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Chef Jamie Oliver urges compulsory food lessons worldwide

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it appears, 'food is taught as a compulsory part of the curriculum'... Food and nutrition teaching throughout the UK...

That's good then.... :-)

But that's part of the national curriculum, which is taught in state schools. Academies and private schools don't have to teach the school curriculum, it seems. And I'm pretty sure the schools Jamie went to for School Dinners, where kids didn't know what different veggies were and parents were pushing hamburgers through the school railings, were state schools. Which leaves me wondering what the schools are actually teaching the kids, and how it's changed from when I was at school.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

My friend just sent me this...So it appears, 'food is taught as a compulsory part of the curriculum'... Food and nutrition teaching throughout the UK....

http://www.nutrition.org.uk/foodinschools/curriculum/the-curriculum.html

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my opinion is based on experience of family life in the UK and Japan

So is mine....maybe a bit earlier than yours? I understand where you're coming from, and I think I too have a healthy distrust of politicians and big business getting into people's lives. But I don't see how or why that should prevent schools teaching kids about nutrition, any more than it should prevent them teaching them about anything else. Leaving it all up to parents would mean that the kids of educated parents would do OK, and the kids of less educated parents would fall by the wayside.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Cleo please excuse my ignorance, I am neither married or have children so my opinion is based on experience of family life in the UK and Japan. I won't pretend I don't find 'celebrity' in all its forms irritating especially when plucking the harp of self righteousness. For a while I have been on secondment to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the experience has hardened my attitude towards government and the EU. I feel in many ways local communities need to take ownership of cultural convictions, health, education and business development.

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You as a parent are best placed to decide all aspects of your children's education.

Only because I have had a decent education myself. My own parents both left school as soon as they were old enough to (both had widowed, working-class mothers and younger siblings to support) and frankly knew very little about health and nutrition. They both died young, basically because of the very lack of knowledge Jamie is getting steamed up about. If I relied on what my parents were able to teach me about nutrition, I probably wouldn't be here now and if I were I would likely be toothless and diabetic, and struggling with gout and hypertension.

As you say, my kids know the difference. Jamie is saying that many more don't, and he wants them to.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

But....but....Pizza is a vegetable right? At least that's what the US Congress voted on, with a little help from the tomato and frozen Pizza lobby. Yeah right! Let the government decide what's good for us. Go Jamie!

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Hi Cleo, You as a parent are best placed to decide all aspects of your children's education. | would bet my life savings that your children know the difference between a tomato and a potato.

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Funny how people are quite happy to have the guvmint decide what their children should be taught is good literature, or science (apart from the 'Intelligent Design is a science' crowd) or spelling, but when it comes to good food, for some reason they assume Big Agriculture is going to be writing the curriculum. Commercial TV hasn't ousted Shakespeare from the textbooks; conversely, teaching kids about classical music in the classroom hasn't stopped people listening to modern music if that's their thing. So what's the problem with teaching kids about food? Why suddenly is it the guvmint is deciding what our kids should eat? How much tyranny is there in giving kids the facts so that they can make an informed choice about what they are going to put in their bodies?

the kids told him they still wanted to eat the nuggets was priceless! They had more sense than he did.

I remembered watching Jamie's School Dinners, and that isn't the response to chicken nuggets that I remembered. It was the kids who were coming out with icky, eww, gross, and when the nuggets were cooked the kids chose unadulterated chicken legs instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKSoiDtdi9s

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As much as I applaud Oliver's efforts to educate kids about healthy eating....I am totally against mandatory enforcement of education about food. Everybody has different ideas and diets...and we must not let those in charge decide what is good or bad. Food education is good...yes, but it must not be influenced by government, which in turn is influenced by big Agriculture. Thomas Jefferson summed it up a long time ago:

"If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."

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“Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.” C. W. Ceran........

The vast majority of Mums and Dads the world over take all aspects of there family health & nutrition requirements, balanced diet etc etc, as part and parcel of bringing up there family. Why is it deemed necessary to resort to government/state intervention with all the associated costs and bureaucracy to teach junior what a potato or a tomato is?.......

