TV chef Jamie Oliver shut out of L.A. school cafeterias

Chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver is bringing his “Food Revolution” to Southern California, talking to families who might participate in his spring reality TV series and opening a kitchen in West Los Angeles.

But he bemoans that he’s been shut out of L.A.’s public school cafeterias.

“I can’t get my foot into a single school. Which is a bit of a shame really,” he said by telephone Tuesday. “It just doesn’t seem in the interest of the public really. It’s not a great start for me, to be honest.”

His goal, he said, is to get people eating more fresh food and to improve their health. His “Feed Me Better” campaign looked at British school food, and last year ABC’s “Food Revolution” won an Emmy for its first season, which was set in schools and homes in Huntington, W.Va.

Oliver planned to speak to the Los Angeles school board Tuesday, during the time allotted for public comments. On Wednesday, he opens “Jamie’s Kitchen” in Westwood, where he said free cooking classes will be offered. And he is a keynote speaker Saturday at the annual meeting of the California School Nutrition Assn.

Whether he is allowed into a school or not, he said, he plans to work with families in their homes and with supermarkets and fast-food purveyors for episodes in a series to begin sometime in the spring.

Oliver speculated that the Los Angeles Unified School District refused his request to set his show in its cafeterias because officials may have feared how it would look on television. But he said his work has been “honorable,” and he came to Los Angeles with no preconceptions about its school food.

“Ultimately, I still think what happens in schools in food is an incredible weapon or problem in terms of the obesity epidemic,” Oliver said.

An L.A. Unified spokesman Monday said there is no chance for a change of heart.

“Reality TV has a formula. You either have to have drama or create conflict to be successful. We’re not interested in either,” Robert Alaniz said in an e-mail.

There certainly was drama and conflict in Huntington as Oliver cajoled cafeteria workers and met with families to try to reform eating habits. But even before Oliver went to Huntington, the district was committed to school food reform, and now most meals are cooked from scratch, said district spokesman Jedd Flowers.

“We want to be on the right side of history,” Flowers said.

Change has not been easy, however. "We’re having some trouble getting the kids to eat the food," Flowers said. "It’s a change that’s going to take some time.”

At the start of the school year last fall, more children were taking their food to school and “unfortunately, generally not a healthy lunch,” he said.

“We're hoping that, over time, these numbers will improve as students begin to accept the healthier menu items,” he said.

The Huntington district has 12,700 children, and about half of them qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. In Los Angeles, 80% of the 680,000 students qualify.

And unlike in Los Angeles, where many school meals are made in central kitchens, almost all of Huntington’s schools have working kitchens, Flowers said.

In Los Angeles, affluent Westwood was chosen for the TV series' kitchen because of its centrality and convenience, production sources said. Oliver moved his family to Southern California, but his children will not be eating L.A. Unified food. They will attend private school.

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Comments

[shelly stratton]

Nice going LAUSD . . a change that in the end will be for the good, yet you want no part of it.

[DRE DAWG]

Nice try Jamie, but you raised the bar waaaaaay too high. LAUSD is the scummiest, most corrupt school district in the nation. The administration and teachers care nothing about the students. They only care about their salaries and pensions. Keep going with your Food Revolution. I looooved the first season. But as tough as Huntington was, they'd be nothing compared to the evil you'd find as LAUSD. That school rep doesn't want "drama and conflict" because LAUSD already embodies those perfectly. Too bad you already set up shop in the west side; the east side needs your help too!

[Lisa From LA]

A pity for LAUSD - I would have thought they'd have been interesting in correcting problems (if found) with their menus and having the courage to be willing to learn new things. Their posture indicates they have no interest in correcting problems and zero willingness to learn new things. Cowering under the banner of "we don't want conflict" ill becomes them. New ideas = Run and hide - which is not exactly the viewpoint one wants from an organization charged with educating children.

[chazbro]

"it doesn't really seem in the interest of my wallet...errr, the public"

[ewerb]

knowing what Jamie knows about industrial food and nutrition, i am relieved that he has the sense to keep his own kids from being victims of it...

despite the considerable benefits from eating better, there is a real downside. the more i cook and prepare farm fresh food for my family, the more glaring the deficiencies are in commercial meals made by conventional sources, and it is grossly unsatisfying to now eat the omnipresent diet of processed foods. as much as i said to myself i would prevent it, i am becoming anther food freak. oh well...

[LAcityLiving]

The teachers get bashed all day long in the LA Times. How come the problem children of LAUSD, the administrators, mostly escape identification for their dubious achievements? We see in this story how administration stands firmly opposed to free help on an important matter solely because of PR concerns. Call them out, name the names, let everyone know that, but for a few, administration for the Los Angeles Unified School District is a bunch of dumb skunks.

[kb]

i imagine that private schools have similar issues with food, why not try a private school if the public ones won't let you in. reality tv or not i totally agree with what jaime is doing. in the very least he is bringing attention to an issue that needs to be addressed, even if you do not agree with his solutions.

[Ieat]

I think LAUSD is afraid to show the interior of their schools more than the kitchen. Most LA schools are run down. However LA city as a whole is full of healthy food. I don't think Jamie Oliver is really needed for the city of LA. He should try doing this at southern states where they love fried food.

