On Channel 4 nah,:)

Who is watching it

uz :D
(and the dog :hihi: well you know what beagles are like with food :roll: )

Fascinating watching all his presumptions being snapped apart (wait til the end - I know what happens :o). It's not a question of people not knowing how to cook, nor of them being lazy, but a question of economics. If you haven't got much cash but you've got kiddies to feed, you give them what you 100% know they will eat, and what you 100% know you can prepare.

S'alright for me, if the baby decides he hates the new recipe of chicken noodles I've made him I can throw it away and give him the beef stroganoff I know he will eat. I can afford it. Lots of folk can't risk it.

Plus there's the fact that a pack of tasty crisps is the cheapest drug you can lay your hands on (this was recognised even by Orwell back in the 30s, though luvvies like Oliver have no idea....). Posh folk can get their kicks buying Prada bags, doleys have to make do with Walkers bags.

Oh dear, what an embarrassment. Millions watching from around the country will look at the samples on this programme as representative of South Yorkshire. Cringeworthy!!

So far I saw one Obese family let their overweight son drench his meal in Ketchup and then someone who asked "What dus simmur mean?" when Jamie Oliver asked her to bring the food to the boil.

I admire this quest Jamie Oliver is on and think his intentions are benevolent. Afterall, his kids will go to private schooling and never be in a position to munch crisps as a meal alternative.

It's a bit of a stereotype isn't it

'Ooh isn't Rotherham grim' - we never get to see inside the middle-class people's home - in fact we hardly see them at all. But we get to see how dirty it is next to the cooker in the poor people's house.

That said, the people on benefits with the 8 ring cooker - how do they afford the cooker, the huge tv, and all the take aways? I couldn't afford that, and we have no kids, and both work.

that's the point little buzz - she said right at the beginning of the programme that she couldn't afford to be feeding her family the way she was, which was part of the reason for signing up to the scheme in the first place

Whilst this whole programme idea was brilliant if it was going on in leafy suburbia, what Jamie has completely missed is the method by which this cooking bug would spread

It's fine him inviting 20 mates round for a good nosh up, but if you're on benefits, you DON'T invite the neighbours round and feed them too, as you just can't afford to do it!

Just saw the chav mother with kids running around crying and whining about how she cannot afford to cook for her children on benefits.

Maybe these tragic wasters of o2 might want to go to places like Egypt, India and South Africa. Where families have to rely on staple diets of local crops and use home cooked recipes to change the meals. Yet they plead poverty in their applianced kitchens saying that they have no alternatives and the plan cannot work.

If a family can afford to feed children Donner meat and chips at least four times a week, they can afford basic Pasta, Vegetables & tinned goods.

but if you can afford take away four nights a week, you can afford to cook - but the lady he spoke to at the end said she couldn't afford to cook - but presumably was feeding her kids on something. I also noted she said 'I've sold all me jewellery' whilst wearing three pairs of earrings, a necklace and about half a dozen rings.

And it doesn't cost any more if you feed your mates one week, and they feed you the next.

Just saw the chav mother with kids running around crying and whining about how she cannot afford to cook for her children on benefits.

Maybe these tragic wasters of o2 might want to go to places like Egypt, India and South Africa. Where families have to rely on staple diets of local crops and use home cooked recipes to change the meals. Yet they plead poverty in their applianced kitchens saying that they have no alternatives and the plan cannot work.

If a family can afford to feed children Donner meat and chips at least four times a week, they can afford basic Pasta, Vegetables & tinned goods.

Give it a rest! Even Saint Oliver has begun to see the light into the more complex reasons why not everyone lives on mung bean salsa! There is hope for the fat-tongued one yet.

The problem isn't about people not being able to cook, that is purely incidental to the fact that our country harbours lazy, ignorants who choose to coast through life on draining on Benefits. Unfortunately I have seen these people first hand as I have family who are social workers and some of these types of people contribute alot to the many things wrong with society today.

And it doesn't cost any more if you feed your mates one week, and they feed you the next.that would mean persuading the benefits office to give you next week's money now, and trusting your guests not to back out of the return event

oh, and btw - whilst we're all having a dig at the size of that cooker, does anybody know if it came with a rented property? :rolleyes:

cut her some slack guys - she's trying, and it's hard changing how you live! Just ask anybody whinging about being overweight

btw - we gave up buying ready meals as the take aways round here are cheaper and the food is less processed ;)

that would mean persuading the benefits office to give you next week's money now, and trusting your guests not to back out of the return event

Maybe the takeaways are expensive where I live, but I doubt it - I live in Maltby.

It costs £13 when we get a curry, and about £10 for Chinese - and there are only two of us. Kebab and chips is about £6.

You can get a lot of ingredients at the Co-Op in Maltby, or the proper butchers, or the green grocers, or Sommerfield for that money. And you can walk to all of them.

oh, and btw - whilst we're all having a dig at the size of that cooker, does anybody know if it came with a rented property? :rolleyes:

I assumed it did come with the house

cut her some slack guys - she's trying, and it's hard changing how you live! Just ask anybody whinging about being overweight

btw - we gave up buying ready meals as the take aways round here are cheaper and the food is less processed ;)

I know she's trying, but 'I can't afford it' is a rubbish excuse. And I admit - I was annoyed that benefits seem to be providing a very nice standard of living, and yet still she says she can't afford it. Here's a thought for the lady on the program - if you can't afford to feed your kids, don't buy/rent a huge TV or tons of jewellery.

there's no need to be so nasty :confused:

was her jewelry actually birthday/christmas gifts? I've seen TVs that size given away free on here to make room for new plasmas too - so you don't know if she's paid for that one or been given it - or it could have come with the rented house

She's right too - it's hard cooking for real instead of walking into a take away

one thing Jamie has really missed on this crusade is that the hardest part of cooking real food is the planning it takes to feed such a small number as four or less, shopping for things that you PLAN to cook before they go off, and in sufficient quantity to make the trip to the supermarket worthwhile

I bet their cornershop doesn't sell fresh peppers for a start ;)

She's right too - it's hard cooking for real instead of walking into a take away

one thing Jamie has really missed on this crusade is that the hardest part of cooking real food is the planning it takes to feed such a small number as four or less, shopping for things that you PLAN to cook before they go off, and in sufficient quantity to make the trip to the supermarket worthwhile

I bet their cornershop doesn't sell fresh peppers for a start ;)

Well most people manage, and most people also go out to work.

