PASS IT ON

Know why I love Jamie Oliver? No, it's not the cleft chin and impish grin, though those certainly don't hurt. And no, it's not because his recipe for roasted chicken with garlic and lemons and crunchy, caramelized potatoes is to die for, though that doesn't hurt either. And it's not because he started out cooking in his mum and dad's pub as a wee lad, and had worked his way up to celebrity chef by the time he was barely an adult. What really stole my heart is this: he has taken his super-stardom and put it to work, making the world a better place.

First there was Fifteen - the four restaurants he established in order to launch a pioneering apprenticeship scheme. The program is aimed at giving young people, in need of a break in life, the experience of learning to work in the restaurant business, and an opportunity to turn their lives around.

Then came his tireless campaign to ban the junk in schools, and get kids eating fresh, tasty, nutritious food instead.

Now, there is Pass It On. "What is that", you ask? Well, it seems he's trying to get yet another movement started, and he needs our help. "On the surface it's about friends teaching friends how to cook good, honest, affordable food and just generally be a bit more streetwise about cooking. But underneath that...it could well change the health and future of the country."

It all goes back to World War II, and the amazing, radical way in which the "Ministry of Food" mobilized thousands of women who could cook, and sent them out across the whole country to provide support and tips to the public, on how to use their food rations properly, make them go further, and how to help themselves and their country by planting "Victory Gardens".

Jamie believes we have a modern-day war on our hands now, and it's over the epidemic of bad health and the rise of obesity. He's been told that fewer than a third of Americans cook their dinners from scratch these days, and though 75% eat most of their meals at home, over half of those dinners are fast food, delivery, or takeout!

Here's the plan: His latest cookbook, which Alexis got for Christmas, is called Jamie's Food Revolution, and it's geared towards teaching people how to cook simple, delicious, affordable meals. He asks readers to get personally involved in pass it on by pledging to learn just one recipe from each chapter. We're to master each of these in our own homes first, then pass it on by teaching at least two other people how to cook them as well. So that's exactly what I plan to do, then I'm going to pass the recipes on to all of you, via this blog. Hopefully, each of you will make the effort to try them for yourself, then you will each pass them on to two more people, and so on, and so on.

As simple as it seems, pass it on could well be the most radical food movement in recent years, and YOU could be part of it! Won't you join me? Please?

P.S. Many thanks to blogs.babble.com for the above image.