He’s a renown chef, cookbook author, restauranteur and television star.
And now the tussled-haired Jamie Oliver is donning the cloak of culinary crusader, and talking revolution — on food.
Everything from the state of school lunches to the alarming rise in obesity numbers to how we butcher our animals to feed the masses, is on the table. Oliver has spoken in the past on today's eating habits — and how we prepare our food and the foods we choose to eat have dramatically changed over the last 50 years, resulting in a generation of people who simply “don’t have the basic culinary knowledge needed to create the simplest home cooked meal.”
That's where his revolution comes in. Jamie’s Ministry of Food (2008), a four-part TV series which chronicles Oliver’s efforts to encourage the residents of Rotherham, South Yorkshire to establish healthy eating as part of daily life, has aired to rave reviews on Food Network Canada and on Channel 4 in the U.K.
He took time recently before a rare public appearance in Toronto to answer a few questions on why he’s decided on this latest venture — and if he’s up for a battle.
Q: When it comes to the subject of proper, nutritious eating, given the state of the economy and people not having the stability they had even a year ago, do you think people can afford to eat properly, given the financial challenges we are all currently under?
A: I think people can save money and still eat better, but they need the knowledge to be able to shop and cook efficiently. When I was in Rotherham in the UK last year, I spent time with families who were spending a fortune on ready-made meals and takeaways because they thought it was cheaper. It wasn’t. They need the information and knowledge to be able to buy a week’s worth of food and make it to stretch. Those families ended up saving money every week.
Q: What are your biggest challenges with this latest project?
A: There are always people in every town or city or country who want things to say as they are. That’s completely natural. In Rotherham, I had one of the local politicians saying that I was basically lying about the town because I was showing parts of it that he’d never visited and because he’d never seen them, he refused to believe (these problems) were there. It’s always going to be difficult when you challenge what people are used to. The important thing to do is keep reminding yourself that the benefits of making a positive change will outweigh the tough stuff.
Q: Do you think you are moving away from your original visions of say, creating great recipes for your audience?
A: Not at all. Every book I write, every recipe I create — whether it’s for a book or a store or an iphone app — is designed to be a great recipe for my audience. And also something I enjoy eating myself. I have lots of different types of people in “my audience.” The public are my masters and they’d soon tell me if the recipes weren’t great.
Q: Are you considering a career in politics?
A: NO.
Q: What is it in today’s market that you find offensive in the food world?
A: I make programmes about animal welfare because I care about how animals are treated before we eat them. There are many aspects of the factory farming process that I find offensive and I believe — very strongly — that people deserve to know where their food comes from.
Q: How do you find the perfect balance to your work world and your family world?
A: I make sure that the first thing that goes into my diary every year is seven weeks holiday and weekends off with the family. The weekends belong to Jools and the girls as much as possible and during the week, I get all the work done.
