Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Long Beach

Hey guys!

The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution was in Long Beach yesterday and today at the LBCC-PCH campus (Long Beach, CA) where they had their mobile food kitchen/”big rig kitchen” and a live cooking demonstration. I wanted to attend to meet the volunteers and employees who work with the foundation, since I think they’re doing amazing things. The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution just finished a 10-week program in LB where their trained chef-instructors taught both children and adults how to cook healthful foods (2 recipes each class, 4 ingredients each).

They also gave their students the experience of picking fresh vegetables and herbs for immediate use via the JOFR truck and the Horticulture Department of Long Beach City College, which planted a section of their garden specifically for the JOFR students.

First 5 LA along with the California Endowment are sponsors of the program. They were at the event along with PlayWorks, which is a nonprofit organization that sends “trained, full-time program coordinators, called ‘coaches’ to low-income, urban schools, where they transform recess and play into a positive experience that helps kids and teachers get the most out of every learning opportunity throughout the school day.” I met with one of the coordinators who works in Huntington Park and learned that while these programs focus on activity and benefit the students physically, they also have a positive impact on the students in the classroom!

Another factor that propelled me to attend this event was recently learning this fact about my very own hometown:

“Research has found obesity to be a serious issue among Long Beach Unified School District and it has been reported that there are disproportionally higher rates of overweight and obesity in central long beach – one of the areas of focus for The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities and First 5 LA’s Best Start initiatives in Long Beach.”

My mission for the new year is clear: get more involved in teaching nutrition to children right in my own backyard.

The JOFR food kitchen looked amazing! I was stunned by the attention to detail and the warmth of the staff and atmosphere. There was vegan squash soup, which one of the staff members poured for me along with a warm cup of apple cider. There were also samples of granola, fruit salad with yogurt, whole wheat bread, nuts and carrot muffins.mmmm
“Healthy choices you can use”: organic ketchup without additives, canned beans, canned pumpkin, nuts. The information provided for LB residents was very helpful and was further reiterated in the live cooking demonstration: read the ingredients labels in your foods. Less is better!
Junk “food.” OMG have you ever read what’s in a can of frosting? eek!

Here is a video of one of the JOFR staff members teaching the audience how to make granola from scratch. The recipe is listed within the video details. Part 2 will be listed in succession on YouTube.

I was so impressed with this event that I had to give the JOFR my card and ask, “how can I help?”  Seeing the two student volunteers helping make granola made me happy. Imagine if we all had had a JOFR big rig truck at our schools with caring chefs telling us how to cook and read and understand food labels. Imagine.

Seems like it could become reality!

And boy do we need that reality rather than this one…

Driving home, I saw this sign on the corner of an intersection “FREE WHOPPER with purchase”

Dear lord.

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: childhood obesity, jamie oliver, jamie oliver food revolution, long beach