Jaime+Oliver+Food+Revolution

As proven by public health statistics, America is the unhealthiest nation in the world. Many factors go into this issue, such as school food. At most schools, the meals are processed, unhealthy food. Many people are trying to solve this problem, such as celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

This problem is very prevalent in West Virginia. At an elementary school in Huntington, as stated by a journalist, “We saw the kids eating pizza for breakfast and drinking strawberry milk.” It is horrible that these kids are eating extremely fatty and greasy food for the so-called “most important meal of the day.” This shows that the schools genuinely see no problem with the way that they are feeding the kids. The District and many others rebut by saying that it is an issue with money. In an interview, when asked about the issue of healthy food and money Jamie replied with, “If you have $5, $10, or $50, if you can cook it doesn’t really make much difference. The deal breaker is knowledge.” This applies for the Huntington School District and a low-income Los Angles neighborhood. The solution to this problem is education. If people know how to cook a healthy meal, they could make one with anything they had, as Jamie stated, “If you have $5, $10, or $50, if you can cook it doesn’t really make much difference. The deal breaker is knowledge.” This quote really is the solution. Oliver held some cooking classes in Huntington. However, he really should have been holding classes that taught people to plan meals in advance, stay on a budget, and still make sure that they are still healthy. A 17 year old at West Adams High stated,” Jamie taught us not only rich people can eat healthy. In reality, anybody can eat healthy with just some thought.”

One of the big problems with the health lunches at schools is the fact that the kids aren’t eating them! They either eat the least healthy items and throw away the rest or bring their own junk food. When kids think of healthy, they think of food that tastes or smells gross. In order for any of Oliver’s work to be affective, the kids need to be shown that not all healthy food is gross, and this education begins at home. Parents need to stop teaching their kids that a Hershey’s bar is better than an apple. Also, Health classes should begin sooner. I had my first health class in fifth grade, prior to that I had no education about food, diets, or anatomy. In order to fix the school lunch system, they first have to fix the education.

In my opinion, it is a miracle that someone from a foreign country wants to help us with our obesity crisis. Many people in Huntington were insulted that they were being named “the fattest city in the country.” They should have taken that as a wake-up call to get healthy instead of closing themselves off and not being open for a change. Also, the kids weren’t accepting the food because the adults weren’t pushing it. The kids in Huntington know that if they can make it through lunch, they can go home and pig-out on unhealthy junk. Oliver should have tried to educate the parents and the children, so that it is being constantly enforced that the kids eat healthy. On the other hand, it is good that Oliver tried to help. He only needs a different plan of action. I completely agree with all efforts and actions taken by Oliver to try to make a difference in Huntington.

Americans are some of the unhealthiest people on the planet. This isn’t and stereotype, this is proven fact. Jamie Oliver is leading the charge in trying to charge our ways, after his success in England with the same issue of obesity. He started in Huntington, West Virginia, the “fattest city in the country”, where he was greeted with closed minds and closed mouths. I completely disagree with the actions of the people of Huntington, and support Jamie in his efforts to make America healthy.