As I said before I live in Maltby, which is hardly posh, but I can walk to Sommerfield, a green grocers and the Co-Op, and get peppers from all of them. I could even walk to Morrissons if I had to.

The recipes he was showing them didn't really require ingredients that were that unusual.

Oh dear, what an embarrassment. Millions watching from around the country will look at the samples on this programme as representative of South Yorkshire. Cringeworthy!!

So far I saw one Obese family let their overweight son drench his meal in Ketchup and then someone who asked "What dus simmur mean?" when Jamie Oliver asked her to bring the food to the boil.

I admire this quest Jamie Oliver is on and think his intentions are benevolent. Afterall, his kids will go to private schooling and never be in a position to munch crisps as a meal alternative.
Sadly, that's how many people in the South of England see Yorkshire folk and this program did a lot to reinforce that stereotype. You could scrape together a bunch of people like this in any city in the world. Having said that, some of the mothers on this program are borderline child abusers giving their kids this kind of diet.

I had a lot of respect of Jamie Oliver at one time - I thought what he did with 15 was commendable. However, I have become increasingly annoyed at his use of northern stereotypes to boost his own ego and self image.

Where should we make a programme about the poor eating habits of the British? Should we film it in inner city London? Bristol? Birmingham? Nah, lets film it 'oop North' cus we know those Northern Monkeys live off rendered pig fat and gristle pies:rolleyes:

People in this country do, on the whole, eat poorly. Much of it is ignorance, much more of it is pure economics and lifestyle. All of which needs to be tackled - but not as a vanity project for a fat tongued, mokney cook with delusions of grandure.

GO HOME JAMIE

PS I'm not from Rotherham, before anyone asks ;)

What I didn't get was that Mum who fed her kids kebab meat everynight, why wasn't her boyfriend cooking the meals? He worked in a cafe to could obviously cook?
Also she made herself look stupid by moaning that she couldn't fford the bus fair to town to do a shop, then a second later lit a fag up! Stop smoking to save money then!

that's the point little buzz - she said right at the beginning of the programme that she couldn't afford to be feeding her family the way she was, which was part of the reason for signing up to the scheme in the first place

Whilst this whole programme idea was brilliant if it was going on in leafy suburbia, what Jamie has completely missed is the method by which this cooking bug would spread

It's fine him inviting 20 mates round for a good nosh up, but if you're on benefits, you DON'T invite the neighbours round and feed them too, as you just can't afford to do it!

Im sorry but that is a load of rubbish. I have been a single mother on benefits and whilst I couldnt afford an 8 ring cooker and top of the range microwave and blender and a kebab 4 nights a week.I could afford to put healthy food on the table and plenty left in the pot for whoever turned up.

there's no need to be so nasty :confused:

was her jewelry actually birthday/christmas gifts? I've seen TVs that size given away free on here to make room for new plasmas too - so you don't know if she's paid for that one or been given it - or it could have come with the rented house

She's right too - it's hard cooking for real instead of walking into a take away

one thing Jamie has really missed on this crusade is that the hardest part of cooking real food is the planning it takes to feed such a small number as four or less, shopping for things that you PLAN to cook before they go off, and in sufficient quantity to make the trip to the supermarket worthwhile

I bet their cornershop doesn't sell fresh peppers for a start ;)

Well yeah, what people who have never been in that position don't know doesn't hurt them, eh? ;) They do not have the first clue how these folk live.

We hear rants about the things in their homes, but they don't know about how people are given things for gifts, buy things second hand, or use HP stores like BrightHouse or catalogues so they can pay for their new TV at £1.50 pw.

And yes, shops on a lot of the estates, if there are any shops left, don't really sell a whole lot of fresh meat and veg!

There's also the fact that most people living in poverty are ground down and it takes a hell of a lot of effort to change things around. The mother was whippet thin so she obviously barely fed herself. Another one was living on multipacks of crisps.

Even if they had cookery lessons at school it might not solve anything as kids might not be able to afford ingredients - loads of kids I was at school with never cooked anything in DS because their parents couldn't afford the stuff. You have to have spare cash in order to 'experiment'.

Incidentally, that meatball recipe could have been made more cheaply by buying Tesco ready made meatballs - only £1.79 a pack, the same amount of mince would cost you about £3 ;)

Im sorry but that is a load of rubbish. I have been a single mother on benefits and whilst I couldnt afford an 8 ring cooker and top of the range microwave and blender and a kebab 4 nights a week.I could afford to put healthy food on the table and plenty left in the pot for whoever turned up.

I took part in some research when pregnant and the researcher was telling me about some of the households she had been to in Sheffield. Apparently she'd met a lot of pregnant women with nothing more than a kettle, no fridge, cooker or microwave at all. They live on takeaways and things like sandwiches, cereal, pot noodle and cup-a-soup. While pregnant. And some of them also have kids.

I could believe it because a mate of mine had nothing to cook on for months until an old microwave was chucked out behind their flats.

We hear rants about the things in their homes, but they don't know about how people are given things for gifts, buy things second hand, or use HP stores like BrightHouse or catalogues so they can pay for their new TV at £1.50 pw.

Sorry, but a 42" flat screen is expensive second hand, and even more expenseive from Brighthouse or a catalogue. Given that the people aren't working, they have a limited income, and limited scope for increasing it. It shows a complete lack of budgeting - so for the same people to then say they can't afford to eat properly is as a little upsetting.

And yes, shops on a lot of the estates, if there are any shops left, don't really sell a whole lot of fresh meat and veg!

I live in one of the poorest areas of Rotherham, where the programme was filmed. I can walk to a co-op supermarket, a Sommerfield, a green grocers, Spar, and a proper butchers. Or, I could get a bus to a massive Morrisons - or even walk; it's only a few miles.

