Born in the small town, Clavering, Essex, of England, Jamie Oliver is a English chef with a vision to change the way we eat. For the past decade, Jamie has launched numerous campaigns in United Kingdom raising awareness about the importance of eating healthy food. Now, he has extended his vision to change people’s habit of eating junking food in North America.
Earlier this year, he received the TED “prize wish,” and the theme of his wish is to teach American children about food, nurturing a generation who is conscious about the food they eat and in time, make Americans healthier, and help them live longer. With the passing of America’s revolutionary health care bill, Americans are hopeful about their nation’s future health. It is one thing to provide the medical care patients need; it is another to ensure all people are taking preventative measures to get out of clinics and hospitals. In his TED “prize wish” talk, Jamie showed us the staggering statistic about the cause of death of most Americans: over a quarter are caused just by heart diseases alone, and another quarter by cancer, while less than 5% are caused by homicide. Why have we only been informed about that 5% of the death? Aren’t those other 2 causes of 25%, total more than 50% of death, more preventable? Jamie believes, by having people eat more nutritious, fresh, homemade food while injecting less factory-processed junk food into our system, we can easily lower that cause of 50% of death. The statistic could not be more convincing that healthy food isn’t just a choice, it is a need.
Sadly, there are still people out there eating junk food knowing the fatality that it brings, so why have we not been eating healthier??? Why have some people resisted such positive change???
Well, this is my theory.
The first cause of this major epidemic of food culture crisis is the large food processing corporations and industries. The food processing industries have provided jobs for millions of Americans. They started with the good intentions of providing working Americans with prepared or easy-to-prepare food. With the growing competition, they have made their foods taste “more delicious” by adding fat and “juicy” content that stimulated you to buy more and more because that food tastes good and feels good! Before you know it, your entire family and families of friends become the victims of food processing industries, especially those giant fast food restaurants.
The second cause of this is of course laziness. This doesn’t need much explanation: basically, you become more obese as you fall into the trap of junk food; obesity adds to your body’s inertia (mass), making you less prone to move and cook yourself a meal…and the cycle goes on.
The third cause is the easiest to deal with, and the one that will make the most impact to resolve the previous two causes, that is: Education. Less and less of American children are taught about food; more and more of them just eat in ignorance, completely blinded from how their food gets on the table. This is where Jamie Oliver comes in to help. By informing American schools through television, and personally cook for them, he hopes that he can transform America’s food culture, and make the nation healthier.
Right now, Jamie is launching a TV series that is aimed to educate and raise awareness about the importance of food called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.
To learn more about what Jamie Oliver is doing, go on his website and watch his TED talk below:
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