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I think people do need to learn more about food, but Jamie is the wrong person. He'll just bring more food neurosis. I'll never forget his making chicken nuggets for kids to show how "gross" they were. (Cuz, like, they had stuff like cartilage and guts in them...eeew! And all mashed together they made this pink paste. Double eew!)

The look on his face when the kids told him they still wanted to eat the nuggets was priceless! They had more sense than he did.

Maybe if he had given actual reasons for not eating the nuggets, they might have listened. But instead he talked down to them in icky, eww, gross language and thought that would do the trick. Doesn't sound like he has changed. He says cereal is "all rubbish." Again appealing to emotions rather than sense. If you don't already agree with him, he's not going to convince you.

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pushing “to put compulsory food education on the school curriculum.” now has his sights set on France,

Someone should tell that TV starlet that food science has been on French school curriculum for decades.

I did find his 30-minute meals worked out to be relatively expensive,

Not a fan. I've seen a few dozens of his shows and I don't find his meals particularly healthy. That was mostly dumbed down Mediterranean recipes (cooked faster with less local/fresh veggies and lesser quality condiments that he promotes for big industry like Tesco ). And sometimes he does real junk, but because he's little Jamie and not Paula Deen there people to applaud and say it's better than sweets from the kombini, but no, it's just the same amount of sugars, syrup, frozen puff pastry. I even prefer the SMAP recipes.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

30 minutes meals? yes please, the jury is out on the sanctimonious morally superiority that urges state intervention at tax payers' expense and calls for blanket introduction of tax increases on the food industry for what basically amounts to parental responsibility.

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With all the stuff freely available on the Internet, it's been quite a while since I last bought a recipe book. But what Jamie does on telly, and the stuff on his website, doesn't normally demand much beyond what's available in the local supermarket, apart from frozen puff pastry (the tiny little pillows of dough they sell here for a diamond apiece don't really count) and a few other bits and bobs. Reasonable substitutes can be found for most things. Though I did find his 30-minute meals worked out to be relatively expensive, which rather defeated the point of 'something quick and easy'.

And his colourful salads are mainly what inspired me to grow my own salad leaves and different-coloured tomatoes.

Japanese is about as great as you can get, mostly vegetables, small protein portions, and metabolism friendly miso

It depends which way you go for your Japanese. Veggies, yes; but the high sodium levels in soy sauce, miso, the ubiquitous pickles and dried fish are not good news. Neither is the amount of sugar often used in seasoning. And don't get me started again on polished-to-death white rice.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

" Gives him more attention for his useless cook books - good luck finding most ingredients in Japan."

His cook books are fine. It is western cooking, so do not be do surprised that the ingredients are hard to find in Japan. Bit have just leafed through one of his books and it did not appear to difficult to find the ingredients or decent substitutes in Japan.

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And his real motivation ... wait for it ... Jamie Oliver's bank account. Gives him more attention for his useless cook books - good luck finding most ingredients in Japan. It's Jamie playing "Oh look at me. I care about your kids."

Yeah, because it's not like he would actually care about people's eating habits, or children. I mean who cares about people's eating habits or children? No one, that's who. People only care about money. Everyone, everywhere, without exception.

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I think he genuinely means this stuff - but it does also help his brand. i hear that recently that brand is flagging a bit, but nothing like Ramsey (who is a real blowhard).

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And his real motivation ... wait for it ... Jamie Oliver's bank account. Gives him more attention for his useless cook books - good luck finding most ingredients in Japan. It's Jamie playing "Oh look at me. I care about your kids." If you want to eat healthy, Japanese is about as great as you can get, mostly vegetables, small protein portions, and metabolism friendly miso.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

He could just settle for making lotso money churning out his (very enjoyable and informative) cooking programmes, but instead he's driven to make the world a better place one well-balanced, healthy meal at a time. He's seen the beauty of good food, and wants others to see it, too.

You rock, Jamie.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Like him or not, the guy is doing good things.

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Jamie is becoming painfully preachy these days.

Considering the horrendous eating habits in the first world these days, that's probably a good thing.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Jamie is becoming painfully preachy these days.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

I hope the subtext here is Jammy Olive taking on Big Food.

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