Even if they had cookery lessons at school it might not solve anything as kids might not be able to afford ingredients - loads of kids I was at school with never cooked anything in DS because their parents couldn't afford the stuff. You have to have spare cash in order to 'experiment'.

If you can afford a TV from Brighthouse, or cigarettes, or 4 kebabs a week, you can afford ingredients. Sainsburys do a bag or Organic Veg for a fiver (i.e. 1 ansd 2/3rds of a kebab and chips at Maltby prices) that would feed a family for 4 or 5 nights.

Incidentally, that meatball recipe could have been made more cheaply by buying Tesco ready made meatballs - only £1.79 a pack, the same amount of mince would cost you about £3 ;)

Ah, but bless em, these poor people can't get to Tesco, you said.

Are the ready made ones additive free? I think eating healthily was the point. The home made ones would be better for you than the Tesco ones, and still be cheaper than a kebab :)

Thats awful Mathom, if people read that, some would struggle to believe its England. That just shouldn't be happening.

Back to the programme though, I thought it was good for us northerners to watch because we know actually not everyone up here is like that, but the people in London watching must have the worst impression of us all now.

Did anyone else hear, "She calls meh Jade Goodeh so I call 'er Chav" :hihi:

I took part in some research when pregnant and the researcher was telling me about some of the households she had been to in Sheffield. Apparently she'd met a lot of pregnant women with nothing more than a kettle, no fridge, cooker or microwave at all. They live on takeaways and things like sandwiches, cereal, pot noodle and cup-a-soup. While pregnant. And some of them also have kids.

I could believe it because a mate of mine had nothing to cook on for months until an old microwave was chucked out behind their flats.

Pretty much the same as when I moved into my house. I had a kettle and a plug in grill thing and my grandad gave me a huge old microwave. I had no bed for a couple of weeks and went months without a settee. A year without a washing machine was a nightmare with a tiny baby. But this wasnt the circumstances of the people on the program. This was down to lack of education. Its alright trying to get these people to learn about history and science and such at school but what use is that when she cant even feed herself never mind her kids and it becomes a chain. Her mother didnt teach her to eat properly,she dosent teach her children and so on and so on. Some of them didnt even know the basics. Yes she did spend her money unwisely but is that her fault entirely? She dosent know any better,but given this situation is extremely common,something needs to be done before these people become parents. They need to be given the knowladge to look after themselves and their families properly.

I took part in some research when pregnant and the researcher was telling me about some of the households she had been to in Sheffield. Apparently she'd met a lot of pregnant women with nothing more than a kettle, no fridge, cooker or microwave at all. They live on takeaways and things like sandwiches, cereal, pot noodle and cup-a-soup. While pregnant. And some of them also have kids.

I could believe it because a mate of mine had nothing to cook on for months until an old microwave was chucked out behind their flats.

Under the Housing Act I think it is a legal requirement in all rented accommodation to provide a fridge and a cooker.

That said I lived in a flat where the cooker was rubbish once, so I bought a steamer (£9) and a microwave (£30 - but it was new - I'm sure you can get them for less)

There is no reason at all for people to not have the means to cook.

Sorry, but a 42" flat screen is expensive second hand, and even more expenseive from Brighthouse or a catalogue. Given that the people aren't working, they have a limited income, and limited scope for increasing it. It shows a complete lack of budgeting - so for the same people to then say they can't afford to eat properly is as a little upsetting.

It's not expensive at a couple of quid a week. And once you get into the agreement you can't back out easily if you find the payment of a few quid is more than you can spare. So you carry on with it.


I live in one of the poorest areas of Rotherham, where the programme was filmed. I can walk to a co-op supermarket, a Sommerfield, a green grocers, Spar, and a proper butchers. Or, I could get a bus to a massive Morrisons - or even walk; it's only a few miles.

As the woman said, she must catch a bus in order to shop for meat she can cook. Didn't you also notice she has two little kids to wrangle as well? So walking "only a few miles" as you put it is out of the question. I know I wouldn't even contemplate walking "only a few miles" just to buy fresh food. I'd make do with what I could get nearby. And I do, if the stuff from my weekly Tesco order has run out.

If you can afford a TV from Brighthouse, or cigarettes, or 4 kebabs a week, you can afford ingredients. Sainsburys do a bag or Organic Veg for a fiver (i.e. 1 ansd 2/3rds of a kebab and chips at Maltby prices) that would feed a family for 4 or 5 nights.

I think the point of her whole involvement and the entire programme was that she could not afford to keep using the takeaway?

Also I wouldn't like to live on nothing more exciting than a bag of ruddy organic veg for half a week. How miserable. You've missed the point that when you haven't got the spare cash to have nice holidays or clothes that you look forwards to the cheap treat offered by a packet of biccies - even Orwell recognised this way back in the 1930s.

I wonder was there a Sainsburys on her estate? Or if she could afford the cost of electric/gas to cook a tasteless turnip stew for an hour? If she'd have known how to cook them anyway. Which again was the point of the programme, to show her how to avoid cooking a tasteless turnip stew. ;)

Ah, but bless em, these poor people can't get to Tesco, you said.

Are the ready made ones additive free? I think eating healthily was the point. The home made ones would be better for you than the Tesco ones, and still be cheaper than a kebab :)

I'm not poor but even I would buy the cheaper ready made ones! I've not got money to flush down the bog!

Under the Housing Act I think it is a legal requirement in all rented accommodation to provide a fridge and a cooker.

That said I lived in a flat where the cooker was rubbish once, so I bought a steamer (£9) and a microwave (£30 - but it was new - I'm sure you can get them for less)

There is no reason at all for people to not have the means to cook.

No, there is no obligation.

Until you've been there you have no idea ;) You can patronise all you like but you have no idea.

No, there is no obligation.

Until you've been there you have no idea ;) You can patronise all you like but you have no idea.

It's not me saying people might live in places where they can't get peppers! I live in a poor area, and can walk to numerous places to get them - as explained in my post where you seized on the fact that one of the places is a few miles away (on a bus route) and ignored the fact that the other four are no more than a five minute walk. Oh, and you know nothing about me. :)

From the Housing Act 2004
Kitchens used by a single occupant must have the following minimum facilities:

A refrigerator of not less than 0.15 cubic metres capacity

A standard sink unit and integral draining board fixed within a base unit, together with an adequate supply of hot and cold water, and a tiled splash-back.

