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New York, 6:23 AM
Fri Nov 27
2 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/10/09
It does take more time to do that, but grains and legumes are very inexpensive.
10/10/09
10/10/09
True. You do need to get to a supermarket.
It's mostly about ignorance, though. We had a supermarket just up the street when I was growing up, but that didn't stop my neighbors from feeding their toddler Orange Crush in a bottle.
Even middle class people can be utterly clueless about nutrition. I just had a friend call and ask me which foods have protein in them. Really?!
10/10/09
I always think of soups when people kvetch about cooking from scratch. Buy a bunch of lentils or split peas, and then all you really need is carrots, celery, and an onion to make dinner. Stock holds, as do spices. So really, if you prepare, all you need are those three easily-found veg items to make soup any given night.
The thing is -- I don't think people know how to make soup unless it's with a can opener. I don't think this is their fault (tinned soup seems cheap and easy, until you realize you can make about four tins' worth from scratch for the same price), but there's absolutely no reason that "soup from scratch" should be a lost art.
10/10/09
And it takes time and energy and some creativity to cook. If you're working full time and raising kids, possibly by yourself, making a nutritious cheap meal might be a time investment you don't want to make.
10/10/09
I think the trick is that people THINK that it's going to take them masses of time and energy, and there's the chance that the end result might taste bad. Food in a can has a certain market-tested guarantee: even if it's technically bad for you, it's stayed on the shelves by tasting good.
There's a huge gap in both education and confidence; people need to learn how to make from-scratch food, and have to do enough of it to feel confident about fixing any errors that might crop up.
10/11/09
10/11/09
But this is exactly the sort of hurdle I think is the problem -- the idea that you have to eat what you cook immediately, or that 3 hours must take place on a night when you're exhausted after a full day at work. So it's part know-how, but part getting your brain around scheduling. Set aside Sunday morning to make a stew or soup and then eat it on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Throw a chicken breast in a marinade at 8am, then toss it right into the oven for a 40-minute cook time that evening while you feed your baby. It requires more scheduling than prepackaged foods, but once you're over that hurdle, it's much more routine than you'd think. Especially when you get your head around active and passive cooking time.
And when you have a free afternoon, use it to make freezer-friendly foods and then chuck them in.
10/10/09
There are plenty of people he DOESN'T convert, of course. I'm thinking of the parents who came to the school at noon to feed their kids fish and chips through the fence, and Turkey Twizzler fans. But he does really try every angle to appeal to both parents and kids -- and it's horribly sad to see a kid get excited, only to later hear the parent didn't want to put in the effort.
Jamie's economically-minded, conscious of time commitment and will run himself ragged trying to get this done. He's fabulous.
(Clearly, he converted me.)
10/09/09
[www.youtube.com]
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10/10/09
[www.youtube.com]
He called this lady a "big fat scrubber" (for sneaking her kids burgers, I think) on TV, and yet he charms her in her kitchen.
10/09/09
10/09/09
While you're there, would you like to also tackle the massive economic problems that West Virginia and Western Virginia face, since it's clear to most people that health, food, and all of that is very heavily tied into socio-economic status? Could you maybe address the fact that in a single parent household where the parent can't make ends meet because they're consistently on a "temporary" lay off from the factory and have to work several extra jobs, "convenience" is more than just a fun buzz word? Or maybe the idea that while it's all well and good to talk about how it's not THAT expensive to eat healthy, it's still more expensive for less quantity of food than it would be to buy pre-packaged mixes and frozen pizzas?
Could we talk about that? Because my church just started a program to try to help the kids in my town whose parents are so broke they can't afford to feed their kids over the weekend, and more than 10% of the school has signed up because things are THAT BAD. And when you can't afford to give your kids anything and have to ask strangers for handouts, you sure as hell aren't sitting around thinking about much beyond "are my kids getting food at all tonight."
Could we address this fact for once, Mr. Oliver? Could we really talk about it? Or must I sit through more people acting like eating perfect, organic, healthy Farmer's market produce is just one of those things everybody can just decide to start doing and they just don't know they should?
10/09/09
In many of the episodes he emphasizes cost, and discusses the fact that, calorie for calorie, healthy food can be had for the same price, and often for even less than processed food.
As a former food bank employee, we often shared this fact with the people we gave food to.
While whole foods like potatoes, may not last as long as a bag of frozen fries, they are both cheaper and healthier.
That instant freezer pizza ($5 minimum) could be turned into a cheesy baked potatoes with brocolli feast in the microwave in less time than it takes to bake that pizza.
