Standing at a table laden with fresh fruits and vegetables outside the Opera House and with the Harbour Bridge in the background, British superstar chef Jamie Oliver kicked off his latest crusade.
In Sydney to launch a global change.org petition to combat childhood obesity by introducing compulsory food education in schools, Oliver shared the stage with chef Stephanie Alexander.
“With diet-related diseases rising at an alarming rate, it has never been more important to educate children about food, where it comes from and how it affects their bodies,” said Oliver.
“This isn’t about a Pommy coming in. I’m just creating the platform and noise around the world,” he said.
Alexander believes that using “a kitchen garden is a great way of changing how children relate to food … If they’ve got hands on experience of growing it, picking it, chopping it, cooking it and sitting down and eating what they’ve made, then they will be changed for ever.”
Alexander’s not-for-profit has signed up more than 800 Kitchen Garden schools since she piloted the idea at Collingwood College, Melbourne, in 2001.
Oliver says the big mission is to take kitchen garden programs from the “nice to have” basket to a “must have” – from opt-in programs at “lucky” schools to food education that is mandatory and properly funded in every school.
“Our global petition starts in Australia, but it’s also about all the governments in the G20,” said Oliver during the press conference. “We want all politicians to know that we are tired of what’s happening. Diet-related disease is one of the biggest killers in our countries and a quarter of our young children are overweight or obese. I think the parents of the world want to fix it, and crack on with life.”
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