Heart-Warming Frustration: A Review of the First Two Episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

The first two episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution in Los Angeles have aired. (There was no episode on yesterday so now is your chance to make sure you're all caught up!) If you've missed them, head on over to Hulu to check it out.

Episode 1: Maybe L.A. Was A Big Mistake
Episode 2: I Think I Found A Loophole

While Jamie may be banned from the schools, he still wants to help. So he's finding whatever ways he can to see the food, talk to the kids and motivate their parents to act. You'd be hard-pressed to watch this show and not learn a single thing.

I, for one, had no idea about the gross practices allowed in the making of ground beef. I'm not going to go into it here; Jamie will show you what I'm talking about. But let's just say if you ever plan on eating ground beef, you should know this.

Burger from Wikimedia Commons

Since his hands are sort of tied in the school venue, Jamie is trying to make a difference elsewhere too. He's taken it upon himself to try to make the menu of a family-owned fast food restaurant healthier for its customers without driving up the price too high. This story line especially is a microcosm for so many people's eating situations. They want to eat healthier but they have these preconceived notions that are so ingrained they're really hard to leave behind.

While there was no episode, last night the L.A. USD superintendent announced with Jamie Oliver on Jimmy Kimmel's show that they will be no longer offering chocolate- or strawberry-flavored milk in their schools starting this fall. Those milks are high in sugar. In fact, in Episode 1 Jamie showed just how much sugar there is.

So give it a whirl Tuesday nights 8pm ET/ 7pm CT on ABC, but be prepared to be both frustrated and encouraged by one person (and his team) trying to make a difference.

©2011 Memo To My Health. Please do not republish our content without notifying us and getting permission.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I meant to write this post about a year ago.

Last spring, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution premiered on TV. I watched the whole series (all 6 episodes). I smiled. I cried. I decried that it was on Friday nights - when a lot of people were probably not watching it...

Season 1 Poster from Wikipedia

Jamie, also known as The Naked Chef, went to Huntington, WV - a place statistically known as one of the unhealthiest places in America. It was moving to watch him try to teach people about healthy eating habits in an attempt to decrease incidences of obesity, heart disease and diabetes when so many wouldn't even listen to him at first. You see apparently Americans don't want to be told what to do - especially by a British guy.

As he went to work understanding and trying to change school lunch programs, he revealed lots of bureaucracy, ridiculous guidelines, but also opportunity for change. There were plenty of poignant moments - like the time he went into a grade school classroom and asked the kids to identify some foods. They knew what pizza and fries were but had no idea on most vegetables. Their mortified teacher made it her mission to teach them about fruits and vegetables so when Jamie returned, they impressed him with their new knowledge.

The whole mission was a fight but he was able to make changes to the school food programs that they still have in place today. He also taught the children, their parents, and other members of the community how to make simple, but healthy dishes instead of relying on fast food when they needed a meal in short time.

Now the show is coming back. Tuesday (April 12th) 8pm ET/7pm CT, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution premieres its second season on ABC. This time he's working in Los Angeles and he faces the addition hurdle of being banned from the schools before he event gets there.

I'm looking forward to it.

Learn more on Jamie Oliver's website.

©2011 Memo To My Health. Please do not republish our content without notifying us and getting permission.