Jamie Oliver: it's time we stop feeding this crocodile
There is a war taking place in the English county of Yorkshire right now, albeit a rather bloodless one, in which battle lines are being clearly drawn out. On the one side (my side) we have two sensible mums, Julie Critchlow and Sam Walker, their enemy is the self-serving, unelected political reptile, millionaire Jamie Oliver.Winston Churchill once said, appeasement was 'a bit like feeding a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last'. This is precisely what Tony Blair's government has done; it's appeased this overpaid cook and his army of dinner-ladies at every turn. The ease in which the authorities fell over themselves to jump on board Oliver's bogus 'revolution' should have been enough to set alarm bells going. Now it looks as if Oliver's political crusade is going flat, and about to backfire on him, and the authorities.
Ok, I admit that I'm slightly egging it up here, and so too are the Yorkshire mums Critchlow and Walker, but the reaction to the antics of the mothers warrants critical investigation. They are being portrayed and spoken of as if they were some kind of moral lepers, health campaigners have called the pair 'shameful and disgusting', A spokesman from Jamie Oliver has even accused the mothers of trying to 'shorten kids' lives', and you think I'm going over the top? On Oliver's show last night, he openly admitted he wanted more of a 'nanny state' approach to dealing with the 'a***holes and t***ers' (aka parents) who give their kids such horrible things as crisps and fizzy drinks.
The truth is, it's the government, and Jamie Oliver that view parents as 'a***holes and t***ers' who's only crime is to give their kids food that they like, and more importantly, will eat. Britain, under New Labour is certainly getting to be more conservative, more draconian and prejudice is rife. It’s only a matter of time before Jamie orders Blair to send in the ‘packed-lunch police’ to search the school kids for any hidden Mars bars or the like.
Picture: From 'feed me better school dinners'. Jamie Oliver website
posted by Courtney Hamilton @ 5:03 PM
5 Comments:
Rebuttal on my site
It explains a lot where the spoilt brats are coming from if the parents are endangering their children because they do not want to eat their vegetables one meal in the day.
You can imagine them going home and moaning that they had to eat vegetables for dinner and the parents demanding there kids be fed dangerous fatty foods instead.
It is mind boggling that some parents can be so dense.
I'm unsure on this issue.I see Jamie as part of the Blair government's imposition of middle class values and culture on the rest of us who just don't fit their puritanical, skinny norms. But at the same time, the fast food industry (and the related agribusiness and supermarket industries) and shit public sector food procurement policies are fucking up our kids.
Of course, Jamie plays both sides of the game: taking money from Sainsburys to give its corporate aura a healthier glow, while slagging of twizzlers on TV. (And Channel 4 plays both sides too: watch the kids' junkfood ads on in the early daytime.)
But some of the issues Jamie raises - food miles and local purchasing, the impact of competitive tendering on public services, the poor quality of the ingredients in lots of what we eat - are dead important.
Not my battle, but you have to admire their cussedness
Hi Bob,
"But some of the issues Jamie raises - food miles and local purchasing, the impact of competitive tendering on public services, the poor quality of the ingredients in lots of what we eat - are dead important."
There is truth in what you say here, the problem I have is, there is no real evidence to suggest that school meals are bad for our kids. Ok... I'd be the first to admit that school dinners ain't all that tasty - but to say that they are detrimental to your health is way off mark.
School dinners never did me any harm - nor did any packed lunch I ever had. The thing is, Jamie and the government think they know what's best for other peoples childrens. If Jamie wants to give his kids carrots and spinach for lunch that's fine, no-one should have the right to tell him otherwise.
Nevertheless, Jamie, just because he's an overpaid cook, thinks he has the right to tell a nation of loving parents what they can or can't feed their own kids.
The banning of fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate is interfering, draconian and just plain over the top. There's nothing wrong with schools providing decent meals for kids at lunch, but in a free society, we should at least let parents decide what their own kids can and cannot eat.
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