July 24, 2009
Jamie Takes on Huntington’s Big Appetites
British Chef’s Reality Series Hopes to Alter Junk Food Habit
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Don’t take it from me, let me simply quote from Emma Cox’s column in the British news site called The Sun: “Huntington in West Virginia is the fattest town in America… there are more pizza shops in Huntington than health clubs in the entire state…”
And, of course, we do dispute the claim despite statistics concerning such indicators as 21.6% of adults over 45 having coronary disease
So, healthy eating British chef, Jamie Oliver, will come to Our Town determined to teach us to make healthier food selections. The six-part series will be similar to Oliver’s “Jamie’s School Dinners,” which aired in Britain in 2005. It will air on ABC, tentatively sometime after the New Year.
Oliver’s website details how “School Dinners” worked: “I wanted to show how little government was spending and demand proper standards to get rid of the junk [food]. I had to prove that, for the same price as a bag of chips, I could produce a properly cooked, nutritious meal at lunchtime.” (http://www.jamieoliver.com )
The chef’s American series will be produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, the production company owned by Seacrest.
SEACREST’S ‘IDOL,’ and ‘KARDASHIANS’ FAME
Ryan’s best known as the host of “American Idol,” “E! News,” and “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” Seacrest hosts the weekly “American Top 40” radio show (he replaced icon Casey Kasem) and the syndicated , “On Air with Ryan Seacrest,” broadcast from KISS-FM in Los Angeles.
The production company has produced “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which premiered in October 2007 on E! , as well as the ongoing , “Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.” A spin-off of the “Kardashians,” “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami,” will debut on E! in August. The series follows the two women’s move to South Florida where they have opened a “Dash” boutique clothing store and Khloe has a job hosting a late-night radio talk. The women are living at the Bentley Beach Hotel (one swanky place) until they decided on a permanent Florida residence.
Despite the exclusion of sister Kim, an online TV news/gossip site polled more than 50% of voters as planning to watch the spin-off. Kim’s claim to fame comes from her former friendship with Paris Hilton and the Ray J. sex tape scandal.
However, Khloe, the youngest sister, has made her share of news --- particularly a DUI arrest and posing nude for a PETA shoot, “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. (Wonder if Khloe will venture to Huntington to support the proposed dog tethering ordinance? PETA has various community animal project for dogs and cats in poorer area of southeastern Virginia and northern North Carolina.)
Interestingly, PETA has four fast food chains on its list of animal cruelty franchise, which started with KFC and included footage of a Moorefield, WV slaughterhouse in which chickens had their limbs broken and were drowned while conscious in scalding water. McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s are on the list now also. Although the “naked” fur protests have generated much publicity, the organization promoted veganism by having young women hand out leaflets wearing bikinis that appear to be made from lettuce.
The Kardashian series takes its premise from following the eccentric family members of Robert Kardashian who was gained fame as one of the O.J. Simpson murder trial defense attorneys.
HEALTHY EATING
According to the Sun web site, the series to be shot in Huntington “will look at school lunch menus and the availability of fresh produce. He will also examine the rapid growth of fast-food restaurants in the town and food choices in offices.” (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2552026/Jamie-Oliver-takes-show-to-obese-town-in-USA.html)
ABC ordered six episodes of the reality series in which Oliver will teach residents about making healthy food selections. The Sun describes the series as a combination of the aforementioned “School Dinners” and “Ministry of Food” Oliver’s website explains that “Ministry of Food” inspires people to “get back into their kitchens and make simple, delicious food from scratch.”
According to the trade publication, Broadcasting/Cable, Seacrest has said the Huntington-based show “will use the resources that are available in the community. We’re not flying in experts and trainers and gym equipment. We’re really going to roll up our sleeves and dig into the town and [work with] the people who are there.”
“Naked Chef” Oliver has developed an English culinary empire in England, where he sells cookbooks, magazines (“Jamie Magazine,” “Jamie’s America”) , recipes, and operates a chain of restaurants, including the Fifteen chain in which he trains 15 disadvantaged young people to manage a restaurant. Fifteen has locations in London, Cornwall, England; Amsterdam and Melbourne.
BRITS HAVE ONE OF HIGHEST OBESITY RATINGS IN EUROPE
Don’t be mislead into thinking Oliver’s efforts are not sincere. Why? “We Brits have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe; we love our ready meals and takeaways,” adding that Brits have gotten away from passing on cooking skills from generation to generation.
Following the success of the “Ministry of Food” series, demand to attend a free ten-part cookery course has a six week waiting list to learn cooking “simple, nutritious , cheap” meals from scratch.
Oliver is proud of what he accomplished in South Yorkshire and Rotherham. The TV Biz column suggests that while the concept of free cooking courses has started spreading to other UK town, “it remains to be seen whether Jamie can work his campaigning magic in Huntington , USA.”
In an earlier interview, Oliver told The Sun that “his fight against junk food led to some of the worst years of his life.” Boasting pride in the achievements of the “School Dinners” project, he revealed, “Every day I went to a horrible school , with horrible kids, who called me every name under the sun and I got spat at. It was hell, but it was worth it.”
And, Sun writer Emma Cox predicts that Oliver’s venture to Almost Heaven in the U.S. will mount him against tougher opposition than in his home country, where “a few mums passed burgers through school gates.”
