Another celebrity chef crusade?

[Incognitas]

Originally Posted by Russ B

Oh yes, something certainly needed to be done. But not by the fish-lipped, fat-tongued mockney idiot.

Then whom do you think should have done so and why didn't they?

[KaySquirrel]

My issue with Jamie's School Dinners was that the healthy foods were introduced all at once, seriously disrupting the children's (unhealthy) meal habits. Yes, it was a change for the better, and it needed to be done. But I think that doing it all in one day caused more drama and upset (for the cameras) than was really needed.

I like watching Jamie at Home when I can, but why does he have to pile food so high?! I don't like my meals standing 6 inches tall on my plate. And do all the ingredients have to be best mates? What if Mr Tomato doesn't really get on all that well with Ms. Bacon but I want them to at least tolerate each other for the time it takes to eat my sandwich?

As for Gordon, well.. I'll let him tell me how to cook any day. But until he pays my grocery bills, what I cook and where I buy it from is none of his business. To propose that restaurants who don't serve local & seasonal is just silly. He might have meant well when he came up with the idea, but once that man's mouth gets started..

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Whatever Jamies motives behind the school dinners campaign I think it was a great attempt to introduce healthy eating in schools. Unfortunatey his food was not as cheap as school budgets allowed and wasn't there something about the government not making available the money to schools that they had originally pledged for school dinners? Tha attitudes of a lot of parents to his campaign didnt help either.

I personally like Jamie, I think his heart is in the right place - 15 being a good exapmple of how he has helped less proveledged kids get into something they really want to do.

I agree with you Saaf, I honestly think JO believed in what he was doing with a passion, as regards his popularity I remember reading somewhere or other that through Salisbury's research they found he was very popular down in the south, but the total opposite in the north, I don't think northerners likes us cockney wideboys mate..

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

My issue with Jamie's School Dinners was that the healthy foods were introduced all at once, seriously disrupting the children's (unhealthy) meal habits. Yes, it was a change for the better, and it needed to be done. But I think that doing it all in one day caused more drama and upset (for the cameras) than was really needed.

I like watching Jamie at Home when I can, but why does he have to pile food so high?! I don't like my meals standing 6 inches tall on my plate. And do all the ingredients have to be best mates? What if Mr Tomato doesn't really get on all that well with Ms. Bacon but I want them to at least tolerate each other for the time it takes to eat my sandwich?

As for Gordon, well.. I'll let him tell me how to cook any day. But until he pays my grocery bills, what I cook and where I buy it from is none of his business. To propose that restaurants who don't serve local & seasonal is just silly. He might have meant well when he came up with the idea, but once that man's mouth gets started..

But do squirrels eat sandwiches? I thought you only ate nuts... Having said that though my little one put some bread out in the garden for the birds only for a squirrel to get there first. She was not a happy bunny - my daughter that is, not the squirrel.

I think Gordon should forget about season products and carry on with getting more women in the kitchen.... where they belong...... (joke)

[cimt]

I think I should comment on this JO business, since I was in school when it was introduced. In my opinion? It was *******s the way it was introduced, Russ is correct, it was just shot onto us. One day it was hot fatty food, then the next it was all healthy food. Yeah, it was a good change, but there was no build up, the school I was in never slowly moved into it. So we never had the chance to slowly adapt to it. Still, I didn't like the idea at first, but there was some decent food that was brought in instead of hot fatty food.

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Then whom do you think should have done so and why didn't they?

Someone who doesn't have a faked 'cool' image which the government thinks we'll fall for in an instant.

[Incognitas]

Originally Posted by Russ B

Someone who doesn't have a faked 'cool' image which the government thinks we'll fall for in an instant.

Well the government wouldn't have even bothered if JO hadn't raised the issue first so it would have been no use expecting them to have done anything.

I think you are allowing your dislike of JO to overshadow what was a very much overdue drive.
Experts had been commenting on how a poor junk filled diet served in institutions was making behavioral problems worse.There were even some studies done in US prisons where they changed the menu to exclude junk food and food additives and the inmates became much quieter and better behaved.

Trouble is it costs too much to sustain such improvements and governments cannot be bothered if something costs more than they are prepared to support.

Anyway who do you think you would have listened to instead of JO?Because thinking of all the celeb chefs I'm hard put to think of any that wouldn't annoy someone, sometime.

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Well the government wouldn't have even bothered if JO hadn't raised the issue first so it would have been no use expecting them to have done anything.

I think you are allowing your dislike of JO to overshadow what was a very much overdue drive.
Experts had been commenting on how a poor junk filled diet served in institutions was making behavioral problems worse.There were even some studies done in US prisons where they changed the menu to exclude junk food and food additives and the inmates became much quieter and better behaved.

Trouble is it costs too much to sustain such improvements and governments cannot be bothered if something costs more than they are prepared to support.

Anyway who do you think you would have listened to instead of JO?Because thinking of all the celeb chefs I'm hard put to think of any that wouldn't annoy someone, sometime.

