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Event wraps up Oliver filming
Stephanie Giatras feds her nine-year-old son Alexander a dish of spaghetti squash and barbecue chicken from the Greenbrier Sporting Club booth during a celebration of West Virginian cuisine hosted by Jamie Oliver and HuntingtonÕs Food Revolution on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Pullman Square. Alexander said it was delicious.
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HUNTINGTON -- Change is never easy, but Jenny Salmons of Huntington is among those willing to try.
"I live by myself and eat at odd hours," she said Saturday morning in downtown Huntington where she joined several hundred others to hear from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. "I'm trying to cut back on fast food."
She bought some apples, cucumbers and celery at Jamie's Kitchen in downtown Huntington Saturday morning and got Oliver to autograph one of his cookbooks. Jamie's Kitchen is located on 3rd Avenue across from Pullman Square. It has served as the site of healthy cooking demonstrations and cooking classes throughout the show's filming since September.
"His recipes are simple and quick," she said. "And they're easy. You use simple ingredients. He uses a lot of noodles. It's very cost effective. It's healthy, and it's good."
Oliver and his ABC television production crew wrapped up the filming of their reality television show Saturday in downtown Huntington, including a concert at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center by the award-winning country music group Rascal Flatts.
The television show is scheduled to air next year. The 900 block of 3rd Avenue was blocked off for the event. Thanks to a $50,000 donation from Cabell Huntington Hospital, Jamie's Kitchen will be able to continue operating. Ebenezer Medical Outreach will take over management of Jamie's Kitchen starting Dec. 1.
"Jamie's Kitchen has tremendous potential to improve eating habits and the overall health of our community," Brent A. Marsteller, Cabell Huntington Hospital president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared release. "We are very pleased to join with Ebenezer Medical Outreach, Jamie Oliver and the entire Huntington area to work together to prevent many of the problems associated with unhealthy eating."
"Cabell Huntington Hospital's donation has made all the difference," Oliver said. "I admire Cabell Huntington for seeing this opportunity and jumping on board. This kitchen has been the hob of activity. It is such a wonderful resource."
The hospital also provided $80,000 to teach cooks in Cabell County's 28 schools to cook healthier and use fewer processed foods.
"In this town, what we've done is profound," Oliver said. "(Change) is hard. This will be a model for excellence in America. We needed something sustainable, and the hospital stepped up.
"You have a beautiful city with beautiful people," he said. "You are ambassadors of change. There is nothing wrong with changing a negative to a positive," he said of news coverage of the region's troubling health statistics.
The kitchen in downtown Huntington will be maintained as part of Ebenezer's Healthy Lifestyle-Healthy Life Program. Participants in the cooking classes set to begin in December will be asked to contribute a $10 donation per class, if possible, to keep the program going, said Yvonne Jones, executive director at the outreach center.
Ebenezer Medical Outreach is a free medical clinic in Huntington that provides health care services to underinsured and uninsured Tri-State residents. The clinic serves about 1,500 people whose house income is at or below the poverty level.
"Good nutrition is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, and we realize the importance of a healthy lifestyle for the good of the community as a whole," Jones said. "We wanted to take this opportunity we have with this kitchen to try to change Huntington into a more healthy city.
"We are so thankful that Cabell Huntington Hospital has agreed to partner with us on this endeavor because a healthy lifestyle is something the hospital has been promoting. Now, we are just combining our efforts to make this a healthy Tri-State. This excites me tremendously because I look at it as a real opportunity. Huntington is trying to redefine itself, and this is that opportunity."
Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe said Oliver's trip to town and promotion of healthier eating "has been a positive experience. I think it's all positive. Nutrition and good eating habits are essential. We had a hillside farm when I was growing up. We always had a garden."
