We didn’t get to do our weekly Jamie Oliver dinner night last night. The neighbors were busy and Jon was nearly passed out from a very long hiking day. I ended up watching it this morning on Hulu.com, and embedding the video here once again.
Watching it alone wasn’t nearly as much fun, and in fact I’ll watch it with Jon and the neighbors again tomorrow. But this morning as I watched it I had a chance to really be with the implications of what was being said and even took some notes. To be clear I take notes on everything, and it more like jotting down my thoughts then any official note taking in some outline form. I think this is facilitated by the fact that I watched at my desk with my journal infront of me, as it always is. Any how, this is what my page contained by the end of the episode:
~Why, in the face of information that points to something different, do we cling vehemently to our ignorance and status quo?
~I want to be part of a FLASH MOB!!!!
~<3 Jamie<3
he’s innovative, positive, commited, passionate, cute, and man with a mission… yum
~”Good quality American beef.” Seriously??? (Jamie said this as he was instructing a group of people on how to cook a stir fry. And really? Any one of us would be hard pressed to find any semblance of good quality beef anywhere in any America. And this isn’t an argument about everyone needing to give up meat, but its about the horrific farming practices that we have devolved to in this country and how truly unhealthy most of our meat is. Grass fed, free range, non antibiotic or hormone treated beef is hard to come by and crazy expensive. But I imagine this is beyond the scope of what Jamie is trying to convey for now. For more on this I highly recommend renting Food, Inc.
~”One person cannot change 50,000 people.” Rod, DJ at the local radio station. (If this were true then we wouldn’t even have a United States, or the Civil Rights Movement, or the Women’s Movement, or any other movement that changed the tides of a people. This guy needs a serious perspective change. And he may have had one towards the end of the show.)
~Frozen Veggies? (So, at some point Jamie points out that he is using frozen vegetables for a stir fry and that they are frozen almost immediately after picking and that they would have more vitemens and minerals then their fresh counterparts. What? This doesn’t sound right to me, but I’m going to watch it again later and see what he said exactly. Either way, frozen anything can help with speeding up the cooking process, and with keeping things longer. Personally, however, I prefer to by my produce fresh and unfrozen and using them within a reasonable time of their purchase. I think something is lost in the freezing and defrosting process.)
One of the things that I’m noticing about the show as a whole is that Jamie does repeat his mission which is to teach people to cook fresh food at home from scratch and decrease the amount of fast processed foods that are basically killing people. But he doesn’t seem to be saying or repeating the fact that the food we are eating is killing us and when we feed it to our kids we are basically killing them. And I wonder if this harsh wording repeated over and over again would get through to people like Rod and Alice the kitchen worker. Because really, all Alice seems to care about are her gloves and that cooking actual food will make her work more. Seriously, if she were my employee I would fire her on the spot.
But more then anything this has really made me look harder at my own challenges with healthy eating. And how of course I have also chosen convenience over proper nourishment and good food. And although as I get older and become more health conscious, my food choices are a million times better then they were in my early twenties, I still can’t quite get why on occasion, I’ll still reach for a soda or french fries at a drive through, with an “eh… just a little bit.” as if I’m a kid getting away with something… when in fact all I’m getting away with is harming my body and my being. I suppose this is where the idea of practice comes in…
~
Your last paragraph sums up exactly how I’ve been feeling lately.
I want to cook with no processed foods, and I do pretty good about by passing fast food, but sometimes the fries do call. And I admitted on my blog recently that I am a Diet Coke Addict. Some people wouldn’t agree, but I think there is a problem, when I truly crave that stuff.
Unfortunately, I’ve been having health problems recently causing vertigo so it’s been keeping me out of the kitchen, and worse than that, it’s keeping me from driving. So my darling husband, who is not the best cook, has been doing most of the cooking. I’m just lucky, I’m not getting glutened. LOL
But the Farmer’s Market is calling, and my husband has just read the Omnivores Dilemma, so it’s all grass fed beef for us, or none at all! (I’ve been trying to get him to eat less beef for years anyway.)
Well, I’m having surgery on the 28th on my ear, so hopefully I can get back in the kitchen full swing again, unfortunately, it’ll be too late to have a great garden.
You have a beautiful blog. I’m adding you to my reader!
Thanks for friending me on the Foodie Blogroll.
Wendy,
Ah… coke. My arch nemesis. Although as of yesterday I finally looked at myself in the mirror and said enough. And it wasn’t one of those ENOUGH!s… but a resolute, finally-arrived-at-it types of enough. And I’m grateful, because let me tell you… As I’m sure you know, that soda had been my achilles tendon for decades!
Thank you for stopping by and for adding me to your reader! I know your surgery will go well, and then we will all want to hear reports on how your Farmers Market is inspiring your kitchen adventures!
I love your blog! Beautiful and practical. With a great cause, to feed our children correctly and give them the gift of eye appealing dishes.
Thanks for being my friend on foodie, I’m honored.
Marianna
Marianna, Thank you for the kind words! And yes… we have much work to do when it comes to feeding our children, and ourselves too! I think that its something that we as foodies can do while enjoying each others blogs – spreading the word.
“So, at some point Jamie points out that he is using frozen vegetables for a stir fry and that they are frozen almost immediately after picking and that they would have more vitemens and minerals then their fresh counterparts. What? This doesn’t sound right to me, but I’m going to watch it again later and see what he said exactly.”
I don’t suppose you noticed that this episode was either sponsored by Green Giant, or there was a commercial for Green Giant frozen foods right after that segment (it was a bag of Green Giant frozen vegetables that he was using). Unfortunately, I was *not* taking notes so I can’t be sure which it was, but I did note the irony of that.
I also had a mini WTF? moment when he mentioned the beef.
It’s an interesting show, that’s for sure. I’m pretty cynical, but it had me tearing up more than once.
Debi, good question. I hadn’t noticed the commercials because our neighbor (where we usually watch it) tivo’s it and we skip the commercials. If the show was sponsored I have to say I’m a bit disapointed, although, it is tv after all.
Can you believe I just saw the fourth a few days ago (and only about 20 minutes of it at that!)? I don’t know how the first three episodes got by me. I’ve got some catching up to do. I love the concept of the show. We’re way overdue for a food revolution. Thanks for the videos :>)
Hi there! I just found you when you friended me on Foodie blog roll. I love this blog! This post specifically.
I hate when people say Good Quality Beef. Food Inc., Fast food Nation and Fatland really drive the points home. Being a vegan I do not meat at all but my boyfriend, friends and family still eat tons of meat. There is no good meat unless you are raising it on your own. I dish out the cash if people really want meat at the farmers market for good quality, no hormone meat from animals that eat GRASS. What cows are meant to eat.
Frozen veggies…hum. I’m feeling that point lately. I prefer fresh veggies and fruits. However I think what they might have been getting at is the fact that they are better than canned.