A suitable worktop (not including the draining board) no less than 1m by 0.6m

A cooker with two cooking rings, oven and grill

A storage cupboard of not less than 0.16 cubic metres capacity, e.g. a standard 500mm width cupboard

Im sorry but that is a load of rubbish. I have been a single mother on benefits and whilst I couldnt afford an 8 ring cooker and top of the range microwave and blender and a kebab 4 nights a week.I could afford to put healthy food on the table and plenty left in the pot for whoever turned up.

Good on ya, well done, there are too many bleeding hearts that blame everything but them selves and there are just as many do-gooders sympathising with them which doesn’t help.

I am surprised that the latest figures for people living below the “poverty line” hasn’t been wheeled out yet.

It's not me saying people might live in places where they can't get peppers! I live in a poor area, and can walk to numerous places to get them - as explained in my post where you seized on the fact that one of the places is a few miles away (on a bus route) and ignored the fact that the other four are no more than a five minute walk. Oh, and you know nothing about me. :)

No you were making a point that even if you could only buy fresh foods and it was a few miles' walk then people should do so.

In the case being discussed, the woman on the TV show, she had to catch a bus in order to buy fresh food, and could not afford the expense one week. Your own neighbourhood is irrelevant to the discussion really, you might well have umpteen shops near you and be able to get to them, but this woman did not.

The frustrating reality for her that she literally could not access the fresh food was only underlined by her tears because she had enjoyed the cooking and had gained a lot from it. Even Jamie Oliver could see that fact.

From the Housing Act 2004
Kitchens used by a single occupant must have the following minimum facilities:

A refrigerator of not less than 0.15 cubic metres capacity

A cooker with two cooking rings, oven and grill


Shame that local councils do not have to comply with these rules then, as you will NOT get provided with a fridge and cooker in a council property, it's up to you to buy/borrow/steal them!

I had a lot of respect of Jamie Oliver at one time - I thought what he did with 15 was commendable. However, I have become increasingly annoyed at his use of northern stereotypes to boost his own ego and self image.

Where should we make a programme about the poor eating habits of the British? Should we film it in inner city London? Bristol? Birmingham? Nah, lets film it 'oop North' cus we know those Northern Monkeys live off rendered pig fat and gristle pies:rolleyes:

People in this country do, on the whole, eat poorly. Much of it is ignorance, much more of it is pure economics and lifestyle. All of which needs to be tackled - but not as a vanity project for a fat tongued, mokney cook with delusions of grandure.

GO HOME JAMIE

PS I'm not from Rotherham, before anyone asks ;)

The reason he chose Rotherham was because he opened his Ministry of Food or whatever they call it in the town, not because he wanted to reinforce northern stereotypes. I didnt see the programme, but will definitely tune in if it is on again.

No you were making a point that even if you could only buy fresh foods and it was a few miles' walk then people should do so.

I suggested that it would be cheaper to travel a few miles on the bus (or walk if you wanted) than to buy take aways.

When I was little my mum used to walk with me to the shops that were about two miles away. That was only 27 years ago.

In the case being discussed, the woman on the TV show, she had to catch a bus in order to buy fresh food, and could not afford the expense one week.

And yet she was smoking whilst she said it - but presumably the cigarettes were on HP, or a gift?

Your own neighbourhood is irrelevant to the discussion really, you might well have umpteen shops near you and be able to get to them, but this woman did not.

She had shops that were only a bus ride away - and I suspect she could have walked if she wanted to. She chose to spend her money on other things, and she chose not to walk.

Fair enough, it's her choice.

The frustrating reality for her that she literally could not access the fresh food was only underlined by her tears because she had enjoyed the cooking and had gained a lot from it. Even Jamie Oliver could see that fact.

She was too selfish to get proper food for her children, preferring to spend the money on cigarettes. And presumably the children ate something? Like take aways that cost more than a bus fare and ingredients.

Shame that local councils do not have to comply with these rules then, as you will NOT get provided with a fridge and cooker in a council property, it's up to you to buy/borrow/steal them!

Are local councils really exempt from the Housing Act?

In the case being discussed, the woman on the TV show, she had to catch a bus in order to buy fresh food, and could not afford the expense one week. Your own neighbourhood is irrelevant to the discussion really, you might well have umpteen shops near you and be able to get to them, but this woman did not.

The frustrating reality for her that she literally could not access the fresh food was only underlined by her tears because she had enjoyed the cooking and had gained a lot from it. Even Jamie Oliver could see that fact.

You have to admit though, her case was undermined slightly by the fact she was sparking up whilst pleading poverty. Ultimately, she chose to spend her spare cash on fags rather than healthy food for herself and her kids. When he looked in her fridge at the start of the programme, there was a good tenners worth of chocolate in there, and what looked like 12 cans of boddingtons too. I'm not suggesting she should live her life without any kind of 'treats', but she needs to realise that she is choosing to spend what little money she has on crap, because it's the easy option. To say she literally had no access to fresh food is rubbish - she just chose to spend her cash elsewhere.

Hopefully as the series progresses, she will come to appreciate this - like the 'epiphany' she had at the cooking display in Rotherham town centre, when she admitted she fed her kids crap because it was easier for her.

The reason he chose Rotherham was because he opened his Ministry of Food or whatever they call it in the town, not because he wanted to reinforce northern stereotypes. I didnt see the programme, but will definitely tune in if it is on again.

But why did he chose Rotherham? Why not Slough? or Romford? Or is it just northern cities that have this problem?

You've missed the point entirely. She wanted to do the cooking, she was loving it, but she was in a stick that week and literally could not afford the fare to the shops to buy the fresh food. The issue of her cigs is a red herring as smoking is an addiction stronger than heroin addiction and from her foul mood I got the sense she had hardly been chain smoking them. ;)

Oliver was looking at why people don't cook, and he found out some reasons and they shocked him out of his complacency. He could even see that whether she had budgeted right or not was by the by, she was in difficult circumstances and could barely see the wood for the trees for worrying.

