Jamie’s likability and Essex slang just doesn’t translate in LA, as shown on the first of last night’s Jamie's Food Revolution, LA on CH4. In a desperate attempt to fit in, Jamie even attempted some American slang and vocabulary, using phrases such as ‘Gee Whizz’ and calling burgers patties and referring to data as dat a.
The naked chef, who has made it his life’s mission to make school meals across the globe healthier, came up against a brick wall of authority0the LA Schools District board, who refused to grant him permission to observe food practices in all of the city’s schools.
His back up plan was to round up the parents for support by inviting them to his kitchen, where he revealed the gruesome truth about the meat, if you can call it that, used in school dishes. Meat that is used to make dog food, and which butchers pay to be taken away, and treated with ammonia to kill salmonella. A process only used in America!
His demo may have had an impact on the mums and dads, but the board still refused to allow him access to the schools. And at a board meeting Jamie, who was promised a slot with the head of food, was palmed off with his communications manager, who told him to send an email, and basically jump through many hoops.
No problem, the chef had another trick up his sleeves, trying to convince the owner of an independent burger joint to swap his poor quality ‘patties’ for the real deal, Angus beef, and milkshakes made from real fruit and yoghurt rather than a syrup substitute.
‘It’s nice’, said owner Deano, when he tried the shake, ‘but not a real milkshake without ice-cream, more like a smoothie.’
And the burger? Deano admitted it was juicer, but at double the price not profitable.
The final nail in the coffin for Jamie, who brought his whole family over to the States, was when only 15 parents turned up to his visual lecture on the evils of giving children flavoured milk in schools. To prove his point, he filled a US school bus with 57 tonnes of sugar (see pic), the amount of sugar from a week’s worth of milk served. But still no word from the board.
‘Ive never had an institution that has shut us down like this’, said Jamie. ‘We’re just dreading water and getting nowhere. It’s a great show on hoe people don’t give a *@!!@***. ‘Maybe LA was a mistake’, admits the chef.
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