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Jamie Oliver Food Revolution! Why the LA Schools Refused to Let Him In
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
The Naked Chef is on a mission. Jamie Oliver wants to start a revolution, the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution. But not everyone wants to sign up. Oliver’s quest seems quite noble. He wants to educate the American public about eating healthier, smarter and in ways that will change their lives for the better. But when he asked to film in the public schools of Los Angeles, bringing his message the youth, he was denied. Why?
One would think that a school system would jump at the chance of getting a high profile food educator like Oliver in their doors, inspiring their students to eat and live better. But LAUSD believed his intentions were not the best and that there were others ways to help instead of exploiting the school for reality TV sake. Robert Alaniz, the director of communications for LAUSD told FOX News, “‘it didn’t make sense to us that (Oliver) would be coming to Los Angeles – Los Angeles is ranked 46 on Men’s Health ‘Fattest City in America’ list, so we weren’t sure why he wanted to film in L.A.,’ Mr Alaniz told Fox News. “We asked Jamie’s people and they said to us Jamie just wanted to live in L.A., which didn’t make it seem like he was committed to the cause.” He added that, “we told him if he was really for the cause and would like to serve on our committee as a volunteer and help out without the reality cameras.” Their first concern is the students saying that the cameras, “are distracting and we’re not interested in that distraction. We gave him another challenge to meet the food requirements and within our budget, then his folks said they couldn’t do it.”
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9 Comments
N A commented on Apr 13 11 at 12:18 amI believe whatever his intentions are for coming to LA, he is trying to accomplish something good. LA is a good starting point because of the limelight it gets by default. Add to that a whole school district trying to eat healthy.. He is so right about food in schools.. the packaged goods that are heated in plastics that contain who knows what toxins.. Give a child a choice between flavored milk and plain milk, of course the child is going to choose flavored. So if we don’t teach children by example, how are they going to learn? they will just choose what they like the best regardless of whether its healthy for them or not!
Citizen Mom commented on Apr 13 11 at 7:29 am“Lock and load LA”? Can we please get some perspective – other than the one through the crosshairs of over reaction? We are talking about a TV show, not a real organization with a long range mission, staff, and funding. Once the show is over, there is no real mechanism for maintaining whatever changes Oliver manages to make.
While I applaud his idea, the fact that he didn’t work this out with the district long before the show started just shows that this is all about ratings.
TJDestry commented on Apr 13 11 at 8:25 am“Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions, but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.”
Gee, where does “unduly” begin, given what I’m seeing here, and the lack of a “report” button?
Oscarmama commented on Apr 13 11 at 9:14 amWhy doesn’t Jamie tackle a real issues in California–like the food desert in the middle of the state? In some areas it’s difficult to buy fresh produce even though it’s grown all around. It would be a far more compelling story…
(And I would like to request removal of the first comment for use of hate speech. Racial slurs and calls to violence are out of step with the guidelines of this community.)
Angela commented on Apr 13 11 at 9:56 amDuh, it’s a reality show. Of course it’s not completely altruistic in it’s intentions and so what if Jamie wanted to live in LA while it was being filmed? That doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have helped the students get healthier lunches. I imagine that the school board was really more concerned with having the unhealthiness of their food exposed on national TV. Most schools love to brag about how healthy their meals are.
amy commented on Apr 13 11 at 9:59 amWhat TJDESTRY said!
Kikiriki commented on Apr 13 11 at 10:42 amPlease remove James Sloat’s comment. Not only does it make absolutely zero sense, it is racist and hostile and needs to go. Today. Right now, in fact.
Sunny Chanel commented on Apr 13 11 at 10:45 amThat comment has been removed! Sorry that it slipped by!
Lisa commented on Apr 13 11 at 10:02 pmI wouldn’t want tv cameras in my school. The kids would be acting up for tv and ignoring their work.
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