[Sharon]

This is what I never understood. There's a whole outcry over obesity, but we continue to feed students fat laden food and cut recess and physical education. Exercise and nutrition are the key components to health. I think this reality show would be a great reality check to the district and parents. There have been countless studies that show that Exercise and nutrition help with behavioral issues.

[Ieat]

is my comment being censored? Even though schools don't offer the best food, LA is full of healthy cuisine. Jamie Oliver picked the wrong town.

[Melroser]

Why doesn't Jamie Oliver approach the Compton School District, or some other small, poor district in the LA metropolitan area? A smaller district would be easier to deal with, and would probably be happy to have him. Or, does he not realize that there are dozens of different school districts in the region?

[save the deserts!]

Santa Monica? Malibu? Now's your chance!!

[butchz]

Another self-aggrandizing Nutritional Guru who thinks he can change the world just because he has an Emmy statue in his living room. Thanks LAUSD for standing firm in your Marketing Dept. We have enough information on how to feed our children in public schools.

Ever since the fifties, knowledgeable experts in Food and Nutrition have contributed heavily into our school systems to give us the right and proper nutrition for our kids. Now it is up to the parents of these school kids to practice what they learned through the years. We have all the resources we need to give balanced diet to our children.

If you let this self-proclaimed guru in, you’ll have to pay extra for his services instead of budgeting for our cafeteria foods. Our budget have been cut so we don’t need another extra burden on the side.

Besides, he wants his foot in the door because LAUSD is one of the biggest school districts in the nation making it more profitable for him and his business and his fame.

Leave the LAUSD alone Chef-Boyar-dee. Go profit somewhere else like McDonalds or Shakeys.

[Enzo]

Americans are fat and disgusting and you can't change them with healthy food because being fat and disgusting also makes you stupid. The schools want to keep turning out dumb students so they government can control them more easily. Jamie Oliver is pissing in the wind.

[mia]

perhaps the fact that he's not a registered dietitian is also at play here..... lausd is contract and money driven, and contract/grant writers love their stipulations regarding who gets past (or under) their rope.... maybe if lausd cared enough to submit an rfp (request for proposals) aimed at improving nutrition in their cafeterias, jamie could join forces with a r.d. and kinda do a cyrano kinda thing.....
i'm just sayin'

[GT]

"...but his children will not be eating L.A. Unified food. They will attend private school."

Smart!

[Riley]

From the Huntington, WVa School District: “We want to be on the right side of history".

From Los Angeles Unified: NO THANKS! WE LIKE OBESITY AND UNHEALTHY KIDS.

[Jess]

Not sure if the LAUSD is worried about looking bad on TV, seeing as how they already look bad enough laying off thousands of teachers, coaches, librarians, secretaries, janitors, etc., as well as cutting many services offered to kids. The concept of providing fresh, healthy food to schoolkids is great. It's the pricetah that's the problem. Sorry, Chef Jaimie, but the LAUSD is broke as a joke. But perhaps Beverly Hills or Brentwood would be interested.

[JP]

Shame on you LAUSD !!!!!!!!!!, for not looking at it from a positve point of view. Someday they too will be smarter and make healthy choices for our future Generation. This is one of the many reasons I work overtime, to avoid putting my kid in the LAUSD District and send her to a private school. Thank you Jamie Oliver for your commitment.

[K]

I am glad they didn't do this. I would not comfortable having my child being part of a reality tv show when I wasn't around. I am in enterainment and shooting brings a lot of strangers and disruption to a school environment. If he wanted to do an off camera program, I think he would have been welcomed here. Los Angeles is an company town and we all know the mess and hassle shooting a tv show entails.

[Scatteredmom]

Has anyone ever looked at the LAUSD website and seen the menus? The food may look alright on paper sometimes (although-cake for breakfast isn't healthy), but they don't really list much in the way of nutritional information. I'd want to know exactly what is in my food, not just the calories and fat.

That makes me think there is something to hide.

[lausd-mom]

It doesn't surprise me that he would get shut out. LAUSD school food is disgusting and unhealthy. I, myself, got food poisoning in elementary from a bad burrito I at at school. I've worked all three levels of education and have seen raw hamburger meat being served to the children. Old salads, and way too much pizza, nachos, and nasty fake meake concoctions....South LA schools are even more neglected and meals are even more disgusting.

LAUSD students NEED Jamie.

[farmer j]

Well, Jaime. It appears LA doesn't want you in their county. You could always fly up to Northern California and see what we are doing. The North would be more than happy to have you take an interest up here...besides, this is where the real food is grown and eaten. Join us, won't you?

[avocats]

Why would LAUSD undertake ANYthing in the 21st century? It's stuck in the 60s. More's the pity for its kids.

[Qiana]

This is utterly infuriating. That only way things will change is if WE take away LAUSD's power. Parents and concerned citizens need to organize a county wide WALK OUT! No kids = no money. No money = no power. No power = change.

Enough is enough. This abuse of power needs to stop. Our kids are depending on us to keep them safe and healthy and we're failing them.