Jamie Oliver is on a mission to get everyone to eat better. His new website, Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills, is the subject of my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.
A recent study shows Americans aren’t eating their vegetables. I know you’re as shocked as I am. But I was shocked at just how much we’re not eating them. The study, released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concludes that “only 26 percent of the nation’s adults eat vegetables three or more times a day,” according to The New York Times.
Part of the problem is that too many of us just don’t find vegetables interesting. But British-born chef/cookbook author/TV personality Jamie Oliver thinks that’s because no one is learning to cook anymore.
In the UK, he mounted a successful petition drive to get cooking and life skills put back into the school curriculum—only to find that teachers weren’t sure how to go about teaching them. So he’s just launched Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills, a website that uses videos and photos to teach real cooking skills and provide doable recipes. Students can even upload photos of their own culinary efforts.
To see more about his new website, including a sample video—and to learn about his efforts to get kids cooking in America—check out my latest USA Character Approved Blog post.
He’s doing a great job. Thanks for posting this article!
Thanks, Nancy! It really is exciting to see a chef so involved in getting people to cook and eat real food, isn’t it?
I’ve been watching his show about getting schools to serve better food in their cafeterias, and I was impressed with how unpretentious and genuinely concerned he is. He said something like, “I know I’m just some British guy and no one wants to listen to me, but I really want to try to help as many people as I can.”
That’s the sense I get of him too, Alma, someone who just genuinely wants to help. And at a time when childhood obesity, diabetes, heart problems and other diet-related health issues are running rampant, we need all the help we can get!
I loves me some Jamie Oliver and all that, but how many vegetables are we supposed to be eating? 3 or more times a day? What veggie am I supposed to eat for breakfast?
Hi, Lou! Generally, the recommendation is five servings of a mix of fruits and vegetables a day. So breakfast could include a banana or some berries with your cereal—or even a handful of raisins. An apple with your lunch is another easy way to hit your numbers. Aiming for more deeply colored fruits and vegetables gets you the biggest nutritional bang for your buck. For more info, check out this page on CDC’s website, Fruits & Veggies Matter.