Food Revolution Recap, ep. 1×02

Each week I’m recapping Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution in order to provide a forum for discussion on the show and what’s happening with our food in general.

The episode online is sponsored by Hellman’s. Last week it was Ragu. I find this kind of odd, although it is 100x better than being sponsored by Domino’s. (Here is an interesting blog post about Hellman’s and their “real food” ingredients.)

Previously: Jamie came to Huntington, and lo, the people were full of ire.

We open up at the radio station, talking about the newspaper article featured at the end of the last episode. Jamie comes in and tries to better explain himself, just like he did with the cooks. At the end of it Jamie asks if the host will start to get to like him, and the host says no. Oh, Jamie.

Jamie goes to his storefront (Jamie’s Kitchen) and is joined by a bunch of kids. He decides to do an experiment with them: show them what chicken nuggets are made of. He cuts up a chicken, showing them the different parts. (Side note: Jamie needs to teach me how to section a chicken. Mine never look that nice.) After he takes off the parts he shows them what is done with the leftover carcass. He chops it up and dumps it into the food processor, then adds chicken skin and turns on the processor. Ew. Ew. Ew. The kids are both fascinated and disgusted as he forces it through a strainer. He finishes prepping it and then asks the kids who would still eat it. All but one raises their hand (boys first, then a couple girls, perhaps after noting the boys’ vote). Jamie looks so defeated.

The kids do note that it is bad food, but say they’d eat it because they’re hungry.*

Second day at the school. Jamie brings in his food and instructs the cooks on what to do, including wiggling your butt while cooking. The wiggler seems into it. He comes out in a pea pod costume, asking if he can have a serious meeting. More giggles. The cooks seem cheery today. OK, except for Alice, who seems to be complaining that she can’t prep the pasta without a spec sheet. I’m not sure why, since Jamie just said it was “mix that lovely sauce with the pasta”. What else is needed? She walks away rather than listen to Jamie. Sheesh.

Jamie runs into a classroom. None of the kids know what he is. Thankfully he warms them up a little, and the other classes seem more receptive. “Peas out.” Kids love puns.

It’s lunchtime, and Jamie serves it up still wearing the costume. Some of the kids are pretty excited when they see him. I notice there are colorful signs labeling all the food. Were there labels on the previous lunches? I don’t remember. It’s a nice thing to have, even if some of the kids can’t read the signs. Lunch is a tuna pasta bake with homemade sauce, a tasty looking salad, homemade foccacia, yogurt, and fruit. Yum!

In the cleanup line, however, it’s the same as last time. Lots of wasted food, although it seems every single kid ate their yogurt. Kids loooooove yogurt, I know first-hand.

After lunch Jamie heads to a first grade class to quiz them on veggies. It’s sad. Tomatoes are potatoes. Cauliflower is broccoli. Beets are celery, then onion. Eggplant is pear, then turnip. No one knows what a potato is. Jamie then pulls out chicken nuggets and pizza, of course identified properly. Also burgers and french fries. When he shows them the potato makes fries, they seem kind of confused.

We head back to the Edwards house to check in on their progress. Papa Edwards is there and doesn’t kill Jamie for burying the deep fryer. Mama Edwards admits Jamie’s plan has been trying, but she’s been doing it. Or has she? Jamie sees lots of unused ingredients in the fridge, and when he asks the littlest what her favorite meal was, she says pizza.

Next we join the Edwards family at the hospital, where they are getting looked at. First up is the little girl, and then Justin, the one who likes to cook. He has signs of diabetes – darkening around the neck. Thankfully he doesn’t have diabetes yet, but the doctor warns them about all the looming health issues in the family. Papa and Justin have a talk, and it’s decided the whole family is really going to work hard to get healthy and lose weight. I’m rooting for them.

Back at the school Jamie brings out all the kids and their parents to the playground, where he has a big tarp laid out. Into the tarp he pours gallons of chocolate milk (more sugar than soda), then barrels of sloppy joes and french fries and nachos. The tarp represents one month of meals for one kid. From there we move over to a dumpster, where a trunk dumps in a load of solidified fat – the fat consumed at the school for one year. The parents admit it’s a wakeup call, and vow to support Jamie.

He goes back to the first grade class to find the teacher has set up a station with labeled vegetables and worked with the kids to get them to know food. “If people just realize that their efforts can make a difference, then we can do this,” Jamie says in interview.

Back in Jamie’s Kitchen, Justin stops by for a cooking lesson. Jamie teaches how to walk with purpose and Justin comes at him with “I’m gonna cook me some chicken stir fry, yo.” I love Justin.

Last day at the school, they’re making beef and bean burritos and coleslaw. There’s a bit of a debate about utensils, and Alice insists that kindergartners can’t use forks.** She wants documentation on Jamie’s claim that kids in the British schools he worked in use knives and forks. Jamie is stunned. But he wins on the forks and knives today! And on the milk too apparently, as the flavored milks have been banished.

The kids have trouble using the utensils, but Jamie and others go around and help the kids, and then give stickers to the ones who try the new food. A lot of the kids seem to like the burritos, and we see one kid scarfing down the coleslaw.

Jamie brings out the cooks to thank them, and presents them with some cards from the kids. It’s sweet. Then he talks to the food services director and is told as long as he lowers the budget and does the nutritional analyses, he can keep going for another week or two. Small steps, but we’re going somewhere.

My thoughts:

First of all, I hope anyone who watched this episode never eats chicken nuggets again. Ugh.

* I think this part is key – this is how we can get away with feeding our kids crap in schools. They are growing, busy little beings that need energy, and when an adult gives it to them, they have no reason to question it. They are hungry. I know when I’m hungry a Sausage McGriddle seems like a pretty good idea.

I would love to get the lunches these kids are having. Not just when I was a kid, but now. Everything looks so good, it makes me sad when anything ends up in the trash.

** My son is 2.5 and uses forks. Real ones, not plastic kid forks. So, um, whatev.

The stickers are a great idea, even if they are silly. Kids are crazy for stickers for whatever reason.

It seems Jamie is getting more support as time goes on and people learn more. That seems to be the case overall when it comes to food and nutrition. So basically we just need to teach the entire country what is healthy, somehow. Ideas?

What are your thoughts?

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