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@deleted
Jamie Oliver is not a talented cook, he is a well marketed product...like Ted Baker only he really exists.
he does no research for his shows or books, doesn't do any recipe testing and if you look at the hands in the fashionably out of focus shots, doing the cooking in his books, they are not his.
He was not a talented chef when he was discovered he was essentially a veg peeler at the River café, he was picked for his charm not his skills....his lack of experience was the most amusing thing in the program about 15.
I've eaten at 15, it was shit, really shit, the worst value meal I've ever eaten and this despite the reports that the kitchen is actually run by professionals not "the kids"....at the time I was an area manager for a chain of cocktail bars and I noticed we shared a wine supplier, only difference he was selling the same wines for twice what we charged.
The existing educational system already accomodates young disadvantaged kids who want to become chefs...I myself have a city and guilds in catering and the course is well known for having no entry (qualifications) requirements.....so the kids who do want to cook are already in the system, these kids should be the ones getting the breaks...most of the kids on the show seemed uninterested in cooking....however it did generate millions of pounds worth of free publicity for a restaurant / franchise which is coincidentally now hugely successful.
As for his school dinners crusade, there were already existing pressure groups trying to get healthy food into schools, no doubt boasting nutrtitionists and other experts on their boards alongside well thought out plans, strategies and menus.....he could've quite simply endorsed them (as most celebs would do)...but it had to be all about him...he had to be the hero....and he did achieve his (or his managers) main goal of getting millions of pounds worth of free publicity...again.
expect him to bandwagon plenty more movements, claim responsibility, then launch a product / book off the back of it.
It's because of people like him and Ainsley that make me realise that most so-called experts presented on the box aren't, they're just good for tv....(excepting Fred Dibnah and Ray Mears!)