She wasn't 'selfish' or she wouldn't have signed up in the first place. I really, really, really hate this self-righteous attitude that we must drag people down when they stumble along a new and better path they choose to take in life. That's why so many never succeed in giving up drugs, dieting, learning etc. :rolleyes:

That's why so many never succeed in giving up drugs, dieting, learning etc. :rolleyes:

I thought it was because people made too many excuses for them instead of facing the reality of the situation.

But why did he chose Rotherham? Why not Slough? or Romford? Or is it just northern cities that have this problem?

I know, yeah. I was gobbing off about it myself the other day, about the patronising southern git ;) But I think it was because of the nasty things he said about that woman who was buying the pies for the kids' dinners - and it was nasty, even Clarkson, he of the biggest gob in the world, thought it was. He apparently apologised and they became friendly so he chose Rovvrem in the end.

I wouldn't have minded some of that stew and dumplings she'd made, either, it looked great. :thumbsup:

I thought it was because people made too many excuses for them instead of facing the reality of the situation.

No, people fall off the wagon and give up, and the people who should be encouraging them to get right back on just get all self-righteous. So you take the attitude you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb if that's all the credit people give you. :(

You've missed the point entirely. She wanted to do the cooking, she was loving it, but she was in a stick that week and literally could not afford the fare to the shops to buy the fresh food. The issue of her cigs is a red herring as smoking is an addiction stronger than heroin addiction and from her foul mood I got the sense she had hardly been chain smoking them. ;)

But she could afford to feed her kids on take away? Or are you suggesting they starved? Perhaps that is why a reasonably healthy young woman couldn't possibly have walked to the shops, what with having all day, every day to do it. She was upset with herself, I think - because she knew the reason she hadn't cooked was basically because she couldn't be bothered.

Oliver was looking at why people don't cook, and he found out some reasons and they shocked him out of his complacency. He could even see that whether she had budgeted right or not was by the by, she was in difficult circumstances and could barely see the wood for the trees for worrying.

It isn't by-the-by. She was in financial dire straits, we could all see that. However, when I have been in that position I have been able to eat very cheaply, and wouldn't consider a take away. Jacket potato and beans is better than kebabs, and probably costs less than a third.

I know how worry can cripple you. I have been there, but you have to take positive steps to get out of the hole you're in. Buying takeaway and then saying you can't afford to buy healthy food is a lie.

She wasn't 'selfish' or she wouldn't have signed up in the first place. I really, really, really hate this self-righteous attitude that we must drag people down when they stumble along a new and better path they choose to take in life. That's why so many never succeed in giving up drugs, dieting, learning etc. :rolleyes:

She said she was selfish didn't she? In the market place, where she admitted that she had fed her kids on rubbish because it was easier for her?

But why did he chose Rotherham? Why not Slough? or Romford? Or is it just northern cities that have this problem?

I believe he chose Rotherham due to issues that were widely reported at the time with regards to some mothers in that area kicking off at his better school dinners campaign. Not sure if you recall that, but the mothers were complaining that the local school was not allowing the children any alternatives other than healthy food and also banned the pupils from leaving the school grounds, thus preventing them from buying junk from the local shops. Anyhow, the mothers in question resorted to arranging a service in which they delivered burgers, chips, junk food through the schools railings (classy) to keep the little darlings happy. I am guessing if this had not occurred in Rotherham then he might have not given any thought about doing his programme in the town.

I know, yeah. I was gobbing off about it myself the other day, about the patronising southern git ;) But I think it was because of the nasty things he said about that woman who was buying the pies for the kids' dinners - and it was nasty, even Clarkson, he of the biggest gob in the world, thought it was. He apparently apologised and they became friendly so he chose Rovvrem in the end.

I wouldn't have minded some of that stew and dumplings she'd made, either, it looked great. :thumbsup:

TBH its a bit of a hobby horse of mine (You'd never guess from my first post would you?;) )

I cant think of single positive Northern role model on tv these days? Take Eastenders for example (My guilty pleasure :( ). They have a terrible recent record of portraying Northerners - every one is either a thug, an out of work con artist or most recently a pedophile!

I hate to use the 'R' word, but if any other group of people were portrayed in the same way - well, you can probably guess where I'm going with this...

I believe he chose Rotherham due to issues that were widely reported at the time with regards to some mothers in that area kicking off at his better school dinners campaign. Not sure if you recall that, but the mothers were complaining that the local school was not allowing the children any alternatives other than healthy food and also banned the pupils from leaving the school grounds, thus preventing them from buying junk from the local shops. Anyhow, the mothers in question resorted to arranging a service in which they delivered burgers, chips, junk food through the schools railings (classy) to keep the little darlings happy. I am guessing if this had not occurred in Rotherham then he might have not given any thought about doing his programme in the town.

I remember the case, and IIRC didn't he do a programme near the time focusing on Rotherham? I just dont see how continually picking on one area of the country proves anything, other than reinforce negative stereotypes. The issue is a national one, but his continued fixation with South Yorks, in my opinion, detracts from that.

I thought it was because people made too many excuses for them instead of facing the reality of the situation.

:thumbsup:

You get a sense that Oliver wants to tell them they are making rubbish excuses, but knows that to do so will alienate them.

But I reckon it's what he thinks.

No, people fall off the wagon and give up, and the people who should be encouraging them to get right back on just get all self-righteous. So you take the attitude you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb if that's all the credit people give you. :(

But the point is he was encouraging them. They were all given an oppertunity to make a difference and the majority were wasting it. Whilst Jamie Oliver is trying to change their way of thinking to getting them to make the most of what they have and showing them they can do it. People like you are saying well she has got it tough so dont bother. With all the excuses in the world the lady admitted she should have done it differently. She had a cooker and she was capable of walking to the shops. She would have been better off giving the kids left overs from the boyfriends cafe then kebabs that often. Then there is also the aspect that eating that kind of food all the time wouldnt do her any favours either. She would feel even more sluggish and depressed.

But why did he chose Rotherham? Why not Slough? or Romford? Or is it just northern cities that have this problem?

In an interview he said that he'd chosen Rotherham because that was where there had been the highly publicised situation of the mums passing chips through the school fence to pupils during the time when schools were trying to introduce healthier school dinners.

