I don’t know of anyone who brings as much passion to the obesity problem as Jamie Oliver. He has a talent for whipping (normally docile) politicians into action for a good cause. It’s just a pity the advice Jamie is dispensing is so unlikely to change anything.
Last month, Jamie Oliver announced his first foray into correcting the diets of Australians. He plans to set up his ‘first’ Australian Ministry of Food (MoF) operation in Ipswich, just outside sunny Brisbane. The Ipswich MoF will host classes which allow up to 14,000 folk a year to sign up for (what is essentially) a home economics class once a week (over 10 weeks). The punters pay $10 for the lesson but they get to keep whatever they cook (not necessarily an advantage in my case).
Jamie’s MoF Australian ‘manifesto’, tells us that there will be an “extra 6.7 million obese Australians by 2025” and this demonstrates “an urgent need for action!” The cause (according to the Naked Chef) is that we have “a complete lack of cooking knowledge.”
Apparently cooking skills “used to be passed down” but now “women go out to work” and we no longer have compulsory cooking lessons in school. So “about two generations” have missed out on acquiring cooking skills. In a nutshell, Jamie believes that “there’s a serious lack of knowledge about food and cooking, and the result is the modern-day epidemic of obesity and bad health.”
But, will teaching “single parents, young mothers, teenagers, families and older people” to cook, fix the problem? Many more Australians (around 4 million on a good night) than will ever darken the door of Jamie’s MoF have been learning to cook over the last few years. They’ve been watching a little show called Masterchef. And just in case you don’t think anyone is paying attention, a quick look at Coles’ cash register receipts will swiftly change your mind.
The company’s sales data (as reported by Smart Company) reveals that it achieves massive sales increases on everything from pistachios (up 125%), red cabbage (up 89%) to fillet steak (up 56%) the day after the ingredients feature on the show. And the drive to cooking your own food is much stronger and deeper than that. Coles attributes much of its sales growth to people discovering that it’s cheaper to eat at home than in a restaurant (who knew?).
But figures released yesterday suggest that all that home cookery has had no visible effect on our trouser size. The Health of Queenslanders report shows 61 per cent of adults (an increase of more than 14 per cent in the preceding eight years alone) and 26.9 per cent of children in Queensland are now obese or overweight.
In 2009, Jamie established the first MoF in the Yorkshire town of Rotherham and shortly afterwards opened shop number two in nearby Bradford. The aims (and the ‘manifesto’) were almost identical to the Aussie version (which will be the third site in the world).
Rotherham was set up as part of a TV Series and then funded (to the tune of £130,000 a year) by the British Government (for two years). Bradford is costing the local council £120,000 a year. And while thousands of people have attended learn to cook classes in both places, Rotherham is clearly not convinced it’s worthwhile. In September, the government refused to commit to renewing the funding when it expires in March 2011.
There’s no obvious scientific foundation to Jamie’s claims. He doesn’t cite any studies of the relationship between cooking skills and obesity (or indeed any science which might support his case at all).
There is however plenty of science to say that sugar consumption is the cause of obesity (and much much more). Just yesterday, yet another in a long line of studies was released. This one, published in the prestigious Journal of the American Society of Nephrology reviews the recent clinical and experimental evidence and concludes that excessive amounts of fructose (one half of sugar) plays a significant role in high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease.
More than three quarters of the sugar we eat is buried in foods we would never attempt to make ourselves. Soft drinks, Breakfast Cereals, Muesli Bars, Confectionary and packages sauces and condiments. And nothing about Jamie’s program will change that reality.
Oliver’s ‘home ec’ teachers are not showing us how to replace the softdrink (or fruit juice) we have with the home cooked meal or the packaged breakfast cereal (or muesli bar) we feed the kids. They’re focused on Carrot Salad and Lemon Rice.
When Jamie does stray out of the salad aisle, things get pretty sugary, pretty fast. The Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake (featured in the Ministry of Food TV Series) serves up 120g (30 teaspoons) of sugar, 200g of Chocolate and 100g of Fudge.
There’s no plausible reason why cooking something yourself would result in weightloss and there’s no credible evidence that it does. But that hasn’t stopped the Queensland Government handing over 2.5 million taxpayer dollars to set up the MoF in Ipswich.
Jamie Oliver might as well be telling us that wearing a foil hat will reduce our waist size for all the effect the MoF is likely to have on obesity. And that’s a pity.
Oliver is a blur of energy, with an extraordinary ability to prise open government coffers in the name of health. Imagine what could be achieved if his efforts were backed by science.
Image by really short from NYC, USA (Jamie Oliver in Union Square) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
“Jamie Oliver might as well be telling us that wearing a foil hat will reduce our waist size for all the effect the MoF is likely to have on obesity. And that’s a pity.”
