Last night Rin and I wandered into the city to see Jamie Oliver (and Matt Preston) at The Regent Theatre. Organized by The Wheeler Centre and supported by Penguin Books and The Good Foundation (a charitable/social arm of The Good Guys) the event focused on the establishment of Jamie’s amazing Ministry Of Food in Australia. Awesome. (Here is Jamie’s Ministry Of Food site.)
So, we had really good seats in the Dress Circle, although we were quite far from the stage. We pulled out our cameras, sipped our drinks and listened carefully. Matt and Jamie swigged, gesticulated and chatted their way through a quite long discussion about food politics, education and Jamie’s experience of trying to get whole towns to embrace healthier eating (and their reluctance, sometimes, to do so.)
I was pretty amazed at Jamie’s tenacity. He has copped so much flack and suspicion over his healthy eating/anti-obesity crusade. And yet he keeps going. He talked about the fact that he’s got everything he wants. He doesn’t want a mansion or a boat. He wants to do something better and he’s devoted the last 15 or so years of his life to food education, lobbying governments and tripping across the globe in the name of nutrition, passion and the enjoyment of cooking and eating. Amazing, I think. (I wrote a bit about Jamie over here too.) Let me say this very clearly. I really love Jamie. And I love the work he does. And I like his books a lot too. AND his TV shows. Let’s get that straight. Fangirl = me.
Are you a fan too? Or a supporter of GOOD FOOD?! Well, you can find out more about Australia’s own arm of The Ministry Of Food and how to get involved here. You can even send a post card to the Prime Minister, declaring your support for Jamie’s Ministry Of Food. Do THAT here. Or take a peek at the freshly opened Ipswich Ministry Of Food, the very first in Australia. Radtastic.
One of the great take-home points of the night was this:
Make sure you teach your kids to cook FIVE recipes that they can rely on when they leave home.
Make that part of your parenting. If your kids can cook five great dishes for themselves and their friends or family, they have something else to fall back on besides processed convenience food or a tin of yick. I think that is SUCH great advice. Don’t you?
What will YOU teach your kids to cook?
Do you love Jamie’s Ministry Of Food, like I do?
xx Pip
NB : I paid for our tickets. This is not a sponsored post.
You know, I really think Jamie is amazing with all that he does – he definitely puts his money where his mouth is, but literally and figuratively. He is awesome. However, if he is, in real life, as he is in his tv shows, having to spend 15 minutes alone with him would make me want to stick pins in my eyes! Go Jamie!
What a totally cool outing!!! Oh I love and adore his Ministry of Food – used it to teach my Celebrity Chef to cook – he is obsessed with food and started cooking well when he started eating!!! Now he is se7en and pretty much has cooking under his belt and spends hours perfecting the little skills: zesting, slicing, peeling – hours – too funny!!! This book is my 21st present or wedding gift to everyone I know – literally spent thousands on it!!! Another great book for teaching kids to cook is The River Cottage Family Cook Book…worked through it with my kids chapter by chapter and we all loved it and learned heaps!!!
Oh YES! My kids are involved in the Kitchen Garden Program! (At the very first one Stephanie set up!) And let's not forget Alice Waters. For she is the mother of the whole movement, in my opinion!) http://edibleschoolyard.org/our-story
Lets not forget the likes of Stephanie Alexander, an Australian icon of cooking and her Children's Kitchen Garden cooking schools. She's basically been trying to do the same thing as Jamie's intending to do. Let's hope they can collaborate
Love Jamie. Love what he does. Bummed I wasn't able to make it last night to see him but I will be forever grateful that I saw him last time he was in Melbourne and got to met him.
I am ever so grateful for my mum to encourage me to cook and letting me make a mess in the kitchen. Everyone needs a bit of Jamie in their life.
Such good advice (teaching your kids to cook 5 meals) and a really great reminder when life gets busy, that it is important to let it take a little longer for dinner to be ready. Thanks!
Sounds like you had a great night, and tenacious is definitely the best way to describe him! I'm a volunteer at The Ministry of Food in Ipswich so had the opportunity to take my 6yr old daughter to see him on Saturday (tickets were free, but only 500 were given out as the space in front of the MOF is limited). It was an excellent experience & he is the down to earth, passionate, opinionated, caring guy you see on TV. I just finished posting on my blog about Sat & managed to get some good photos…come take a look… http:ninavcreations.blogspot.com
Tots with you on this. Fan of Jamie, fan of being able to cook yourself a meal or your fam a good meal, its basic, its healthy and makes the world go round.
Totally and utterly adore Jamie, his recipes, his books, his shows, his ethics, his passion and everything he stands for. He's the first person that comes to my mind when I think about the group of people our age that are really changing the world. So glad you and Rin got the chance to go, Pip. Lucky!
