Jamie Oliver's TED award speech

[kentauros]

First, for those that don't know, "TED" isn't a person, but a nonprofit-group: Technology, Entertainment, Design
This explains more about them: http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/5

So, Jamie Oliver won their award and this is his speech (22 minutes' worth) about his wish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwrV5e6fMY

:D

[Tesha]

1. that was amazing...

I saw it yesterday, and was stunned by the tomato/potato question and answer time with the kids.

[kentauros]

2. Yeah, that part was pretty sad.

But like he said, they are a generation away from people that cooked at home, so they've never seen fresh foods. That's a pretty alien concept to me.

[Warpy]

3. It's nice to see him get recognized

but I've read quite a few articles about the reception he's gotten in West Virginia and it's been less than kind. It seems people there are a mite touchy about being judged in any way by outsiders, even when those outsiders have a point.

Still, all my answers to the question of how to ride out bad economic times start with "learn to cook." It's the only way you're going to keep body and soul together when there is little money around. Oh, bologna sandwiches on cheap balloon bread might keep you going for a while, but you're going to feel like shit pretty quickly.

Oliver's each one teach one approach has worked for other things. It's just amazing to me how West Virginia escaped the whole back to the land/whole food thing of the last 40 or so years. It's amazing that there are multiple generations now who never tasted real food, cooked at home.

Thanks for posting this one. I wish him all the luck in the world. He's going to need it.

[kentauros]

4. You'll probably find most communities resistent to "outsiders"

no matter where you go. Too many people have to learn the hard way...

Parts of what he presented make me wonder if they're doing a show out of it, what with that kitchen they've set up, too.

He does know his stuff, and maybe he could get someone like Harold McGee (author of "On Food and Cooking") to pitch in on the food science bits if necessary.

And though I know they aren't very popular around here anymore (with good reason), I learned first-hand cooking in the Boy Scouts. Sure, I had "helped" my parents bake cookies, fry campfire food on a gasoline stove and all that prior to joining the Scouts. But I had to do my own cooking as part of my training in the BSA. The organization is still quite popular in this country, so I have to wonder if anyone is teaching them how to cook anymore...

[Warpy]

5. Probably not, and if they do, as soon as they get married

they turf it off to the wife, whether or not she has either the aptitude or the inclination.

Part of the problem is that we just don't afford food the respect it has in cultures that experience scarcity. Cooking is seen as a menial chore best done by others instead of an essential part of keeping us alive and healthy.

This country has some of the best food in the world in a dizzying array in the supermarket. Most people don't have a clue what to do with most of it. I not only have to identify my weird veggies to a checkout clerk, I often have to tell them how to prepare it.

Even BSA cooking lessons can't overcome fast food culture, I'm afraid.

[kentauros]

6. I agree that BSA can't overcome fastfood culture,

but at least they can learn the ingredients, how to prep and cook them. The segment where the young school children didn't know any of the vegetables presented was almost scary. I'd hate to see how they'd get along without electricity for a week or two (like after a natural disaster.)

I'm guessing with the grocery experiences, it all depends on where and how you shop ;)
I'm either at Whole Foods for certain brands that are actually cheaper there (because they go through more of it, faster) or I'm using the U-Scan at the local Kroger's. Then I just have to deal with whether or not it's in their system. I don't buy too many odd things anyway. I like it simple and easy at home. Most of the time, only in baking will I take a lot of extra effort to accomplish something properly :)

[Tesha]

7. in NH some 30 years ago...

I stood in the back of a crowd of kids watching a puppet show...

the puppet asked the kids if anyone liked liver -
eeeuuu sprang from the crowd -


and my daughter raised her hand.
boy, was I ever proud!

[kentauros]

8. When I ate meat, I remember one of the finger foods at a wedding reception:

Chicken livers wrapped in bacon. This was decades before the current bacon-craze, but still quite good at the time. Yet, I still didn't seek out liver after that as it wasn't that appealing to cook...