Jamie Oliver Tricks Top Chefs Into Eating Los Angeles School Lunches
In what looks to be the final episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (at least as far as ABC is concerned), the clever chef pulls one last stunt in the name of healthy kids: He duped several of L.A.’s top chefs into a meal made entirely of Los Angeles Unified School District cafeteria food, a.ka. majorly, seriously gnarly stuff…
The stunt involved invitations to several of L.A.’s best-known chefs (including Ben Ford, Amy Pressman, Evan Funke and Eric Greenspan) to a meal with host, Oliver, at Rustic Canyon for a special preparation of his “rustic comfort food.” But instead, they found their plates filled with nuggets, corn dogs, nachos and cheeseburgers that the LAUSD regularly serves to students in the largest school district in the country. The ploy was intended to garner support from the chefs to help the Food Revolution in efforts to bring healthier meal options to students in Los Angeles (and across the country).
After the show was taped, the LAUSD made several groundbreaking announcements about the state of its school lunch programs, despite Oliver (the district officials refused to acknowledge his influence this year). His brash campaigns to get them to make changes included pouring 57 tons of sand in a school bus to demonstrate the amount of sugar students consume each week through flavored milks. Regardless of who gets credit for the changes, they’re big ones: As of July 1, all chocolate and strawberry flavored milk products will be removed from school offerings; and a district-wide overhaul on school lunches will begin in the fall, offering students healthier (and hopefully tastier!) meals than their current roster of breaded, fried, heat-lamp-crisped selections.
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image: homard.net
