With the proliferation of food celebrities in our culture, by now most people in America know the name Jamie Oliver. For those who’ve never heard of him, Mr. Oliver is a British chef turned activist, a cookbook commando lauded for fighting obesity by changing the way children in Britain eat, and who has turned his sights on America as his next stop in his crusade to change the world.

Oliver’s aims are, for the most part, noble. Obesity, after all, is one of the top contributors to heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases, many of which end up claiming lives. And childhood obesity brings a host of other problems in addition to those diseases, leaving children prey to bullying, low self-esteem, and anxiety in a time when these issues already run rampant. Despite the obvious need for reform, however, the United States has not exactly welcomed Mr. Oliver’s attention.

Last year, Oliver filmed part of his show, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” in the nation’s fattest city: Huntington, West Virginia. The premise of the show is that he goes into a school and tries to teach staff, teachers and students the importance of improving eating habits and changing menus. After being met with open hostility from the people of Huntington, Oliver broke down into tears on television. Now he’s facing similar challenges in Los Angeles, California.

This week, after a publicity stunt in which he filled a school bus with fifty-seven tons of sand in an effort to illustrate just how much sugar was being served to L.A.’s school children every week in flavored milk, the Los Angeles Unified School District banned Oliver from filming inside one of its preparatory schools. As expected, Oliver didn’t take the news well, stating in an interview: “L.A. is not on my side. They’ve got their fingers in their ears—la, la, la—they’re not having it. This city doesn’t care.”

Personally, I’m not surprised by the rejection he’s gotten States-side, and I think he’s got part of it right: L.A. (and probably the rest of the country) isn’t on his side. L.A. is on L.A.’s side. What we have here, basically, is an outsider coming in and telling the school district that it’s doing something wrong. Even if the message is sound, it isn’t going to be received well because the messenger isn’t one of the pack, so to speak. No one likes to be criticized; doubly so if the criticism is coming from someone who doesn’t share a similar background and similar experiences. Sorry, Mr. Oliver, but I believe you’d have a lot more success if you’d team up with an American expert on nutrition and try this again.

Photo: Jamie Oliver

Tags: Jamie Oliver, Naked Chef, Los Angeles School District Ousts Jamie Oliver, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, TV chef rejected by LA Schools, filming for reality show cut, Jamie Oliver fills school bus with sand, changing school menus, healthy eating, food for kids, childhood obesity, conquering obesity, obesity

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