, losing any sympathy for his cause in the backlash over his bullying, shamelessly self-promoting ways? If, as some suspect, this is just "same song, second verse," then expect a hearty dose of snarkastic remarks, with a lot of references to Don Quixote and windmills (and English cuisine.) On the other hand, let's hope he learned his history lessons from earlier seasons, and in doing so manages to turn these lemons into lemonade (without, one would hope, 50-something tons of added sugar.) What's at stake - the health of our children - is far too important to wish for anything else.
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on ABC.
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