Cooking for change

Readers of CDB know we have championed Jamie Oliver in his various attempts to get the nation of Britain to rethink what we eat - and how we cook.

Recently - Jamie has started a series called The Ministry of Food. A programme that focuses on the old industrial town of Rotherham with an initiative to try and get people to learn new recipes and pass them on. In doing so a grassroots effect takes place where people begin to re-engage with cooking from scratch.

In this way he hopes to change peoples attitudes to having a healthy diet. in an FT piece this weekend entitled the Culinary Evangelist Jonathan Guthrie writes...

Liam Black, a respected social entrepreneur, knows Mr Oliver well, having run the Fifteen restaurant chain, of which Mr Oliver is a trustee, for three years.

Mr Black says: “Part of Jamie’s power is his naivety – with the school dinners campaign you needed someone to say: ‘Why are we feeding our children rubbish?’” But it can be a handicap. Obesity cannot be driven back with a plan for virally marketing Italian food recipes scribbled on a flip chart, as Mr Oliver appears to believe. “The poor man’s diet is not the result of a lack of will but a symptom of a broader social malaise,” says Mr Black. “You can’t just ride in on an organically-fed horse and fix it.”

What I disagree with here is - what the real result is all about. If The Ministry of Food brings a spotlight to diet and poverty, or struggles with a modern work/life balance - I think its a job well done.

I agree with being naive - being prepared to ask THE Question and to seek a meaningful answer has always been the way we break with tradition.

The NHS cannot support a society incapable of looking after itself, we have been trained that the state provides - via system of taxation and provision. Yet what what few fail to recognise that it is a system that is stretched beyond capacity and we need to completely re-evaluate how society and ourselves are accountable to each other. Jamie on a talk show on Friday highlighted the problems the NHS described by...

NatWest chief Derek Wanless who stated that unless the nation became healthier, spending on the NHS would increase by £30bn over the following 20 years.

Comments

[Dan Thornton]

Given the current economic climate, and antipathy towards Government organisations, I'd say virally spreading decent recipes with a flipchart probably has a greater chance of success than most methods - I feel more allegiance and enthusiasm for trying a recipe someone has taken the time to show me, than starting from scratch.

Funnily enough, I have a real example in a previous Jamie Oliver book which was leaked and emailed around as a Word document. At the time I rarely cooked, but the chance to read a decent recipe book for free actually inspired me enough to try some of the recipes (which are now my cooking staples), and start investing in better ingredients, cookware, and even some of Jamie's brands.

Plus, I'm always weary of anyone that uses the term 'wider malaise' to come up with reasons for not doing something. Within this social malaise I see a lot of individuals who are incredibly passionate about various issues, and are just struggling to find a way to do something about them.

[Alan Moore]

I didn't spot the wider malaise sound byte. :-)

I am with you Dan - people love putting up all sorts of excuses as to why something cannot be done, whereas, I always ask why can't it be done.

Actually I grow some of my own veg and I love digging up the potatoes, or picking the strawberries - it makes life richer.

Thanks for posting Dan

Alan