HUNTINGTON -- Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver hoped to revolutionize West Virginia school lunches, but first lady and state school board member Gayle Manchin says his recommendations aren't completely feasible.

At the state school board's Thursday meeting, Manchin told fellow board members Oliver's upcoming "Jamie's Food Revolution" television series on ABC provides Mountain State schools with "opportunities to look at how we do things and how we can do them better." But she said counties might not have the money to meet all of the Naked Chef's recommendations.

According to a document Manchin distributed to the board, Cabell County's food service program has experienced significant extra costs because of Oliver's changes. The TV series, which was shot in the county, premieres later this month.

Cabell schools will have to pay an extra $66,000 every year to make part-time cooks at several schools into full-time employees, according to the document. The schools also must provide all school cooks with more training to make lunches from scratch.

The document also said meal costs at Central City Elementary more than doubled during television production, as fresh foods are more expensive than their processed counterparts. ABC Productions, however, covered those excess costs during filming.

Cabell officials also said they need more kitchen equipment to make food from scratch, including food processors, salad spinners and storage containers.

Manchin said counties may be able to find ways around those extra costs.

"How do we take that out to scale? How do we make that more economical?" she asked. "There's a balance to be had between the processed chicken nuggets and the farm fresh chickens."

She said one possible way to save money would be to expand the healthy food program to all of the counties in the Regional Education Service Agency so they could buy food in bulk and at better prices. Manchin said schools could look at partnering with local farms for fresh eggs, meat, vegetables and fruit, too.

The first lady said the ProStart chefs at county technical schools also could train cooks to save money.

The first episode of the Jamie Oliver series will premiere at 10 p.m. Sunday, March 21, on ABC.

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