Jamie Olivers rant about packed lunches.

[misdee]

LONDON (Reuters) - Jamie Oliver, the television chef famous for his crusade to improve school dinners, lashed out at parents on Thursday over the food they give to their children.

Speaking at the launch of his new TV programme, Oliver said 70 percent of packed lunches in were "disgraceful" and he would like to see them banned.

He said the decisions parents made regarding the diets of their children
were sometimes just plain wrong.
"I've spent two years being politically correct about parents but it's time to say, if you're giving your young kids fizzy drinks, you're an a*hole and a tosser," Oliver said.

"If you give them bags of crisps, you're an idiot. If you aren't cooking them a hot meal, sort it out."

Oliver said headteachers were too frightened of some parents to tell them what they should give their child to bring to school.

He was particularly critical of parents who give their children Red Bull an energy drink when they are tired, saying it was not much better than giving them a line of cocaine.

Oliver's new programme, "Jamie's Return to School Dinners", is a follow-up to his successful Channel 4 series on improving school meals.

anyhting else aithc?

aitch71 sorry if you found it offensive , i didn't really articulate what i meant well, i htink JO comments inspire/worry people who already know what kids should eat and are probably trying really hard to do the right hting, i am not convinnced that his shows/comments actually change the way people who give red bull to their kids think ! but any mumsnetters who have had their ways changed by JO please come on the thread now and prove me wrong.

Trust me. In many secondary school, the food was barely edible. JO makes a TV porgramee, does some "public soapboxing". Now it has to be at least edible. As I say, more power to his elbow.

mummydoc, how do you know that the only parents JO 'inspires / gets worried about their kids nutrition are the anxious middle class parents who most likely are already doing hteir best for their children.'? Stuff from his programmes gets into the tabs and then becomes a talking point for loads of different people. It's a bit rude to suggest that only middle class parents worry about the health of their children.
And how do you get to the conclusion that JO 'doesn't help' improve families commitment to cooking or eating together?
I think it's good that a celebrity chef who has the ear of the tabloids/government sounds off about important health issues that affect us all. Hats off to him, he's done more to directly improve kids meals than anyone else in recent times - from prompting changes in investment and govt policy to writing books to make cooking at home more fun etc.

programme

and other corrections!

mummydoc, the socio-economic profile of mumsnet being what it is, i don't know if we get a lot of red bull types on here. you're preaching to the choir on that one, i'm afraid.

aithc71 thanks for the smile - kinda makes my point really , lots of people on here think he is great ( and we are all entitled to our opinions)and try hard to follow his reccommendations . please someone ( any socioeconomic class) come and tell me that JO has made them really change the way they feed their kids.......
i do fully agree he has made goverment change funding to schools for lunches to improve but hsn't it been shown recently that numbers who have lunches is rapidly falling as the kids are taking in lunch boxes full of crap instead..if their parents really sat up and take notice of JO then that would not be happening

I am allowed to think Jamie Oliver is a tosser

Ok, so numbers may be falling. But does that mean the meals shouldn't have been improved?

and welshmum i never said "JO doesn't help families commitment ot eating together" i just pondered how often he practises what he preaches...if people constantly see him on tv in shool kitchens , in his camper van, in 15 teahcing youngsters to cook ( very admirable wonder how much that earn't him) you can hardle blame people for htinking "well he never seems ot eat with his kids why should we" again someone please come on and tell me they know for a fact he is at home 1-2 nights a week or sunday lunch eating with his family.

and ask LadttophamHat, I said this morning it would only be a matter of time before it was mentioned that middle class mummies feed their children better food anyway...mass generalisation mumsnet i am going to start calling it

And I bet for a lot of people whose children are entitled to free school meals, he HAS changed the way their children eat, at least for part of the day.

Mummydoc for that government funding change alone how can you dislike him so much?
And I think changes in attitude happen more gradually. OK maybe there is a certain demographic watching his programmes but eventually, through what the papers write and how the chattering classes respond and government moves things do filter out to all bits of society. Just look at how Walkers crisps responded so that although some parents don't know it they are now giving their kids less salt. It's not all down to JO but he was a pretty gobby front man.

oh yes because people who get free school dinners couldnt possibly have the brains to cook something nutrious for little money
sheesh

Amen! Go Jamie.

Does it really take a rocket science to know that giving kids a bunch of crap to eat can influence their behaviour and weight?

Um, no, because their children have a better meal at school than they did before.

For those people who have commented on JO being a celeb who doesn't work like other chef's or spend time sitting down to family dinners with the kids.

I urge you to read his biography obviously since it's written by him it may not all be true but he worked hard to get where he is now he's been through collage and university and worked shitty jobs to get the experience and qualifictions he needs.

He also seems (again could be an act) to be a very family orientated man who has apparently turned down alot of t.v work to spend maximum time with Jool's and the kids.

I guess you wither love himor hate him! Like Marmite really.

Right Jamie right. Bag of crisps = idiot. I just don't think this helps tbh. Hes right about Red Bull etc, but really its not gonna get pple onside calling them arseholes and idiots. And the generalisations get my back up I agree.

He has a learning disability as well, which makes reading challenging for him.

I think he is genuinely a family man who probably realises his time as a celeb who can earn loads of money and have the ear of government to make a difference is going to be short-lived so he might as well get on with it.
I have only one anecdote in support of him being a good bloke and that is the comfort he offered to the family of someone who worked for one of his suppliers (and I'm talking ordinary veg man here - not millionaire) Let's just say tragedy hit them hard and he was lovely in response. I won't do the details as it's not my story to tell.
I don't think it's helpful to judge someone's credentials as a family person unless you have hard facts.

sallystrawberry - was it JO who made you more aware of nutrition ? and no i do think school meals needed desparate improvement and yes i agree JO got that but it is so much more than just that, the parents have to want to change what the kids are eating and that needs a huge investment from the goverment. There needs to be education for children and parents, affordable good quality food, more effort made to enable parents to work flexible so they can be home to cook meals, we need as a country to get a way from the inertia that seems to be preverlant around a lot of parenting issues , MNs often state "you are the mother" when people are having problems with hteir kids . This is the key put parents back in charge , give then the knowledge , the financial were with all and the support and maybe more kids would eat better... but that means goveremtn investment and that is not as sexy/vote winning for Tony Blair as being pictured applauding a young celeb chef for making him realise turkey twizzlers have no nutritinal value.

Jamie Oliver is a pain and does it all for the cameras.

Ive seen him in action and he comes over all great and nicey nicey on camera and swears like a trooper and a complete pratt off the cameras.

Grrrrrrr.

hw worked for his dad in his dads restaraunt didnt he?