The third episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution opens at Rod's Radio Station in Huntington, West Virginia. While the station is finally getting some positive, supportive feedback from listeners, Rod still does not think Jamie's revolution will stick once he leaves.
But Jamie's goal for the week is to get his elementary school meals on time, on budget, and well received among the students while also working in a high school to do the same. He hopes that by doing this, he can then bring the program to more schools around the U.S. and make a nation wide change.
At the elementary school, Alice is upset with Jamie about being the test kitchen for his program. Jamie believes that while Alice is making some breakthroughs, she is putting bitterness into everything she does. Even though Alice does not completely believe in Jamie, the kids are starting to eat more and more of their food. And better yet, they are eating real food.
This episode, Jamie is given the opportunity to take over the high school for the week. When he first walks into the cafeteria, he remarks about the size of the place, the number of lines of food, and the garbage food that is being served. The most popular line in the cafeteria is, of course the fry line. When talking to some of the students, Jamie stops two thinner girls and asks them if they are worried about losing their looks if they continue to eat the way the do. They respond that they do not worry.
Jamie realizes that his strategy is going to have to be different than at the elementary school. Instead of one choice (which is absolutely good for children so young in the elementary school), the high school has four choices. Jamie realizes that he is going to have to educate the students on the choices they make on their foods along with making the food. Therefore, Jamie gathers a group of students from each of the main kinds of student groups in the school to educate and act as forerunners in his food revolution. When he asks them why they signed up to be in his group, many responded to help them be healthier, some had family members die from obesity, and some wanted to be cooks in the future. Jamie thinks that it is time for the youth of Huntington to have a voice and an opinion. He realizes that these kids will help him to inspire the rest of the town.
Jamie first brings the students into his kitchen to teach them how to make a meal: a one pot chicken dish. All of the kids did a wonderful job! After they enjoy eating their meal, Jamie has them get together to talk about why this is important to them as a group. He believes that it is not as much about the food as it is about the kids and their beliefs about food. All of the kids know that something has to change. These kids are his revolution.
Every day, the kids at the elementary school are getting better about eating the healthy foods. Alice is still worried about the time the food takes to make from scratch. Since the schools don't have the money to pay for the training of the cooks, Jamie needs to find a way to fundraise money in order to make it happen in all the schools in Huntington.
Jamie wants to have the students do the cooking for an event where many big name people will eat in order to raise some money for the program. The kids are the first people in Huntington to really believe in what he is doing. The students agree to make the dinner and to talk to the big shots in order to make the change they need and want.
The main cook at the high school is proud of the program starting in her school and has Jamie's back. He makes the meal for the day and then has his students hand out little samplers to kids in the cafeteria. Jamie knows that kids respond best to peer pressure. However, Rhonda throws a wrench in Jamie's day when she stops by to tell him that he does not have enough vegetables in his dish; in his seven vegetable pasta. Fries, however, were able to be considered a vegetable. Kids could choose to have an optional salad but none would take it. Jamie is upset about the french fries. He closes the line and takes them away; saying that just because kids wants french fries does not mean you should give it to them. He is upset that while he gets smack for his veggie pasta, kids are allowed to get a chicken burger with french fries and an optional salad for their lunch.
On the night of his big dinner, Jamie invited the parents of the students in his group along with other big shots in the town; including the senator. While all of the people are coming to eat a meal cooked by the kids, they will not be told the kids made it, but will be allowed to think Jamie made it all. The students had to work their butts off to get the meal done and are exhausted as they are cooking. They get every plate out though and it looks delicious. Better yet, the individuals at the dinner loved the meal! When the kids were introduced by Jamie to the people at the dinner, they were extremely well received! Jamie has them talk to the eaters at the dinner. The kids simply told their stories and why the wanted to have a change in their food. In the end, Jamie did get some of the funding he needed, but not nearly enough to pay for all of the training. He still has a long way to go.
Exercise: Today is my official day off and wouldn't you guess it… I'm not feeling well again. I don't know what's wrong this time but hopefully it passes quickly… as in overnight. Cross your fingers!
Eat: "Store Brands can be Just as Good as Brand Names". It can sometimes be in your best interest to check out the store brand products instead of buying the brand names in order to save on cost while not costing you anything nutrition wise. Often times, store brands can be just as tasty and nutritious as the brand name products, and they tend to cost less! The real main difference between the products is not necessarily what goes into the product, as much as reduced marketing and promotion costs that come with building a brand name into a household favorite.
Relax: Today was actually really nice because I was able to go shopping at the mall for the first time in forever. With one of my friend's baby showers coming up, I needed to get some last minute shopping in to make absolute sure I knew what I was getting her. I found exactly what I was looking for and couldn’t be more excited!
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