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Jamie Takes on Huntington’s Big Appetites
British Chef’s Reality Series Hopes to Alter Junk Food Habit
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Don’t take it from me, let me simply quote from Emma Cox’s column in the British news site called The Sun: “Huntington in West Virginia is the fattest town in America… there are more pizza shops in Huntington than health clubs in the entire state…”
And, of course, we do dispute the claim despite statistics concerning such indicators as 21.6% of adults over 45 having coronary disease
So, healthy eating British chef, Jamie Oliver, will come to Our Town determined to teach us to make healthier food selections. The six-part series will be similar to Oliver’s “Jamie’s School Dinners,” which aired in Britain in 2005. It will air on ABC, tentatively sometime after the New Year.
Oliver’s website details how “School Dinners” worked: “I wanted to show how little government was spending and demand proper standards to get rid of the junk [food]. I had to prove that, for the same price as a bag of chips, I could produce a properly cooked, nutritious meal at lunchtime.” (http://www.jamieoliver.com )
The chef’s American series will be produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, the production company owned by Seacrest.
SEACREST’S ‘IDOL,’ and ‘KARDASHIANS’ FAME
Ryan’s best known as the host of “American Idol,” “E! News,” and “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” Seacrest hosts the weekly “American Top 40” radio show (he replaced icon Casey Kasem) and the syndicated , “On Air with Ryan Seacrest,” broadcast from KISS-FM in Los Angeles.
The production company has produced “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which premiered in October 2007 on E! , as well as the ongoing , “Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.” A spin-off of the “Kardashians,” “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami,” will debut on E! in August. The series follows the two women’s move to South Florida where they have opened a “Dash” boutique clothing store and Khloe has a job hosting a late-night radio talk. The women are living at the Bentley Beach Hotel (one swanky place) until they decided on a permanent Florida residence.
Despite the exclusion of sister Kim, an online TV news/gossip site polled more than 50% of voters as planning to watch the spin-off. Kim’s claim to fame comes from her former friendship with Paris Hilton and the Ray J. sex tape scandal.
However, Khloe, the youngest sister, has made her share of news --- particularly a DUI arrest and posing nude for a PETA shoot, “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. (Wonder if Khloe will venture to Huntington to support the proposed dog tethering ordinance? PETA has various community animal project for dogs and cats in poorer area of southeastern Virginia and northern North Carolina.)
Interestingly, PETA has four fast food chains on its list of animal cruelty franchise, which started with KFC and included footage of a Moorefield, WV slaughterhouse in which chickens had their limbs broken and were drowned while conscious in scalding water. McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s are on the list now also. Although the “naked” fur protests have generated much publicity, the organization promoted veganism by having young women hand out leaflets wearing bikinis that appear to be made from lettuce.
The Kardashian series takes its premise from following the eccentric family members of Robert Kardashian who was gained fame as one of the O.J. Simpson murder trial defense attorneys.
HEALTHY EATING
According to the Sun web site, the series to be shot in Huntington “will look at school lunch menus and the availability of fresh produce. He will also examine the rapid growth of fast-food restaurants in the town and food choices in offices.” (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2552026/Jamie-Oliver-takes-show-to-obese-town-in-USA.html)
ABC ordered six episodes of the reality series in which Oliver will teach residents about making healthy food selections. The Sun describes the series as a combination of the aforementioned “School Dinners” and “Ministry of Food” Oliver’s website explains that “Ministry of Food” inspires people to “get back into their kitchens and make simple, delicious food from scratch.”
According to the trade publication, Broadcasting/Cable, Seacrest has said the Huntington-based show “will use the resources that are available in the community. We’re not flying in experts and trainers and gym equipment. We’re really going to roll up our sleeves and dig into the town and [work with] the people who are there.”
“Naked Chef” Oliver has developed an English culinary empire in England, where he sells cookbooks, magazines (“Jamie Magazine,” “Jamie’s America”) , recipes, and operates a chain of restaurants, including the Fifteen chain in which he trains 15 disadvantaged young people to manage a restaurant. Fifteen has locations in London, Cornwall, England; Amsterdam and Melbourne.
BRITS HAVE ONE OF HIGHEST OBESITY RATINGS IN EUROPE
Don’t be mislead into thinking Oliver’s efforts are not sincere. Why? “We Brits have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe; we love our ready meals and takeaways,” adding that Brits have gotten away from passing on cooking skills from generation to generation.
Following the success of the “Ministry of Food” series, demand to attend a free ten-part cookery course has a six week waiting list to learn cooking “simple, nutritious , cheap” meals from scratch.
Oliver is proud of what he accomplished in South Yorkshire and Rotherham. The TV Biz column suggests that while the concept of free cooking courses has started spreading to other UK town, “it remains to be seen whether Jamie can work his campaigning magic in Huntington , USA.”
In an earlier interview, Oliver told The Sun that “his fight against junk food led to some of the worst years of his life.” Boasting pride in the achievements of the “School Dinners” project, he revealed, “Every day I went to a horrible school , with horrible kids, who called me every name under the sun and I got spat at. It was hell, but it was worth it.”
And, Sun writer Emma Cox predicts that Oliver’s venture to Almost Heaven in the U.S. will mount him against tougher opposition than in his home country, where “a few mums passed burgers through school gates.”
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