After winning the prestigious TED prize of $100,000 last week in Long Beach, CA, Jamie Oliver has now been catapulted into the spotlight - he debuts his fist major network series in the US in March. The video above is his heartfelt acceptance speech at the TED conference. It may be 21 minutes long but sit down, grab a bag of butter-laden popcorn, an extra large box of Whoppers, a 64-ounce Dr Pepper, and watch it.
Starting on Friday, March 26th on ABC, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will send him to "The Unhealthiest City in America," Huntington, West Virginia where he's going to get people to eat better. In Huntington, over 50% of the residents are considered obese and in the show's trailer, they "don't want to sit around and eat lettuce all day."
But Jamie says, "This is about life and death."
In case you hadn't heard yet, for the first time in history this generation of children is expected to have a shorter life span than its parents. So now with $100,000 in grant money, another book (Jamie's Food Revolution
Most of you reading this are likely already "Foodistas," but we all know people we care about and/or are related to people who don't understand the intricacies between OPEC petroleum, corn, Cargill, Monsanto, McDonalds, and heart disease. The more media devote attention to awareness, the more the tides will shift towards Americans caring what they put into their bodies.
It pleases me that ABC is building on the success of NBC's The Biggest Loser and addressing this country's weight/health connection; whether or not they have altruistic or financial reasons to fund the show, I don't really care. The fact that they are bringing yet another "Fat Camp" to prime time makes me think we really are going to witness a revolution.
Jamie started a petition to sign which he plans on presenting to the White House after the ABC series airs. It simply reads, "I support Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. America's kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive."
Sign the petition and/or donate to the cause: I did.