Jamie Oliver webchat, Thursday 29 August, 2.45pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

We're chuffed that Jamie Oliver is paying a return visit to Mumsnet this Thursday. His first MN webchat was back in 2010.

Jamie has a new book out, Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less (all subjects dear to MNers' hearts). It has 100 brand-new recipes designed to be accessible, reliable and, above all, affordable.

This is what Jamie says about his new book: "For years I have been telling people that if you look back through history, the best food in the world has always come from communities under massive financial pressure. But the proviso is that you MUST be able to cook! If you can't, and have no money, that is where the trouble starts. This is a cook book which, from start to finish has tasty recipes, all dedicated to great value, is a brilliant weapon to have on the shelf, and is relevant to every household. If you use this book the way it's intended, you should end up saving a wodge of cash from your wallet."

And to tie in with the book, he has a new six-part series on Channel 4 starting on Monday 2 Sept at 8pm.

Please post your question and join Jamie for a chat at 2.45pm on Thurs.

[HoneyDragon]

Mumsnet already does what Jamie and others have admitted they can't. And it does. It well.

[swallowedAfly]

the 'right things' being what?

that half a takeaways cost = budget statement still has me stunned.

given a takeaway is making a profit and paying staff and overheads factored into their prices i should think you can bloody half the price especially if you don't count your time and overheads. what a nonsense. who's bright idea was to equate 50% of the retail price of a takeaway to budget living?

let's face it you can halve a takeaway price by buying the equivalent in a supermarket on a meal deal and heating it yourself with a free bottle of wine thrown in. is that budget?

[mignonette]

Limited perfectly said.

Am at the 'starf*ing that goes on in our society and the totally facile retorts that 'we are merely jealous' when we ask tough questions and express our views.

It is okay for a powerful celebrity to express personal views in the media but not okay for us to use our forum to do the same and to take the opportunity to make our anger and indeed disgust very clear to Mr Oliver and his no doubt highly rewarded PR team.

JO could have conducted his interview without laying into what appears to be a great proportion of society. He got overexcited and garrulous and ran away at the mouth. The only problem is that when a celebrity is this cruel and over generalising, great swathes of stupid people take it as gospel.

JO says he has 'seen'. He sees what people take him to see, what his researchers take him to see. These decisions are based upon what makes shock and awe TV because everything he does is based upon a self aggrandising TV show. Everything.

And i'd like to see him going back to Italy/Spain/Greece/Portugal to tell them how to eat, work harder and how their young can be less 'embarrassing' to look at. What is the level of youth unemployment in Spain ATM and public take up of food banks and feeding initiatives as detailed in yesterdays New Statesman?

JO doesn't care. As long as the tapas keeps on coming, he's pukka.

[wordfactory]

I think there's a limit to what MN tips and recipes can do, to be honest.

Sure it's great, but it's very limited, no?

First, MN is very middle class. Those living in second/third generation unemployment don't really come here. Many don't have internet access.

Second, it's mostly women here and in lots of poor communities the men are unemployed and do the shopping etc.

What MN can do and does do very well is help those seeking help. But the sad reality is that the real change needs to happen where people are not seeking help. Where poverty, obesity, lack of education is the norm. It has now become part of the culture.

[Thaumatrope]

Missed the chat yesterday but my question got answered (thanks).

So a person starting a store cupboard from nothing needs olive oil, balsamic, chillies, cloves and fennel seeds.

It just goes to show, if you have nothing and are going to invest in a store cupboard which will help you make tasty food, you are always going to be limited initially and not able to cook a lot of recipes which are put forward as being ultra cheap.

Wouldn't it be useful to have a basic guide to what to buy to get you started? (I really don't think I'd have cloves and fennel seeds on that list personally but I did ask a chef the question, I suppose.)

[Thaumatrope]

I got a bit of a bashing on the other thread for saying that most of our population could find a way of getting cheap spices etc from an ethnic supermarket....but I am pissing myself at the idea of nicking herbs from 'any park' - dear GOD does your park have herbs, Jamie?!?!?! Ours has, well, no herbs. It's not a dogshit and needle strewn public park, either. That is really quite spectacularly out of touch.
However I still maintain that anyone can grow herbs in a tin can for a couple of quid outlay if they want to.

[Sallystyle]

I missed the chat. Is there anywhere where you can read it?

[Thaumatrope]

Just scroll down, this is the chat thread

[Sallystyle]

Duh! nevermind

[ubik]

Guys, what we got was a TV chef promoting his book. This book is aimed at families with a reasonable income who are annoyed that petrol has gone up, are finding the power bills are eating into the holiday budget. not folk who are giving their children jaffa cakes and penny sweets for Christmas dinner because it's the only way they know/can afford to 'treat' them.

We have plenty of elected representatives in the House of Commons who apparently have the power to help the marginalised and vulnerable.

This is a poverty issue, this is about the widening gap between rich and poor in this society. Fannying about with some lentils and kidney beans is not going to help these people.

