I was recently browsing the net looking for some recipe clips on YouTube. Amid the tons of clips with millions of recipes and chefs giving their take on classic dishes, I came across a clip of renowned celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on his so-called food revolution. Out of curiosity I decided to check it out and I cannot but agree with what Mr Oliver is trying to do.
His aim is simple. He wants to move people to “create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity”. While theoretically what he says seems to be a far cry from what can be done, it really isn’t.
If I had to explain in very simple terms what the aim of the food revolution is, I would say that we’d have to start from our schools – the hub of our education system. Education is key.
I believe that in Malta, in Europe and anywhere in the world, it should be made compulsory that children learn about food – about nutrition. I think that it’s unacceptable that we teach children geography, history, maths and languages if we are not going to equip them with the basic life skills to survive. A child will not die if he does not do his geography homework but will lose his life to malnutrition due to health related problems. And make no mistake, malnutrition can and will be one of the greatest problems of our generation. I think that children need to learn in schools how to cook a basic, simple meal and what good authentic food is really about. Children should be taught that food is not the processed rubbish that is bought ready made from supermarkets and that you don’t need to be a professional chef to quickly prepare a meal with fresh ingredients.
Another very valid point raised by Mr Oliver relates to the fast-food industries and the processed food corporations. These multinationals and huge industries have infiltrated the markets with their marketing campaigns and their very well researched recipes that are designed to make their clients addicted to their food, which is often not very healthy. While locally we do not have such large companies, we have over the years seen franchises of them opening up in various localities. Maybe one option the government should consider is to either ban these companies or heavily tax them to discourage consumption of their products.
Now, if one’s reading this article, he or she must be thinking, “what the hell is a politician doing writing on nutrition and diets rather than the economy, jobs, and other political gibberish?” On the contrary, I think that these are all interrelated. Take for instance the multinational food corporations or franchises. While it’s true that such companies employ people and maybe paying taxes in Malta and generating revenues and expenditures here, they are also creating huge health related problems which ultimately have to be financed through taxpayer’s monies. Furthermore, statistical evidence shows that Malta has huge obesity problems that, if not tackled, will translate into health-related diseases.
I urge all the readers to take five minutes of their time to look up the Ted Talk given by Jamie Oliver on the subject in question a few years ago (TED is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading") to see for themselves what Mr Oliver is talking about. I am sure that the very visual examples given by the charismatic celebrity chef on the amount of sugars being consumed by our children in very simple things that one wouldn’t expect (such as flavoured milk for instance), will leave an impact.
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