ltello's blog

“Did Jamie Oliver Really Put School Dinners on the Agenda?” by Asmita Naik focused on whether or not the media, mainly Jamie Oliver’s documentary on school lunches in Britain, affected or influenced government agenda on food reform. Naik explains in the article that food reform was a hot topic in Britain years before the documentary was filmed. Naik also examines how the documentary, while it did not put food reform on the agenda, may have increased awareness of the issue to the public, possibly making it appear that the media had a larger impact on food reform. Naik’s article was interesting but the subject matter was a bit dull in my opinion.

“Putting America’s Diet on a Diet” by Alex Witchel focuses more on Jamie Oliver himself, and his new television show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” set in America. Witchel sets up the new show by giving information on the town it will take place in, Huntington, West Virginia. The town was chosen due to its high obesity and poor health ratings. Witchel then goes on to provide a background on Oliver and his successful charities and previous television programs, focusing on reform in Britain. Witchel speaks highly of Oliver, though he does state that success is not eminent. Witchel explains that American’s camera lust may prevent any successful change from occurring.

All in all, the two articles are very different. Witchel’s article seems to argue that Jamie Oliver, along with the media sponsoring his television shows and charities, has championed for the cause of food reform, and that such reform would not be so popular without Jamie Oliver’s campaigns for change. In Witchel’s online article for the New York Times, Oliver is described as a “messiah” for food reform, giving little credit to the British government for change in this area. Witchel quotes Oliver stating, “I got a billion dollars out of the British government and put it into the school system…[b]ut it’s still in transition, it’s not all glossy yet.” Jamie Oliver is painted to be the lead figure in the fight for food reform in Witchel’s article, but Naik conjures up a different image. Naik disagrees with Witchel, by declaring that the British government already had food reform on the agenda, before Jamie Oliver sought reform and the media drove this issue into the public spotlight. Naik states in her online article from The Political Quarterly, “In conclusion, the notion that the media drives food policy on healthy lifestyles is not supported. The simple answer to the question must be: `No, Jamie Oliver did not put school dinners on the agenda.’ However, he and the media machine did contribute to promoting and developing existing policies, and to facilitating their wider acceptance among the public at large.” This quote exemplifies Naik’s argument that Jamie Oliver and the media did not have a large impact on reform, contrary to Witchel’s assertion that Oliver’s television programs and charities have encouraged reform in Britain.