Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc

by hachiya • 16 years ago

56 24 16 years ago

I'm curious what a better nutrition labeling system would look like. I think each country has a different system. It would stand to reason that at least a few have something better than the US system.

vishaldpatel2• 16 years ago

Sugar = fat.

A lot of food says 0% fat, when the ultimate result of all that sugar is essentially fat.

wvenable3• 16 years ago

Sugar != fat in terms of the content of food. If something has zero fat but 400 calories, then it's still bad for you but in a different way. Either way, it's clearly labeled.

The problem is that people don't know how to interpret the labels. Better education would help with that. Weight watchers, for example, has their points formula which boils down the calories, fat, and fiber values into a single number that is easier to understand. Some food packages even include the WW points number -- but it wouldn't be very accurate or scientific to mandate that sort of thing.

DaniFong4• 16 years ago

I have a startup idea surrounding this that I think could be killer. I'm working full-time (on another startup) but I'm applying to YC anyway because I think it would be an easy hack with huge benefits and the possibility of making a lot of wealth. If you're interested I'm looking for a cofounder -- email me at daniellefong at daniellefong dot com.

rdouble2• 16 years ago

Have you seen Joel Fuhrman's ANDI rating system? It's being used at Whole Foods.

http://www.examiner.com/x-672-Disease-Prevention-Examiner~y2...

henrikschroder2• 16 years ago

Where I am, all nutrition labels contain the amounts per 100g/100ml (for comparison with other items) and per "serving" (for knowing how much you typically get).

The problem though is that serving sizes typically don't reflect how much you actually eat, especially for food that's bad for you. A serving of chips is usually a fistful, a serving of chocolate is not the entire bar, etc. Overall the system is ok, but there's room for improvement.

On the other hand, nutrition labels are such a small problem, the big problem is that people eat too fucking much, and no label in the world are going to stop them from doing so.

NZ_Matt• 16 years ago

A very impressive and passionate presentation. Jamie's use of shock value is very effective and probably necessary to get people to listen and take action.

cubicle67• 16 years ago

Have you seen his Chicken special? The one where he kills a few dozen cute fluffy yellow chickens in front of a live audience? That show was full of shock value, all aimed at getting people to realise just what happens in the industry, and also where your chicken dinner comes from

cwan• 16 years ago

I found this rant a bit vapid - you'll find more usable information here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1041452 (or read Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories).

I think Oliver clearly identifies a problem (and quite passionately believes in what he says), but the solution seems squishy - "fighting obesity" and "education" are great ideas but when you empower people with bad ideas that's probably worse than useless. Besides, the problem isn't educating the kids but the parents.

felixmar• 16 years ago

Besides, the problem isn't educating the kids but the parents.

In one episode of Jamie's School Dinners some parents were giving junk food through the schoolyard gate to their children when Jamie had convinced the school to start serving healthy and delicious meals. His Don Quixote like crusade to improve the food culture of the English is worthy of praise and makes him much more remarkable than most TV chefs.

henrikschroder2• 16 years ago

That parents do that to their kids is sad on so many levels. :-(

Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food

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