Jamie Oliver turned down by L.A. school district

Jamie Oliver, the English chef who took on the "lunch ladies" of Huntington, W.Va., in an attempt to make school food more healthful, has been told thanks but no thanks by the Los Angeles Unified School District. "Our feeling was that his time would be better spent or invested in other communities," Melissa Infusino, the director of partnerships in the superintendent's office, said Friday.

Oliver is bringing his "Food Revolution" reality television show to L.A. for its second season, and he and his family plan to move to the area in January, a spokeswoman said. ABC posted a casting notice on its website: "We're searching for families with children who could use Jamie's help in the kitchen to overcome the obstacles to healthy eating."

But just what the show will focus on remains undecided. "We are not prepared to comment about the show because it's still in the creative stages," said Amber Gereghty, an ABC publicity director. She said there would be an element involving schools. Read on:

English chef Jamie Oliver prepares his own type of chicken nuggets for schoolchildren in Huntington, W.Va., in an episode of his reality show, "Food Revolution." He was in town to help make the city's school lunches more healthful -- an endeavor that met with resistance from campus cooks.(Holly Farrell, ABC / Nov. 6)

Comments

[Suzy]

Unbelievable! Our kids are being offered garbage for food - regardless of where you are in the USA. Regardless of private or public school. The caterer/food distributor wants the biggest bang for it's buck. Processed/preserved/artificially colored and flavored products are the cheapest - let's give that to our kids. Great idea!!! Most schools do not have decent facilities to make the meals for the kids so it is easiest to bring in the junk. I'm in Tampa - my kids go to private school. Two of my kids go to a litlle 180 student school. Shouldn't take that much effort to make decent healthy food - but it apparently is too expensive for the caterer. (She charges $.5.50 for a hot dog in a bun, chips and fruit cup in high fructose corn syrup.) Most days they pack from home. My other child goes to a large private school, and there are healthy alternatives in the high school (but not in the lower divisions?!?) - salad bars, pastas and soups, if you are inclined to eat healthful. Hambugers, hotdogs, pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, ice cream and soda are available almost every day, though. It's what our kids have been trained to eat! We need to do something - Education is number one! If we eat crap, we will be crap. That simple. Heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity - and a host of other diseases related to the food we eat that is treated with hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, added fats and lots of artificial ingredients. LAUSD need to get Oliver at their school - if he's offering his time and insight and if he's available, they need to bow down and let him do his thing! He's more than welcome here in Tampa!

[John Strachan]

Director of partnerships? Does she really mean to say "we already have partnerships with big agri-business that we would not be willing to upset unless there is some financial incentive?"

[Alma]

what the heck is the la school district thinking??!! oh yes, they only think about themselves and their wallet! forget about our kids nutrition! keep giving them crap!! Hey, LA doesn't want you, can u come to Orange County then?? my daughter's school needs you!! they give those poor kids pizza, hamburger, hotdogs EVERYDAY!!

[Melanie Silverman MS, RD, IBCLC]

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is the BEST use of reality television I have seen. Maybe Ms. Infusino isn’t a reality tv fan. Cameras are big, bulky and personally invasive and her students run the risk of bumping into them. How sad for the kids. This was a golden opportunity to really lift the veil of school lunch programs and ignite massive change across our country. L.A. schools could become a model for something instead of being known for high drop-out rates, low academic performance, poor maintenance and some incompetent administration. Reconsider Ms. Infusino.

[Spekkio]

If memory serves, the folks in West Virginia ended up not-very-happy because they realized that they couldn't afford to sustain the healthier food after the cameras and the money left. Maybe they could if they raised taxes, but we all know that the American people would allow a third of our population to die before raising taxes. (I'm not kidding....)

[Britt Barton]

They should be put in jail for denying kids the right to good health. This is murder, just in the long term.

[tmare]

It is absolutely true that schools want nothing to do with Jamie Oliver. Most schools do not even have the facilities to make meals from real food. Many schools don't even have a cafeteria or enough eating space for kids to sit. Warmed up, dried out processed crap is all our kids get. The schools decide not to allow sodas, so they replace them with sugar water that has the same or more calories as soda. Schools are completely owned by a few large food distributors who are in collusion with the USDA and are effectively poisoning are kids daily with the blessing of the government.

[HR]

of COURSE LAUSD would refuse that..why on earth would they want to teach the kids that what they are eating is pure crap? They would have to spend more money to help their cities kids be HEALTHY - and i love the lame excuse "his time would be better elsewhere." WHAT BETTER PLACE THAN LA! The country looks to LA and California to be leaders...and you want to show that you like feeding your future generations pure garbage?? One more notch for LAUSD making another bad choice.

THAT is why I send my kids to private schools. LAUSD IS NOT ABOUT THE KIDS! They are a business first. So sad.....

[Joe]

LAUSD turns down Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? Hmm...I wonder what LAUSD is hiding in its nutrition of our children. Perhaps they did not want Jamie to open up a can of worms (no pun intended)causing drama to our elite rulers of our school system. I remember what I ate when I was in school and it wasn't pretty. I can't imagine it being any different today.

[Chris Morgan]

Once again, the LAUSD shows its lack of interest about adressing the nationwide problem of healthy eating. A wasted opportunity to get nutritional food for our kids front and center on the agenda of the City, State and Nation. Not very surprising though if you consider LAUSD's glowing record with literacy, incompetent staff, high school drop out rates etc.etc.

[Kittybarfola]

Shouldn't it be no surprise that a bad decision from those who make a bad decisions? I am sure there's money involved that LAUSD made their decision. LAUSD would rather protect their interests and those paying the LAUSD to feed the children, than protect the interests of the children, period!

[Chris]

Jaime,

Forget L.A. Can you please post the Chicken Nugget recipe ASAP?!?

[Floor mirrors]

Funny how people fight the future. Seriously what is wrong with letting Jaime Oliver have a whack at it. Instead of worrying about other kids, worry about the ones you're in charge of .