Webchat with Jamie Oliver - 12.30pm Tuesday 12 May

[BojanaMumsnet]

We’re pleased to announce that Jamie Oliver will be joining us for a webchat tomorrow. No stranger to Mumsnet, the father of four, chef, author and campaigner is back as he promotes Food Revolution Day on 15 May. Jamie is campaigning for children to be educated about food, asking for practical food education to be part of the school curriculum across the G20 countries. You can read more about the campaign and sign the petition here.

Do join us on the day here for a live discussion from 12.30 tomorrow but if you can’t make it, leave your question for Jamie on this thread. As ever, please remember our webchat guidelines.

Thanks
MNHQ

Hello Jamie,

Another vote for a children's cook book.

I own all of your books already apart from Ministry of Food, which was 'borrowed' & I cant afford to replace yet Are you bringing out any this year?

My other question is how to get a 6 year old to actually eat fruit / vegetables. He refuses, and my other 2 eat whatever they are given, so I cant understand. Its a huge issue in this house, and I really would like to try something that may help (blending / pureeing / hiding / coaxing doesn't work, so please not any of those!)

Also just wanted to say, you taught me how to cook, way back with Jamie's Dinners /Italian, and I continue to be inspired through your books. Huge fan, and I love your work

Hi Jamie-

Thanks for all the work you have done to increase awareness of healthy eating in schools.

I'm one of those awful pushy PTA moms at a inner London primary school. 80% of our children are classified in the lowest categories of social deprivation and in excess of 50% qualify for FSM. Breakfast can be an ice lolly and dinner a box of chips.

Our kids are desperate for practical cooking lessons and it has been their top request for any work the PTA does. Our Heads are would love to offer increased opportunity to cook for the students and to link cooking with other subjects. I would love to help provide this for the school. So, as you can see, we're already sold on your idea for practical food education.

But how are we going to do it? We don't have the money or the space. (I'm currently shopping for a double decker bus to house the library that we lost 2 years ago)

So when you're done kicking ass with your petition, how can you help all of us make it happen?

Thanks

Hi Jamie

Any tips for getting a 12 year old boy to eat more healthily? My son's always been a fussy eater, and now that he's at secondary school and has access to a rather junky snack bar in the canteen, seems to eat little but crisps and bright green energy drinks. He's quite sporty and healthy so he's not seeing any immediate problem with it. Having been a 12 year old boy yourself what's the best way to persuade him to eat the odd piece of fruit, veg or protein while at school?

We do eat reasonably healthily at home, although he is a fussy little blighter and does love things that are covered in breadcrumbs.

Thanks

Hi Jamie,

As a pregnant coeliac disease sufferer I am concerned about my child's school dinners growing up. For those who eat gluten free know how difficult it is to go out for meals etc, I fear in school choices (if any) will be poor.

Do you intend to tackle/ educate about food allergies?

Also, my birthday is coming up and I have always wanted to visit one of your restaurants.. do you cater for gluten free? please please please do!

We love your 15 min meals (dc favourite is the chicken Ceasar, mine is the Swedish meatballs), and have done all the gluten free meals (and some others with adaptations)- how about a gluten free cookbook?

Agree with peopl above that it all goes to pot in the teenage years- what hungry 15 year d can resist doughnuts for 50p in greggs, less than that in lidl! How do you feel about a sugar tax?

Hello Jamie
THANK YOU for coming on Mumsnet

Anyway, my question is how can I encourage the DCs to eat more fruit?
They're not short of veg as a rule but I"m not that big a fruit fan - we buy apples and bananas. I have 4 Dcs and it just seems like a bit of a faff.

As an aside am a massive fan of both your cooking and your wife's fab clothes for all of my DC.

We particularly love the 30 and 15 min cooks (though I do remember having a slightly stroppy moment thinking "It's alright for Jamie Oliver, he doesn't have an outpost of the PontyPandy fire station in HIS kitchen which is why this only takes 15 minutes!")

We made you beer chicken at the weekend - the first time in my life a recipe has looked like the picture (I got so excited I tagged you in my instagram)

Thanks again - think you're doing great things, have signed your petition and will share.

Hello Jamie,

Any chance of you writing a cookbook for families and schools of children who need medically specialised diets? I don't personally have any children suffering from this, but I have seen the diet sheets given out in hospitals to other kids and they make your heart sink. Lots of tins and packets and so on, and little about the joy of food. If there was a lovely colourful Jamie-style book with sections on diets for children with renal failure, diabetes, coeliac disease and so on, I am sure this would be warmly welcomed. Go on, you know you want to.

Thanks,
BoffinMum x

test

Hello

Should be getting underway any minute now - just waiting for Jamie to arrive.

Hello Rowan - will MNHQ be providing the biscuits, or are you hoping Jamie will bring something delicious?

Hi Mumsnet

Mr Oliver here. With you for the next hour and looking forward to answering your questions.

Hi Jamie,
I think that one of the major problems you're up against here is that schools generally see food tech/catering as a lesser subject.
Ds1 is taking GCSE Catering this Summer and despite complaints from both parents and students they have not been timetabled double lessons which as you can imagine impacts on what they can both learn and produce in a limited time (think expensive inedible slop!)
How will you be able to tackle this?
Btw he made your tomato soup for his practical so we're expecting an A* right ??