The lesser of many evils I guess? You're right about costs and the government wanting a quick return. I just think they saw JO's faked 'cool' image and thought they'd jump on the bandwagon (must have been a quiet week for news) to boost a bit of popularity but it fell flat on its face.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by cimt

I think I should comment on this JO business, since I was in school when it was introduced. In my opinion? It was *******s the way it was introduced, Russ is correct, it was just shot onto us. One day it was hot fatty food, then the next it was all healthy food. Yeah, it was a good change, but there was no build up, the school I was in never slowly moved into it. So we never had the chance to slowly adapt to it. Still, I didn't like the idea at first, but there was some decent food that was brought in instead of hot fatty food.

Well there we go, right from the source! It is a shame that no parents or kids were consulted before inundating kids with veggies. Any change, even a change for the good is going to be taken badly at the beginning, because change is hard!

I think it also depends on what kind of foods kids are getting at home. My parents always served the typical 'meat and 2 veg' kinds of meals, so for me to have lost the treat that was Pizza Friday at school would have been awful -- mainly because I was sent to school with a packed lunch every day and only bought food at the cafeteria on special food days!

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

But do squirrels eat sandwiches? I thought you only ate nuts... Having said that though my little one put some bread out in the garden for the birds only for a squirrel to get there first. She was not a happy bunny - my daughter that is, not the squirrel.

I think Gordon should forget about season products and carry on with getting more women in the kitchen.... where they belong...... (joke)

If your daughter's a bunny.. I think you have more serious problems to worry about than the mad rantings of a tv chef.

I've heard Gordon being interviewed a few times, and I almost didn't believe it was him due to the lack of f words! He seemed like an OK guy, actually. I think that certain things just make him fly off the handle, like stupidity and bad food!

[handyman]

Originally Posted by cimt

I think I should comment on this JO business, since I was in school when it was introduced. In my opinion? It was *******s the way it was introduced, Russ is correct, it was just shot onto us. One day it was hot fatty food, then the next it was all healthy food. Yeah, it was a good change, but there was no build up, the school I was in never slowly moved into it. So we never had the chance to slowly adapt to it. Still, I didn't like the idea at first, but there was some decent food that was brought in instead of hot fatty food.

It would never have worked with a phased in approach. Offering chips and burgers alongside the healthier food would only have resulted in the healthy food being wasted as the kids would not have changed. The schools had little budget to start off with.

As for Jamie's budget and it being dearer he was not using expensive cheffy ingredients just good basic cooking with veggies.

[RizzyKing]

People keep saying it should have been phased in sorry but at sometime there would come a point where the crap the kids liked disappeared and the healthier stuff was all there was. Phased in or done in oneday wouldn't really make a difference so it's a mute point really.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by RizzyKing

People keep saying it should have been phased in sorry but at sometime there would come a point where the crap the kids liked disappeared and the healthier stuff was all there was. Phased in or done in oneday wouldn't really make a difference so it's a mute point really.

When I was growing up, if you didn't like something, you didn't have to see it. Oh, you still had to eat it -- but it was put through the blender and mixed in with other food all sneaky and stuff so you didn't see it.

I don't have kids, so have no clue which way of changing their diets is best. It was sad to see how many children didn't even want to try something different, though.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Thankfully I have no problems with getting my little on to eat all types of food. She loves brocolli, seafood, meat, dairy products. We eat pretty healthy at home and to date, touch wood, we have not had to 'hide' food. She will always try something new too.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Thankfully I have no problems with getting my little on to eat all types of food. She loves brocolli, seafood, meat, dairy products. We eat pretty healthy at home and to date, touch wood, we have not had to 'hide' food. She will always try something new too.

Well, broccoli's an easy one. C'mon.. little trees, planted into a mountain of mashed potato near a river of gravy? That's art on a plate, how could you NOT eat that?! (Although it's been months since I made train tracks in my mashed spuds..)

My main one was (and still is) turnip. As a cook, I agree that a stew without turnip in it is missing something, so I make it with turnip. And then don't put any pieces of turnip in my portion. Being an adult rocks!

I get all excited when I see something I've never eaten before on a menu. The only thing is that sometimes I wish I knew what certain ingredients were, because I liked them.. and I'd feel too silly asking after I'd eaten my meal.

I wonder if all the dishes & ingredients in Gordon's restaurants will be local and seasonal from now on. He seems the sort who would make a change like that to support his own cause, which is a lot more worthy of respect than just mouthing off because you can..

[Incognitas]

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

Well, broccoli's an easy one. C'mon.. little trees, planted into a mountain of mashed potato near a river of gravy? That's art on a plate, how could you NOT eat that?! (Although it's been months since I made train tracks in my mashed spuds..)

My main one was (and still is) turnip. As a cook, I agree that a stew without turnip in it is missing something, so I make it with turnip. And then don't put any pieces of turnip in my portion. Being an adult rocks!

I get all excited when I see something I've never eaten before on a menu. The only thing is that sometimes I wish I knew what certain ingredients were, because I liked them.. and I'd feel too silly asking after I'd eaten my meal.

I wonder if all the dishes & ingredients in Gordon's restaurants will be local and seasonal from now on. He seems the sort who would make a change like that to support his own cause, which is a lot more worthy of respect than just mouthing off because you can..

Gordon is the sort to berate his customers who demand anything out of season.Anyway none of that would have worked on eldest born.You should have heard her when she discovered I'd been putting the water from the boiled veg into the Sunday lunch gravy.