[JessMumsnet]

@NatashaBee

Someone on the other thread suggested that Mumsnet should invite Jack Monroe (agirlcalledjack.com/) for a webchat instead - I would really like to see her as a webchat guest.

We're pleased to say that Jack has agreed to come on for a webchat sometime soon. So, watch this space!

In the meantime, do check out this great guest blog she did for us on food banks.

[HoneyDragon]

Wordfactory totally agree with everything you've said.

But what Jamie is using to can in is here for free, and that's great.

And yes, it would be better to see Jamie haranguing the government and big business rather than some poor sod who let him in their living room.

[Arisbottle]

Add message | Report | Message poster usualsuspect Thu 29-Aug-13 16:18:06
Then he shouldn't have used that womans lifestyle to promote his book.If he wasn't aiming it at the plebs

He should have targeted a wealthy family who eat expensive takeaways.

I agree with usual, I think the book should have been targeted at those with a relatively good income who want to reduce their foodbill - the squeezed middle - a phrase I loathe but it seems apt here.

I am thinking about giving up work and so even though we will still be n a good income we will need to make cutbacks, it sounds like this book would be suited to us rather than someone on the poverty line.

[ubik]

Yes Sainsbury's and Channel 4 advertisers (who will be buying space in the breaks during his show) are not interested in getting people to buy bog-standard basics. They want the sonsumer to think: "ah yes, pomegranate mollasses, that will make my austerity porridge much more bearable in the mornings (when I don't get a mcmuffin) I'll just pop to the supermarket to get some..."

[ringaringarosy]

I dont think his show/book,or any of the ones like it is aimed at those on a super tight budget,its for those who are maybe just looking to save money but still eat interesting gourmet food.

The thing is,MOST people do have more than 10 a week to spend on food!so theres not going to be many books or shows out there for those people who are really really struggling!

You know when people have so much money they lose touch with reality?i think that can happen the other way too,judging by the comments on here£1.18 per person per meal IS cheap.

[mignonette]

JessMN

So glad to hear that. Will be interesting to have Jack on.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

Well I read through the answers from yesterday, and hats off to Jamie for tackling the thorny issue of what to do with a surplus of blackberries head on....

It's almost as though talking about food and how to cook it might be what he's best qualified to do, isn't it?

[Trills]

I am one of the people who would consider £1.38 per portion to be a "budget" main meal.

I realise that I am lucky that this is the case.

[Trills]

Do MN pay people to do webchats? Or do they do it without pay, because it's good publicity and they generally have something to sell?

If you sometimes pay and sometimes don't, will you be paying Jack?

[PavlovtheCat]

limitedperiodonly You have said what has been bothering me about Jamie recently, especially in light of his recent thoughts on using European immigrant workers, but have not been articulate enough to say as well as you.

[usualsuspect]

I have no objection to JO selling his book to the 'squeezed middle'

But his Big TV and use your local market comments suggested he was pitching it at the 'poor'

That's what pissed me off.

[usualsuspect]

If you read his blurb,it says the book is relevant to every household.

When it's clearly not.

[swallowedAfly]

am i right in thinking you're in the two income no children bracket trills? i should very much hope you do have enough to feed yourselves well

i think most of us know this book is aimed at the relatively well off who fancy shaving a bit off of the shopping bill either because times are a bit tighter or austerity chic has taken over.

it's a shame he needed to use scorning poor people in order to market to his audience. in the current media and political climate it is more than a shame though it is socially immoral and irresponsible.

please can we have a webchat with J K Rowling - i would love her to have a platform to talk about social responsibility and wealth and influence. she is one of very few people in a position of wealth and influence that i admire the morals and attitude of who seems to have held onto her ethics despite success.

[porbeagle]

Having skimmed the thread summarily (as want to read all when I'm able) there were some brilliant, incisive comments and questions. So far, however, I was very dismayed to see quite a high level of anti-fat prejudice going on - and Jamie Oliver has contributed to that over the years as well of course.

The reasons people become obese are actually complex. Some people have thyroid disease, for example. Some have other, genetic, conditions. Poor people without access to healthier diets become obese because of the need to survive and not starve etc. The idea people are fat because they eat too much, of the 'wrong food' and don't do enough exercise (the 'greedy and lazy' narrative) per se cannot be substantiated, despite the constant claims this is the case. There's a number of books that can educate people on this issue - because some people here DO need educating, including Jamie Oliver himself! My personal favourite is the Gard and Wright book The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology (published by Routledge). Please also be aware that fat people have been a convenient scapegoat for many years in much the way disabled and poor have been in recent years in particular.

[Trills]

I'd hope so too SAF!

£1.38 wouldn't quite stretch to a jumbo sausage and chips at my local chippy (the one with the "prison man" behind the counter, not the artisan fancy fish bar), so I can see the point of "this is cheaper than a takeaway" - he's saying it's cheaper than Chicken Cottage or fish and chips, not "cheaper than a Chinese" because I could get steak and chips and bloody mange tout for less than the cost of a nice amount of Chinese!