This really annoys me. I think his program is a great idea. People need to learn to cook, cook healthy, and see that yes you can actually make healthy food that tastes good, and yes it is cheaper then eating out. Jamie has a passion for food and if anyone can spread that he can. Will it “fix” the obesity problem in Australia? Probably not, because you still have a large number of people who frankly want easy, and fast food is easy, and lap bad is easy and excuses are easy. But at least he is DOING SOMETHING that will help a great many people. Do you expect him to educate and bring EVERYONES weight down to ideal? People need to take responsibility for their own health, this program helps them do that. Other people no matter what fantastic opportunities, programs etc are put in front of them will do nothing. I say keep trying to educate, help people help themselves, but lets not basically say your program isn’t really going to make a difference Jamie, why even try. THAT is just sad.
agreed, something is better than nothing, but it doesnt take a great deal of cooking skill to knock up steak and veggies, or most simple and healthy meals really. i cant see how teaching people to cook high-glycaemic carb-rich foods will solve anything at all. only the genetically gifted can withstand food of that nature and atleast appear slender and healthy. it is hard not to agree with the foil hat theory. government need to get fair dinkum about REAL education for the masses, not just the everything in moderation dribble and wheeling out a tv at a press conference with a recording of some scooter-collecting, mockney-accented fool that couldnt even fly out here to tell us to our faces we are too fat and that he will get us on the right track. pukka!
David,
If I recall vaguely correctly (I first heard you late night on a QLD radio station – in Victoria) you live in Queensland (as is Ipswich). Forgive me in writing a cheque that your body would need to cash, but wouldn’t it be great if you could be in touch / meet Jamie with education on sugar and its impact.
Ok David, you’re starting to tick me off now. I was prepared to have a go at being open minded about what your position is because you’ve bought up good points about Corporate food giants funding health services….but attacking Jamie Oliver? Now you’ve gone too far. The great thing about Jamie is that he is re-connecting people with food. It is only through really connecting and understanding food that we can change what we eat. AND he goes about this WITHOUT personally attacking anyone, maybe you should take a leaf out of his book there. Food is not just about sugar and fat, there are millions of nutrients our bodies need in food, many of which we still don’t fully understand. Fresh food contains much higher amounts of vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients that are simply not found in burgers and fries. People’s health WILL improve through eating fresh, home prepared meals, using fresh produce. I think Jamie is doing wonderful things and I honestly think that you need to seriously re-consider the way you go about promoting your own ideas, David, because if all you’ve got is bashing others, you wont get far.
I totally agree Renee.
Drew,I remember a point in my life where I bought veggies and then would let them rot in the fridge because yeah I could cook them, but not in a way that was appealing to me.
Oh and I didn’t realize Jamie only teaches how to cook high glycemic carb-rich meals? He teaches you how to cook all kinds of whole fresh food. No one least of all Jamie is saying you should live on high glycemic carb foods, but they have a place in lives as well.
Here is a thought:
If people want to cook whole fresh foods, they will.
If people can afford to buy whole fresh foods, they will only buy them if they want to cook with them.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink, right?
The point is that worldwide, governments have implemented scheme after scheme after scheme (EXCEPT stop eating junk and stop making it) of trying to get lazy people to cook – banning fast food restaurants or meals, forcing calorie counts onto anything with a package, and TV shows a-plenty. Now Jamie wants to host cooking classes – don’t those already exist?
Many single parents, young mothers, teenagers, and families don’t have the time or money for whole fresh foods or taking 1 day per week out of their schedules for lessons, and that’s the problem. Nobody can afford to eat the good stuff so instead we buy 60 cent boxes of Kraft Dinner.
It’s frustrating because governments just try the same things over and over again in the hopes that everything will change the next time around – definition of insanity, anyone?
I think this post is ironic, we have a person who focuses solely on one aspect of a cause for obesity and other health problems – fructose. Having a go and some one who is using their strength – cooking to improve health via diets and getting people away from processed meals.
If you were really serious about helping people David, you would let the physical trainers and sports groups use their “strengths” in helping that aspect of healthy living. Let the cooks do their part. Instead you basically attack anyone who doesn’t fit in your no fructose world, and really weaken yours and others arguments.
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Testing – I have been trying to leave a comment here for 2 days & it keeps bouncing off the site! Frustrating at the very least!
David, you stated “But figures released yesterday suggest that all that home cookery has had no visible effect on our trouser size. The Health of Queenslanders report shows that 61 percent of adults (an increase of more than 14 percent in the preceeding eight years alone) and 26.9 percent of children in Queensland are now obese or overweight.”
I’m sorry, but I’ve read the “Overweight and obesity” and the “Food and nutrition” sections of this report and I have been unable to find the author’s comment on home cooking and its relationship with weight reduction.
However, I did read the following:
“Overweight and obesity have probably always existed in human communities, however, since the late 1970s, the prevalence has increased rapidly across many countries. While there are genetic differences in individual susceptibility to obesity, the widespread increases in prevalence over the past few decades without any major change in the gene pool, clearly illustrates that lifestyle and environmental factors are fundamentally responsible for the current obesity epidemic. Weight gain occurs when energy intake from food and drinks exceeds energy expenditure (from resting energy expenditure and physical activity). Only a small, persistant positie energy balance is required to cause weight gain in adults which iver time progressively increases BMI.”
