Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jamie Oliver's Latest Great Idea (Must See TV)!


Right now it's only airing across the pond (in the UK) but thanks to the magic of the internet, with a bit of effort, you can watch it in North America.

It's Jamie Oliver's new social experiment, The Ministry of Food.

So what's his big new idea?

Go to a city of 250,000 people in Northern England, a city with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation. Once there harness the power of social networking to try to teach the city to cook.

Teach 8 cooks 10 recipes in return for a promise that they each teach two people and each of them two people and so on and in less than 6 months, all of Rotherham ought to be able to cook.

The show provides a fascinating snapshot into the lives of some working class folks out in Rotherham and the pressures surrounding making home cooked meals (do you spend your welfare check on the bus tickets it takes to travel with your two under 6 year old kids to purchase fresh produce or do you save yourself the time and energy and go to a "take-away"?) and it's also a fascinating social experiment.

So far I'm completely captivated by the first two episodes and can't wait to see more.

For a sneak peak, here's a youtube clip of the show's first 10 minutes (sorry, can't embed it).

Find it, watch it, you won't regret it and until then, head over to his website and you 'll find that already his social experiment has sprouted wings as there are 612 bloggers currently blogging about their newest cooking escapades and literally thousands of posts in the forums.

Great job Jamie! Wish you were Canadian!