So what's the best choice of 'fast food'? My older kids spend a lot of time out and about, but food choices seem limited to burger and chips

Oh hi by the way!! Hope you are well

@26Point2Miles

Hi Jamie!

great idea,but not enough info! I'd like to know more about how this 'food education' would be taught? what would/should be covered etc.

would it be aimed at older children too.....my own (5) kids ate well whilst I was in charge of the menu,but as soon as they have their own money and are off to college it all somehow goes wrong

Hi 26Point2Miles

First of all the petition is to get G20 governments to commit to arming our very young children who go to school 190 days a year from the age of 4 to 18 with the relevant life skills to know the bare basics about food and where it comes from and how it affects their bodies. Of course if you want to get into the specifics of what that might look like - that's a massive email. For the last 6 years I've been innovating the primary school syllabi of what should be taught. But in short let's not complicate something very very simple - growing stuff, cooking stuff and enjoying eating it as a group. And through that journey, finding as many excuses as possible to recognise foods, enjoy foods and of course enjoy all of the other subjects, maths, history biology geography through food. Ultimately when diet-related disease is the biggest preventable cause of death in the country and one in four kids leave primary school overweight or obese, for me and for most parents, food education in schools is essential, logical and just the right thing.

Absolutely! I forsee lots more school trips to farms and garden centres then! That's not a bad thing.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

Hi Jamie - I absolutely agree that children need to learn the basics of cooking. I believe that, if someone learns the basic techniques and vocabulary of cooking (ie. when a recipe says dice this, rub this in, cream this, or saute that, or seal the meat - what does that actually mean), then they can pick up a cook book and follow the recipes far more easily than if they don't understand the terms or have the basic skills.

Do you see this working in tandem with other areas of the curriculum? Ie. maths lessons could look at basic budgeting - to show the children how best to spend their money, to get a healthy diet.

Hi there. The last question has covered a few of your questions. Forgive me if you know this already but how collateral or resources work in schools is that the government set the ciriculum and then multiple commercial companies and/or teachers create the content that fulfil that ciriculum, and they're all trying to get into schools to create that content.

So you're absolutely right - it's important the kids learn about budgeting and nutrition as well as cooking and ultimately make good food relevant to them where they live and accessible.

And also, not to footgear the last time I checkd 70% of 11-13 year olds come home to empty home and fix themselves some supper. So it's just sensible life skills.

@Spirael

Hi Jamie. Excellent idea, but I'm a bit worried the lessons might involve further demonization of food types (i.e. that all fat/sugar/salt is bad) instead of educating about how to use the different forms in moderation for a healthy, balanced diet. How would you get this message across?

I would also be interested to know whether the lessons would include teaching how to understand food labels, so young people can make informed decisions when facing food erroneously advertising itself as a healthy option.

Hi Spirael

On a personal level and professional level being explicit and clear and also fair and relevant to kids is super super important. Too much salt is bad -fact. But using a little to make to enjoy and love veggies and whole nutritious foods is great. So you're right we need to teach where the line is but to be honest, just cooking fresh foods and whole foods and referencing growing, farming, seasons, and the joy that is cooking normally sorts out a lot of the issues with fat salt and sugar because they are often used to excess in processed foods. But I'm with you 100% on your point.

@icklekid

Hi Jamie,

Had a fantastic time with my class last year for food revelation day they got so much out of it and loved food they had never tried before. Sadly don't work fridays post maternity leave can next years be on a Monday please?

Hi icklekid. Thank you for getting involved. Sign it and share it, and you've done your bit this year! You can now access the Jamie's lesson video at anytime.

Ooh thought of another quick question

Spiralisers - FAB or FAD?

Maybe we should be sending kids home with a decent dinner to heat up for themselves if they are facing empty homes and a microwaved pizza every night.

Jamie
"70% of 11-13 year olds come home to empty home and fix themselves some supper".

That can't be right, surely? Do you mean a snack or their evening meal?

@Cauliflowersneeze

Were you responsible for the demise of Turkey twizzellers

Is so , what was so wrong with them ? theywerelush

Hi Cauliflowersneeze

Probably! Or more responsible for the reformulation and improvement of the Turkley twizzlers, which they did later on. It wasn't really intentional but they became a metaphor for the way that we fed our children in schools aka a product like that which essentially is a sausage would normally have 4 or 5 ingredients. When I looked on the ingredient deck of most of the foods being trayed up and served to the kids the ingredients list was so long the quality of the produce was outrageous. It looked like a NASA science lesson. I didn't even know what mechanically reclaimed meat was and I knew that I didn't want to feed my kids MSG. I think that 5 ingredient product that as I knew as a sausage was a 40 or 50 ingredient product and I knew that something just wasn't right. Ultimately it was about if the Government is going to feed your children 190 days a year for possibly breakfast and lunch then we best do it right. There should be standards which at that time, didn't exist. Prisoners had nutritional standards and dog food had really robust nutritional standards but our children didn't so I knew that wasn't right.

The worlds a better place without Turkey twizzlers!

Hear hear 26.2