I love Jamie too. I've seen him right through from boyhood-like Naked Chef days through to being a responsible Dad of adorable daughters and married to his (I suspect) long-suffering wife Jules. I know he cops a lot of flak but a lot of this can only be put down to jealousy. Anyone in the spotlight cops it, and I really admire his Ministry of Food ideals.
The only, only criticism I have of him is when he did a lot of unecessary swearing on that TV series where he trained the young aspiring cooks-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks, can't remember its name. Apart from that one glitch I think he's had a stellar career. Good on you Jamie.
Definitely a big Jamie fan, he is amazing. I tell you Pip, we need Jamie here in Ballarat, I have been shocked at the food many families, schools and carers provide for kids here (not everyone, I hasten to add – many parents/teachers are conscious of nutrition and do a great job, some of them on a very low budget – but there is definitely a big lack of awareness). My kids love cooking, every week they bring cookbooks home from the library, to the point where we have to restrain them as there simply isn't enough time in the week for them to cook everything they want to (which admittedly includes an awful lot of desserts). Go Jamie!!
I love Jamie too and all the good work he does for healthy eating awareness. I think teachings kids to cook five good things is a fantastic idea. I think encouraging kids to cook is a good thing. I was not encouraged and when I displayed any enthusiasm my mum (who's great in every other way except this!) would take over and I'd be left watching. I do not enjoy cooking. My partner does most of it. With this in mind, this year we decided his 18 year old daughter would cook for us on Monday evenings. She's done a great job. So far we've had tacos, a noodle stir fry and lasagne. Good job lady!
It is great advice ๐ He is doing a fabulous job. My Mum always taught us to eat healthy and I was shocked when I spent time with some familes in America and saw what they considered a healthy meal!! My 5 meals would need to be quick to make or freeze well or be easy to adapt so…
Spaghetti Bolognaise/Lasagne – bolognaise sauce is good to make a big batch then freeze
Pumpkin and Vegetable soup – good for left over veggies and good to freeze
Chicken and Cashew stir fry – easy to adapt to what you have available
Omelette – you can fill it with cheese and ham and whatever veggies you have available
Custard – I love dessert and (real) custard and fruit is a reasonably healthy option ๐
I've been very much in love with Jamie ever since I saw him do the food in schools show in Britain. That show was amazing and he showed such tenacity and passion in the face of some very scary mums shoving chips to their children through the school gates! Go Jamie!
I've always thought I would leave my kids with at least 5 dishes to cook at home. They also need to know the basics of cleaning – toilets, floors and clothes! My top 5 dishes are:-
Spaghetti Bolognese
Tuna Pasta
Chicken Casserole
Meat and 3 veg
Stir Fry
I love him. My husband doesn't mind that I ignore him when Jamie's show is on the tele and he lets me buy all his books. He's a good man….and my husband ain't bad either.
๐
I have put my name down to volunteer. I believe in the cause.
I love the whole teach your kids to cook. I have three children still living at home (the oldest two are adult uni students, the youngest is a 17 year old boy) and we all cook now. When we all drag ourselves in at 5 or 5.30 pm after a hard day of work / study we get volunteers to cook. Wonderful idea.
My five things their dad taught them to cook:
Spaghetti Bolognese
Lasanga (and they all prefer to make the pasta from scratch)
A good roast anything with real gravy
Home made chicken schnitzel (or parma on a good day)
Stir Fry anything that's handy and real fried rice.
They all also make a mean omelet or poached egg.
I'm a little jealous that you got to go to this! I would have loved to hear Jamie speak about his work. What a great opportunity. I'm definately a fan of his Ministry of Food movement!
I Love Jamie too ( "oooooohhhh Your boyfriends on the telly" as the hubby likes to point out – I secretly think he is my husbands boyfriend too!)So Jealous… I so wanted to go last night but a headache won out! At least 5 things I cook each week are from my library of J O's cookbooks. Go Jamie! Go GOOD FOOD!
Pip – do you know if Jamie has plans to link up with Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden project in schools? Now there would be a powerful partnership!!!
I love this project so much! Found about it after discovering his book (by the same name) at our local library and right away signed to be a volunteer when they'll get to Adelaide one day. I admire his efforts with children nutrition education.
Watch this when you have the time. I think It's mind blowing: Jamie Oliver – Nugget experiment epic failure
yes i TOTALLY do think it is GREAT advice!
all kids should be able to have a go at cooking.
and to be able to leave home with that skill (and hopefully be able to enjoy it too!) is SUCH a gift to give your children.
GO JAMIE!!!
GO PIP!
xx
Yay for Jamie, I say! My 8 yo son has already been 'turned on' to cooking because of him. We love making his spaghetti and meatballs , and chicken stroganoff from his Ministry of food book.
– Melinda
What a great thing to see. I love the 5 recipe idea!