Recently at Reason.tv: The Case Against Jamie Oliver
In February, celebrity British chef Jamie Oliver scooped up the prestigious TED Prize, awarded for his crusade "against obesity and other diet related diseases" and for having "pressured the UK government to invest $1 billion to overhaul school lunches to improve nutrition." Upon receiving the award, he warned America that it was committing national suicide through food. In an attempt to recreate his British school lunch campaign in the United States, Oliver is launching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, a reality show that attempts to overhaul the school lunch regimen in America's unhealthiest city.
But while food nags like Oliver and First Lady Michelle Obama are surely right that Americans need to eat better, is he right that our eating habits are killing us? And do we need a massive budget increase to introduce fresh foods and food education to our schools?
Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan talked to food blogger and journalist Ed Bruske and Reason senior editor Katherine Mangu-Ward about school lunch reform, whether more government money could slim student waistlines, the United States Department of Agriculture's role in making kids fat, and whether young American really are, as Oliver claims, living shorter lives their parents and grandparents.
Approximalely 7 minutes. Written by Moynihan. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes. Production assistant, Joshua Swain.