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Oliver has long-term goals
Jamie Oliver poses for a photo in his healthy food education center on 3rd Avenue on Saturday, September 26, 2009.
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HUNTINGTON -- Huntington residents should feel comfortable that their city will be portrayed fairly and accurately in an upcoming reality television series that aims to change poor eating habits, the show's host says.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver knows some people may question his intentions. He's not the least bit surprised if local residents view him as an annoying outsider, especially after comments he made about Huntington to an international news service earlier this month ruffled a few feathers.
"But I already know the stories we are going to tell will touch America on prime-time national television," he said. "They're stories of community, family and transformation.
"I know my heart is in the right place. I've done this before with much success in my own country, and I know I can do it here."
Oliver has been filming for almost a month now in Huntington for the unscripted, six-episode series that is tentatively set to debut in February on ABC. At its heart, the show will be a conglomeration of two of his trademark shows in Britain, "Jamie's School Dinners" and "Ministry of Food."
The former focused on removing unhealthy food from school cafeterias. The latter tried to teach the people of Rotherham, population 250,000, that learning to cook properly can save money, is more fulfilling than fast or processed food and improves one's health.
Oliver also intends to tackle other issues, such as the role parents play in children's eating habits, fast food and the availability of local produce in supermarkets.
"This is the hardest thing I've ever done," he said. "My goal is to do everything in harmony, which is a romantic vision one can only dream about."
Oliver has faced numerous challenges in his short time here. The greatest is convincing the public that he is here for more than a television show, he said. Rather, he wants the show to serve as a catalyst for empowering residents to make changes to their eating habits.
"People can think of me any way they like, but I have a limited time here to make improvements," he said. "The solution isn't about me being Superman. It's about me helping to bring local groups together to sustain positive change."
Oliver already has felt resistance because of fears that the show will rely on negative stereotypes to tell Huntington's story.
"I get the sense that there's some baggage when it comes to how other states look at West Virginia," he said. "I keep getting told by people West Virginia is a bit bruised because of this or that.
"I'm not aware of any of that. I'm coming here really in a pure sense. I'm taking it based on fact and what people need, and that's where my job starts and finishes."
Oliver knows he didn't win anyone over with his comments about his experience in Huntington thus far to Sky News. In a story published Sept. 21, he told the news service, "They are all anemic with information. Like when you meet these people, they are not stupid. They are not ignorant. It's just that they have never had food from scratch."
The comments drew objections from local health and tourism officials who said Oliver used broad and inaccurate generalizations about the area.
"The generalizations were not correct, and if that was my fault, then I apologize," Oliver said. "You can't go anywhere in the world, whether it's my country, Africa or America and say everyone's a certain way.
"But I was really referring to the small number of families we are working with. The point to remember is that they really want help and are responding well to the help."
While Oliver vows to avoid stereotypes, he will not refrain from exposing the harsh realities of poor eating habits, he said. That's the same message he delivered to an audience of about 150 people during a town hall meeting earlier this month.
"Ultimately, there's two sorts of people in life," he said. "There are people who put their fingers in their ears and say, 'I can't hear you. I can't hear you. No, no. I disagree.' And there are people who see dirt and want to clean it up. The approach we're taking in Huntington is one of the latter."
Oliver already has seen progress, particularly at Central City Elementary School, where cooks have revamped the school lunch menu under his guidance. Huntington High School will be the other test site for the show.
Central City rolled out the new lunches last week with very few complaints from students, Oliver said. Menu items included homemade chili with seven kinds of vegetables, lean meat and beans, a tortilla wrap, fresh coleslaw (made with yogurt instead of mayonnaise) and fruit; roasted chicken legs with rice, salad and fruit; and spaghetti with sauce made with lean meat and fresh vegetables.
Oliver also has removed strawberry and chocolate milk from the lunch line, because a serving of each contains two more tablespoons of sugar than regular milk. Many kids at the school are drinking two servings a day. That one change will result in 20 less tablespoons of sugar a week for a child, he said.
"If you bring up the future of America thinking that milk is supposed to be pink or black and loaded with sugar, what do you think will happen to their health, weight and teeth?" he said.
Oliver said the changes to the menu won't result in added food costs to Cabell County Schools. He is working with the same $1.28-per-meal food budget that the school system operates on, he said. The school kitchens and cooks in Cabell County also are far more equipped than any Oliver has seen in England, he said.
"There's already great things happening here," he said. "The food in the school system here is better than the national average. The cooks want you to know that, and I agree with them.
"But at the same time, we should use this as an opportunity to push even further."
There are, however, financial challenges on the horizon with the school lunch program and Jamie's Kitchen, the one-stop shop for food information that Oliver soon will open on 3rd Avenue across from Pullman Square.
The lunch program will require additional funding for school cooks to undergo training from chefs provided by the show, while the food center needs local sponsors, said Louise Holland, Oliver's chief of staff. If needed, Oliver will fund both initiatives until filming ends in late November, Holland said.
Thus far, school officials have shown interest but haven't made any firm commitment, Holland said. Jedd Flowers, director of communications for Cabell County Schools, said the show requested $117,000 from the school system and was turned down.
"We can't really confirm exactly what it was for, but we've told them they have to work within our budget," Flowers said. "They can't break our budget. That's part of the challenge."
The food center on 3rd Avenue, meanwhile, has lots of local residents willing to volunteer their time but lacks funding from local sponsors, Holland said.
"We're here to facilitate and act as a catalyst," Holland said. "There's definite interest on both fronts, but no real immediate action. I don't think it's a lack of will, but rather a lack of understanding about what this will achieve if it's set up long-term."