I cant think of single positive Northern role model on tv these days? Take Eastenders for example

My favourite was the line "Everything good gets destroyed in Bolton" when Joe (Wickes?) was in it ages ago.

I remember the case, and IIRC didn't he do a programme near the time focusing on Rotherham? I just dont see how continually picking on one area of the country proves anything, other than reinforce negative stereotypes. The issue is a national one, but his continued fixation with South Yorks, in my opinion, detracts from that.

No didnt he start series around london then moved to other areas as the programme went on?

I could be wrong.

My favourite was the line "Everything good gets destroyed in Bolton" when Joe (Wickes?) was in it ages ago.

LOL! Yeah, didnt Jay's grandad (Bert?) imply all Northern girls were easy 'cos they were 'Farm Girls':rolleyes:

But the point is he was encouraging them. They were all given an oppertunity to make a difference and the majority were wasting it. Whilst Jamie Oliver is trying to change their way of thinking to getting them to make the most of what they have and showing them they can do it. People like you are saying well she has got it tough so dont bother. With all the excuses in the world the lady admitted she should have done it differently. She had a cooker and she was capable of walking to the shops. She would have been better off giving the kids left overs from the boyfriends cafe then kebabs that often. Then there is also the aspect that eating that kind of food all the time wouldnt do her any favours either. She would feel even more sluggish and depressed.

I know he was, that's what I'm saying. He was listening to why they'd fallen off the wagon and giving them as many chances as they needed. I'm not saying 'don't bother', quite the opposite, I'm thinking of why we should make it easier for people.

Unlike people on forums who do not know these people and just like to sound off with their chests puffed out all self-importantly about what 'scum' they are. :rolleyes:

Oliver might be a patronising, southern, fat-tongued rich git, but he is doing something to help and listening, instead of kicking a dog while it's down. Sadly poor and poorly educated people are a lovely target and possibly one of the last ones left now we are not allowed to slag off all the other people we used as whipping boys in the past :suspect:

Christ, I can't believe I'm supporting Saint Oliver's point of view! :o

I know he was, that's what I'm saying. He was listening to why they'd fallen off the wagon and giving them as many chances as they needed. I'm not saying 'don't bother', quite the opposite, I'm thinking of why we should make it easier for people.

Unlike people on forums who do not know these people and just like to sound off with their chests puffed out all self-importantly about what 'scum' they are. :rolleyes:

Oliver might be a patronising, southern, fat-tongued rich git, but he is doing something to help and listening, instead of kicking a dog while it's down. Sadly poor and poorly educated people are a lovely target and possibly one of the last ones left now we are not allowed to slag off all the other people we used as whipping boys in the past :suspect:

Christ, I can't believe I'm supporting Saint Oliver's point of view! :o


To be fair though I think he had to use extreme cases to get his point across about the seriousness of it all.

Unlike people on forums who do not know these people and just like to sound off with their chests puffed out all self-importantly about what 'scum' they are. :rolleyes:

No-one on here has used the word 'scum' apart from you, I don't think.

I take it you are 'people on forums who don't know these people but believe they are better placed to comment than everyone else'?

Scrubbers, the lot of them... I can't afford this and can't afford that... all while puffing and a ciggie..... i bet all of them smoke.. No wonder people think northerners are fat scruffy scrubbers....

Under the Housing Act I think it is a legal requirement in all rented accommodation to provide a fridge and a cooker.

There is no reason at all for people to not have the means to cook.

That's not true. It may be the case for private rentals, but Council and Housing Association properties don't have them.

Scrubbers, the lot of them... I can't afford this and can't afford that... all while puffing and a ciggie..... i bet all of them smoke.. No wonder people think northerners are fat scruffy scrubbers....

You forgot the likelihood of drinking, sky TV and labelled clothes and trainers all of which come before a good diet obviously.

But why did he chose Rotherham? Why not Slough? or Romford? Or is it just northern cities that have this problem?

I think it was prompted by the press coverage of the Jamie's Dinners programme with the "fat slapper" taking orders from the chippie through the school railings. The earlier series was filmed in south London and his comments in the press indicate that he acknnowledges it's a national problem and not some sort of campaign agaist the North.

Scrubbers, the lot of them... I can't afford this and can't afford that... all while puffing and a ciggie..... i bet all of them smoke.. No wonder people think northerners are fat scruffy scrubbers....


Actually, one of the participants is an ex work colleague of mine. He works very hard and no he doesn't smoke either.

No-one on here has used the word 'scum' apart from you, I don't think.

Is there any need for you to type the word out when it's implied in every stereotypical accusation that's typed about them? Besides, bullies these days do not say the words outright but we know exactly what they mean, even if they are far too PC to actually utter the C word ;)

I think it's damn low to slag off the people on this show who have actually tried to do something rather than just hide away and stuff their gobs with cheap packets of pickled onion Space Invaders.

Is there any need for you to type the word out when it's implied in every stereotypical accusation that's typed about them?

I've suggested people are too lazy to cook properly. I've also suggested that to say you can't afford to do something cheaper than that which you are already doing is a lie.

I haven't suggested anyone is 'scum' - the person on the show was lazy, distracted and making poor excuses. And, by her own admission - selfish.

I don't think that makes her 'scum' - but clearly that description (which is entirely accurate) makes you think of the word. But don't tar me with your assumptions.

The only person who has been patronising on this thread is you with your 'poor them, they can't get to the shops, and even if they could they probably only sell grit, and they don't know any better' attitude.

The only person who has been patronising on this thread is you with your 'poor them, they can't get to the shops, and even if they could they probably only sell grit, and they don't know any better' attitude.

Listen, I've been there. I know how hard it can be.

By your way of thinking we should just leave them to rot and not give people any help in improving their lives for the risk of 'patronising' them.

Oliver admitted that what he was doing might come across as patronising, but he also said he was sure someone would tell him so in no uncertain terms if they found him offensive.

I find it really sad that the bloke has finally begun to see the light about why not everyone follows his lifestyle choices and yet all certain people can do is think it's another opportunity to laugh/rant at folk who have crap lives.