I’m not really sure how you came to the conclusion that this report provides evidence against Jamie Oliver. In fact, as shown above, the report provides information contrary to your position on the cause of overweight.
These regular personal attacks by you on good, hardworking people are just plain nasty.
It seems that you want us to believe that you are the only person who knows the whole truth and that everyone with a different opinion to you is wrong.
My position is: for some overweight people, their positive energy balance could be caused by eating too much sugar. However the cause is not the same for everybody – there are many factors which can influence an individual person’s energy balance.
testing again as it has happened again 🙁
Sharon … if you continue to have problems, perhaps you could email me your comment and I could post it for you?
Cheers
David.
I’m going to try posting my comment in 2 halves – maybe it’s too long!
David, you stated “But figures released yesterday suggest that all that home cookery has had no visible effect on our trouser size. The Health of Queenslanders report shows that 61 percent of adults (an increase of more than 14 percent in the preceeding eight years alone) and 26.9 percent of children in Queensland are now obese or overweight.”
I’m sorry, but I’ve read the “Overweight and obesity” and the “Food and nutrition” sections of this report and I have been unable to find the author’s comment on home cooking and its relationship with weight reduction.
However, I did read the following:
“Overweight and obesity have probably always existed in human communities, however, since the late 1970s, the prevalence has increased rapidly across many countries. While there are genetic differences in individual susceptibility to obesity, the widespread increases in prevalence over the past few decades without any major change in the gene pool, clearly illustrates that lifestyle and environmental factors are fundamentally responsible for the current obesity epidemic. Weight gain occurs when energy intake from food and drinks exceeds energy expenditure (from resting energy expenditure and physical activity). Only a small, persistant positie energy balance is required to cause weight gain in adults which iver time progressively increases BMI.”
continues…
…continued
I’m not really sure how you came to the conclusion that this report provides evidence against home cooking or Jamie Oliver. In fact the report provides information contrary to your position on the cause of overweight.
For some overweight people, positive energy balance may be caused by eating too much sugar. However, the cause is not the same for everybody as there are many contributing factors which can influence a person’s energy balance, including excess fat consumption, excess alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle/job or slow metabolism amongst many others. A person with a positive energy balance could have a different combination of any or all of these factors.
I really don’t like the way that you are condescending towards those of us with different skills to you. These regular personal attacks by you on good, hardworking people are just plain nasty.
It seems that you want us to believe that you are the only person who knows the whole truth about weight loss and that everyone with a different opinion to you is wrong.
Thank you, David.
My biggest addiction was not soft drinks or cakes and bikkies, but the insidious cuppa-tea (white with honey). At ever decreasing intervals throughout the day.
Tried white tea unsweetened and it was disgusting. Weak black tea was somewhat less problematic but not very attractive.
Discovered a lovely Chinese green tea variety – Buddha’s Tears. This is delightful with a lovely sweet AROMA from the jasmine.
Started this ‘experiment’ in June, and in spite of a lot of life stress, have just discovered that I have dropped 10 kg. Which tells you that I am not a fan of hopping on and off the scales.
Next interesting step will be the blood test – GP wants me on Lipitor and I ain’t gunna take it.
Will be interesting to see what the blood test shows.
Gae, in Callala Bay
I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver,and his passion for improving health through better cooking. sure, he includes sugar, and hence runs foul of your main message David, but he fouses very much on cooking healthy meals with fresh ingredients and specifically avoids processed foods. I think his central theme of simple meals using healthy ingredients is extremely relevant in the modern age of processed and lazy foods. I agree with a previous post that you should look for areas of alignment between the anti-sugar crusade (which I agree with entirely by the way) rather than seeking to drive home your specific point. Having watched the MOF in the US one of the changes Jamie tried repeatedly to make was to remove the flavoured milk and replace it with plain milk.
While I agree that we should strive to remove fructose from our diets it’s probably worth reaching out to someone like Jamie who clearly has figured out how to reach out to the world with a food message.
“A rose by any other name is still a rose,” Jamie pedals the junk line (Sugar laden foods)on accasion, I imagine if he did not he would find himself some very powerful enemies.
The great tragic fact here is that, somehow food preperation in the home became a symbol of subjugation( traditionally performed by women )when in fact it is the tie that binds the family.
The quality of the food served is another matter.
Perhaps Jamie is a surrogate mother for us lost motherless souls.
Sugar is poison through and through but as a major commodity if you bag it out your going to get resistance in the main stream.
The best place for this education is in the home and the best for action is your choice in the supermarket.
Great blog, really enjoying reading it. Kind regards, Paddy.
he is indeed very passionate. he has put on a bit of weight on though.
I find home cooking helps me reduce the sugar overload. I see the bigger question is, “What if the problem isn’t really the parents?” I had a few choice words about marketing junk food to kids: http://kyhealthykids.com/2014/04/30/fed-up-fu-and-f-you/