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One of my goals with Almost Fit is to demonstrate that you don’t have to be a world-class chef to improve your health by eating quality meals at home. Neither my wife nor I have been through culinary training of any kind, but we do possess a passion for food, a desire to learn, and a spirit of adventure when it comes to what we eat. To me, those are the simple prerequisites to learning how to cook. You don’t have to be an Iron Chef to prepare meaningful, tasty dishes that you aren’t embarrassed to share with friends. Well, unless you hang out with Mario Batali, in which case you might want to have a culinary spotter when you prepare supper.

I think that is one of the reasons why we have always liked Jamie Oliver’s approach to food. Since the first time we saw him on Food Network his cooking has always resonated with us as attainable. I think he approaches cooking as if it is a game; in some sense when he cooks he is always trying to pass Go, collect his $200 dollars, and land on Chance to get the Get Out of Jail Free card, all in the course of one roll of culinary dice. I am by nature a puzzle solver; I used to do Sudoku puzzles at night before bed to fall asleep, I love crosswords though I can rarely finish them these days with attention-sharing requirements of children, and I may even have a pocket-sized Rubik’s Cube that goes with me when I travel.

Jamie Oliver is now trying to solve a new puzzle: How to get a nation of people motivated to start eating better before it’s too late for their collective health. The UK is the third most obese nation in the world, and it doesn’t appear to be improving. In response, Jamie has started The Ministry of Food, a throwback to World War II when the nation was in a different kind of emergency: Food shortage. These days, it could be said to be the opposite. An overabundance of convenience food is resulting in a general loss of knowledge in basic food preparation, which almost always leads to a loss of healthy eating habits. In general, people who cook more eat better, and in turn have less problems with health. (You can read more about the history of the Ministry of Food on the site.)

The first campaign of the Ministry of Food is the Pass It On campaign which will hopefully encourage a nation of people to start cooking more, and to share with others what they learn. This sounds like a great idea, and a principle that my wife and I believe in as well. Here’s a quote from the site describing the goal of Pass It On:

“The idea behind Pass It On is to inspire people who have never cooked to give it a try and then, once they’ve learned a recipe, to teach two other people how to make it too. We also want to mobilise anyone who can cook to pass on their skills by teaching their friends, family or workmates how to cook good, honest, affordable food.”

Although the Ministry of Food sounds terribly official, what I like most about this concept is that it has nothing to do with politics. It is focused on sharing thoughts and ideas with one another on how to improve our collective health through good cooking. In Jamie’s words, “Great Britain is the third most obese nation in the world, and we’ve got to sort it out. We’re not going to wait for the Government to do it; We’re going to do it.” I love this idea because it starts with personal responsibility, and taking action. Although his “campaign” is targeting the UK, I think it’s something we here in the U.S. can learn from greatly as well, so I’ve signed up to be part of it. I don’t know that the television program will be shown here in the U.S., but I’m certain that there will be a lot of information on it on the site as things progress. 

Certainly this is all just kind of entertainment on one level; And it won’t hurt his book sales either. But I’m OK with that. I think that raising awareness of eating fresh, locally grown organic food is a great use of celebrity status. One of my favorite Portland local blogs is Portland Food and Drink, where their slogan is, “Throwing Ourselves on the Grenade of Bad Food to Save You.” In a sense, this is kind of what Jamie is attempting to do – And if you’ve ever eaten some of the boiled meat dishes common in the UK, you know what I mean. 

The campaign kicks on on September 30th, so it will be interesting to see what tidbits we get outside Great Britain. Hopefully it will also be broadcast at some point in the U.S., but regardless, I think it’s a great idea, and a concept worth thinking about. The site is JamiesMinistryofFood.com, and is worth a visit.

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