Listen, I've been there. I know how hard it can be.

And you are suggesting I haven't?

By your way of thinking we should just leave them to rot and not give people any help in improving their lives for the risk of 'patronising' them.

What have I said that even remotely resembles this conclusion?

I find it really sad that the bloke has finally begun to see the light about why not everyone follows his lifestyle choices and yet all certain people can do is think it's another opportunity to laugh/rant at folk who have crap lives.

I'm neither laughing nor ranting. I just think it is too easy to make excuses (I can't afford it, I don't have time, The shops don't sell peppers...) rather than taking responsibility.

Wouldn't it be a lot better if there was simply no opportunity to make 'excuses'* and there were decent shops on local estates? If utility companies would not charge extra for those with meters? And people could get cooking lessons (free and ingredients provided) in local schools so they could experiment?

I also note that it's odd how the Government continues to berate people for eating too many pies, yet pies are still cheaper than most other things.**



*noting that an 'excuse' is just a reason but with moral disapprobation attached to it. :suspect:

**we did a shop recently where we swapped everything on the usual list so that we had the most healthy version of everything that we could, including organic fruit and veg and it cost £40 more than usual. :o

Wouldn't it be a lot better if there was simply no opportunity to make 'excuses'* and there were decent shops on local estates?

If people shopped at them, there would be. I'm not sure where in Rotherham the lady lived, but she can't have been too far from some shops. You make it sound like someone has maliciously removed the shops - but if enough people go to their local grocer and ask for organic kumquats or whatever, they'll get them in

If utility companies would not charge extra for those with meters? And people could get cooking lessons (free and ingredients provided) in local schools so they could experiment?

Nothing is free though, is it? Somebody has to pay for it. Who do you suggest pays, or which other services would you like to see cut?

I also note that it's odd how the Government continues to berate people for eating too many pies, yet pies are still cheaper than most other things.

The government doesn't set prices, nor does it tax food differently. However I guess a pie is about £2. You can get a decent, healthy meal for less than that.

*noting that an 'excuse' is just a reason but with moral disapprobation attached to it. :suspect:

Notes that 'moral disapprobation' is tautologous.

Excuse (http://www.answers.com/excuse): To explain (a fault or an offence) in the hope of being forgiven or understood

What other word would you use to describe the lady saying the reason she didn't cook for her child was that she couldn't afford the bus fare (when really she just chose to spend her money on other things)?

If people shopped at them, there would be. I'm not sure where in Rotherham the lady lived, but she can't have been too far from some shops. You make it sound like someone has maliciously removed the shops - but if enough people go to their local grocer and ask for organic kumquats or whatever, they'll get them in

Ever since Mr Tesco etc have been on the rise, the corner shop has been on the decline I'm afraid. So you could say someone has maliciously removed the shops ;)

Where my parents live there isn't a single shop for seven miles. Tesco moved into the village, the local shop shut down and then Tesco buggered off again.

Organic kumquats, how chi-chi ;)

Nothing is free though, is it? Somebody has to pay for it. Who do you suggest pays, or which other services would you like to see cut?

Not up to me, but if people want to lecture people about what they eat then they maybe ought to crack on and do something about it or not moan when someone else does.

The government doesn't set prices, nor does it tax food differently. However I guess a pie is about £2. You can get a decent, healthy meal for less than that.

Where do you shop? Harrods? I've got a box of 4 pies in my freezer that cost a quid! :o

Oh wait, you mean an organic pie....;)

Notes that 'moral disapprobation' is tautologous.

Excuse (http://www.answers.com/excuse): To explain (a fault or an offence) in the hope of being forgiven or understood

What other word would you use to describe the lady saying the reason she didn't cook for her child was that she couldn't afford the bus fare (when really she just chose to spend her money on other things)?

Thank you for the patronising online dictionary reference. Alas for you I have many dictionaries here at home. You are clearly running out of things to say now, seeing as you have had to resort to the methods used by the usual inhabitants of Pedants' Corner. :P

Wow, some really smug and patronising attitudes abound on here.

Lets be fair about this. While I don't agree with everything that Mr Oliver says you can't deny his idea is a good one and a worthwhile one and what hes actually doing is trying to change peoples lives. Now I don't know about you but anything big that affects your life takes a little time to adjust to. You make mistakes and you relapse and you quit and then if you really really want to change you get back up and make the effort and thats what hes trying to do with these people. I applaud him. I really do, hes trying to make a difference, he clearly say what he wanted to say - what all of us would say when she complains of poverty but lights up - but he offered support and enthusiasm and motivation and allowed them to progress as best they could.

Now you could say that its wasted, that these people don't deserve it, that we should leave them to rot. I would then say shame on you. Most of these people are doing the best they can, the best way they know how. I know how ashamed you feel when you have to sell a thing or two to put some food in your belly. I also know how good it feels to cook properly and have a family moment. Its far far too easy to condemn. On the other hand you can't be their parents and I was very pleased that he didn't just give her money when she was crying. That would have been patronising.

In short, Mr O deserves kudos for his efforts. I fear however that his efforts will mostly be in vain, i'll continue to watch with interest.

In short, Mr O deserves kudos for his efforts. I fear however that his efforts will mostly be in vain, i'll continue to watch with interest.

