Jamie Oliver Continues to Save the World
Thursday, September 07, 2006 | posted by Mike
As if his school lunch campaign wasn’t enough, Jamie Oliver is back at it with two new efforts at being both a chef and one of those phila...er, phila...er, yes, er, Good Deed Doers. (A special TVFF.com shout-out to whoever identifies that quote in the comments!) It’s very cool that there are more and more people (Bill & Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet) who have both the means and the motivation to take a principled stand on issues that they find important and do something about them.I’m sure that part of it is wanting to see one’s name on a library or university hall, but the fact that this new social activism and philanthropy is centered on topics and issues that are of interest to the benefactor leads me to believe that there is some genuine desire to address the problem and solve it for the betterment of society.
As we mentioned in the post’s hyperbolic title, Jamie Oliver is making strides on two fronts, one related to his previous efforts and one new one. After raising awareness about the unhealthy cafeteria food served to British schoolchildren, Oliver caught flak for turning the kids (and their parents) off of cafeteria foods and towards equally unhealthy packed lunches. Now, the Naked Chef is speaking out on the parents’ responsibility to provide their kids with packed lunches that are nutritious. However, he is aware of the catch-22 of the situation:
Asked whether he would like to see a ban on packed lunches he said: "Many of us would like to say yes, if there were facilities for better hot meals in all schools.Oliver is also in the news for his decision to install two wind turbines to generate energy for his Fifteen restaurant in Cornwall. Regular viewers of Oliver’s shows know that he is always extolling the virtues of using organic ingredients and other environmentally-friendly meat and vegetables, so his eagerness to harness the power of the wind for his restaurant should come as no surprise.
"I would love it but that will not happen."
Labels: Jamie Oliver
