Los Angeles Doesn't Want Jamie Oliver's Revolution

Food Revolution—previously filmed in West Virginia, where it was proven that lunch ladies are every bit as terrifying as you thought—has been given the boot from the LA school district which doesn’t need Jamie’s help, OKAY?

Update: Actually, I want to include an excerpt from the rejection letter released by the superintendent’s office:

“Our feeling was that his time would be better spent or invested in other communities,” the superintendent’s office said Friday in a letter to Ryan Seacrest’s TV company, which produces the show.

“While we appreciate your interest in our school meal program, we believe our direct work with nutrition experts, health advocates, the community, schools and students is the most effective strategy for our continued success and improvement,” the letter said.

Having spent some time teaching in the LA Unified School District, I can say that at least in my experience — and it was a few years ago, to be fair — the district could use some help, and I sincerely doubt that things have drastically improved. Maybe Oliver’s TV cameras aren’t the right strategy for LAUSD, and they certainly won’t help with any image problems with which the district might be dealing. But Oliver’s program at least raised awareness in the West Virginia community served by the school district, and it’d likely do the same for a lot of LAUSD’s families. Whatever the reason for rejecting Oliver (and there are plenty of good reasons, sure) the district’s “effective strategy” was not, in my experience, effective at all, and I’m curious as to how the district defines “continued success.” Because it’s sure as hell not reintroducing on-campus soda machines.