The biggest barrier for the patrons at that food bank was not knowing how.
10/10/09
He's not going to tell anyone to go all-organic or buy special wash to rinse off pesticides. Truly, he's got an eye on money, time and access. This isn't a Sandra Lee charlatan, he really works himself to the bone to customize his strategy.
The fact is, tons and tons of people don't know how to cook at all. You could range a variety of raw foods out in front of them, and they'd have no idea how to assemble a meal. That's what he's tackling, more than anything else.
10/10/09
But I do feel it's an important point that almost every media source is ignoring. My teacher made me lividly angry the other day because I'm hearing reports from my hometown about these people not having bread, let alone being able to afford home-baked farmer's market fresh bread every other day, and he's telling us not to eat anything with more than five ingredients and to start boycotting corn and corn-fed meat. And even if Oliver himself is about more than that, the articles discussing him mostly aren't.
10/10/09
It's an extremely complex issue, and while there is room for a variety of foods in most budgets, including my own strapped cash flow, and I applaud you for helping people discover the best ways to find those places to spend a little extra, at the same time most of the time when people make these comparisons to me, the processed food they're buying is more expensive than I've ever seen it.
One thing I do applaud Oliver for is campaigning for healthier school lunches. I think that actually is one of the top places where we can really change the lives of children whose parents are struggling, because if the school serves them a healthy breakfast and lunch, it goes a long way towards helping the child and the family. Which is why my church started this program, to help these kids take home full meals to feed them over the weekend, plus snacks, so their parents didn't have to worry about it and would know their children have good food. But in the end, there's a very unhealthy attitude in this country that people who are poor and struggling could feed their kids better if they wanted to, and sometimes that just isn't true, and it's an attitude that certainly isn't helping anybody.
10/10/09
The deal in the UK is that he had to figure out how to produce meals for almost the same budget the crap school dinners were taking. I'm sure he'll take the same general approach with the US -- find out the budget and resource limitations and then adapt.
10/09/09
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10/09/09
I think he's got his work cut out for him here. Consider that the town he's working in is best known for a 15-pound burger that you get for free if you pound it down in 6 minutes or less. But I have faith in the Naked Chef. He seems like good people. And the fact that people did not ride him out of town on a rail is encouraging.
10/09/09
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10/10/09
But I did read an article where someone from the town specifically said they were tired of the stereotypes from movies like Wrong Turn and they didn't want any more of that.
10/10/09
So I think he really is sensitive to the stereotypes, and I think as long as he has editing rights and such, I don't think the show will go the route you fear...
10/09/09
In the NYT piece there was a part that stayed with me, where the author more or less says that the people in the Town Hall seem so prepped and excited about the TV thing. The fame aspect of it, with both its good and bad aspects. Like how they all seem so ready for the cameras to start rolling and how one mother even asks (cluelessly) if Jamie can hear her daughter sing. Much of it, in the end, will be entertainment for the masses, and I wonder if Oliver is somehow setting himself up for failure in that particular aspect.
However, I think this will be pretty interesting. I was surprised when I read the NYT article because he comes off as incredibly grounded and aware of the challenges ahead. He's not deluding himself. He's not asking for anything crazy either. He simply has lofty ideas about community, health, and how the social aspect of food is interwoven in that. And I think that's much of the problem nowadays, isn't it? That we forget that eating is a multidimensional activity that affects different aspects of our lives, individually and as a society.
10/09/09
Obesity ASIDE, heavily processed food, much of meat we consume and the consumption of sugar--none of these do our health any favors. Obesity is just one of the problems that arise from an unhealthy diet.
Poverty plays such a huge role in this problem. You have parents (many single women) working overtime to keep their families afloat, you have riskier neighborhoods where children are not always able to run around outside, and access to fresh anything is slim to none. You can't address the problem before addressing this underlying issue.
I think what he's doing is fabulous. Hey, even if you get people turning to, say, frozen vegetables more, I say that's a good thing.
07/16/09
07/15/09
07/15/09
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/07/15/jay-barrymore-emma-watsons-boyfriend/
07/15/09
07/15/09
My small worlds, colliding. Tis an odd feeling.
07/15/09
So basically, I'm jealous that you have a local Waitrose and seeing the logo on the bags makes my mouth water. I love Emma Watson...but that logo--omigosh! But, it is really cool that your Waitrose is right up there on the webpage with Emma on it. Weird too, I'm sure.
07/16/09