Personally I think he's got far too big an idea and he's trying to overturn a lot of hurdles so he won't really succeed in this 'pyramid scheme' idea. However, he will make a difference to a few folk and that's a good thing. I'm speechless with shock that I found Oliver being OK for once :o ;)

However I'm still waiting for him to deal with those of us who can cook too well, watch too many cookery programmes and fancy another breaded camembert when they really shouldn't. Buuuurp! :P

Im sorry but that is a load of rubbish. I have been a single mother on benefits and whilst I couldnt afford an 8 ring cooker and top of the range microwave and blender and a kebab 4 nights a week.I could afford to put healthy food on the table and plenty left in the pot for whoever turned up.But you already know how to budget, plan and cook waxon, this is somebody who's learning all this anew. Whilst growing up as a kid in the seventies, our family was far from well off, particularly by the standards of the day (3 day working week, fuel shortages, powercuts etc), but my mum was more creative than most at putting food on the table, and constantly surprised any guests we did have

What Jamie doesn't realise he's doing is challenging a whole way of life, a whole spectrum of ingrained preconceptions and social 'rules', not just teaching a handful of people to cook and solving a huge social problem by doing so

in effect, what he's doing is similar to the 3rd world aid/charity of the late seventies/early eighties - buying tractor ploughs with no tractors to pull them, when what was needed was hand tools!

you can't teach people to cook, and expect them to change their lifestyle, if you don't equip them with budgeting and planning skills too

He's right about the school kitchens being stood empty all evening though - school facilities really should be available as community education centres of an evening. They've identified this wrt opening new sports facilities to the community, but why not other facilities too? and would vandalism drop if the building is occupied more of the time?

sheesh - I can't believe the rest of this thread after the post I quoted above :suspect:

It was patently obvious that the woman concerned had suffered a very specific setback, which had knocked her for six, and as she says, when she's stressed she can't think, and consequently can't do things like cooking (which is so new to her it still needs thinking about)

I've helped people who are at the end of their tether (quite literally), to the point of not being able to function, and I have to say, this woman appeared to fit exactly that scenario. Although she mentioned not being able to afford busfare, she was quite obviously hiding the real crux of the problem - even when she mentioned having to sell her jewelry, she still wasn't giving away what had actually happened

When did we all get so good at deciding who should or shouldn't do what or how it should be done. Why are we so good at kicking people when they are down?

To the people being so condemnatory here, what did you last do to help somebody up when they were down? At least Jamie is trying to make a difference here, and he's acknowledged that he's going to have to learn on his feet with this project too - this being the first eye opener for him

Ever since Mr Tesco etc have been on the rise, the corner shop has been on the decline I'm afraid. So you could say someone has maliciously removed the shops ;)

It isn't Tesco though, if anyone it's the consumers who have decided to shop at supermarkets rather than at corner shops.

Where my parents live there isn't a single shop for seven miles. Tesco moved into the village, the local shop shut down and then Tesco buggered off again.

Where is this? I want to open a shop there. If there is no shop for 7 miles and one is economically viable, there will be one soon enough.

Organic kumquats, how chi-chi ;)

It was supposed to be ha ha - you know, a parody? Like a joke?

Not up to me, but if people want to lecture people about what they eat then they maybe ought to crack on and do something about it or not moan when someone else does.

I have never moaned about Jamie Oliver or his aims. I have only said that the people on the programme made poor excuses.

The lady who had had a bad week - fair enough, she had a bad week. She didn't need to go on to say that she couldn't afford to get the bus when that was clearly untrue. She could have just said she had a bad week with money worries, or whatever. It was when she made up an excuse that I began to doubt her commitment.

Where do you shop? Harrods? I've got a box of 4 pies in my freezer that cost a quid! :o

Yes, I get Prince Harry to fly my pies in using a helicopter. He lands on Maltby Craggs, and I send the boy to collect them. They come in a mink lined box of gold.

Or, I meant pies from a takeaway, like Greggs or a chip shop - you know, where they said they were getting their food from.

You decide.

Oh wait, you mean an organic pie....;)

Oh, you've got me sussed. I only eat organic food served by supermodels on marble plates. It's a fair cop.

You seem to have me down as Little Lord Fauntleroy. I'm not sure why.

Thank you for the patronising online dictionary reference. Alas for you I have many dictionaries here at home. You are clearly running out of things to say now, seeing as you have had to resort to the methods used by the usual inhabitants of Pedants' Corner. :P

I gave a dictionary definition as you didn't seem entirely sure what the word 'excuse' meant. Certainly you were trying to suggest it meant something other than what it does mean. I'm not sure if that makes me pedantic or not though. I thought it might help, but I see now that you prefer it if you can make insinuations without being pulled up for it.

Tesco used to be corner shops themselves, but some people won't be old enough to remember them pulling out of those locations and them all becoming Spar shops instead. The new Tesco Metros are for a completely different market

Sarcasm and arguing aren't solving anything on this thread

the woman who mentioned bus fare as an 'excuse' only mentioned it as part of a list of items which were only tabled in response to being pressured by Jamie - who wanted to better understand what he's up against here

In reality this is what was needed for the show/experiment. If everything had gone smoothly, what would that prove/solve, and who'd bother tuning in next week? ;)

But you already know how to budget, plan and cook waxon, this is somebody who's learning all this anew. Whilst growing up as a kid in the seventies, our family was far from well off, particularly by the standards of the day (3 day working week, fuel shortages, powercuts etc), but my mum was more creative than most at putting food on the table, and constantly surprised any guests we did have

I think what he needs to do is to rope in some of the older women, maybe the woman who was buying the chips and who he then made amends with. They seem to have this knack of cooking good hearty food (just what you need when you've not got much else to look forwards to) from cheap cuts and making food go far. I remember my nan was another expert in making a little go a long way.

Oliver should be showing them how to make pastry, stews, soups and so on. That would go down well, and would be welcomed by people who like traditional foods - us northerners do like a pie and that ;)

Why haven't these cooking skills been passed on though? Is it because in the 80s we were all so taken up with new foods like pizzas and the like and decided we suddenly didn't want to know how to bake a nice pie or cake?


I gave a dictionary definition as you didn't seem entirely sure what the word 'excuse' meant. Certainly you were trying to suggest it meant something other than what it does mean. I'm not sure if that makes me pedantic or not though. I thought it might help, but I see now that you prefer it if you can make insinuations without being pulled up for it.

I'm not even going to dignify this kind of thing with a well written reply. In fact I am going to close this argument down now as it is annoying everyone who just wants to discuss the programme without the same boring old slagging off of the type of people involved. And I have no need to go to Pedants' Corner. ;)

Oliver should be showing them how to make pastry, stews, soups and so on. That would go down well, and would be welcomed by people who like traditional foods - us northerners do like a pie and that ;)

This is true. I feel there has been insufficient use of patronising stereotypes in the show so far :)

Why haven't these cooking skills been passed on though? Is it because in the 80s we were all so taken up with new foods like pizzas and the like and decided we suddenly didn't want to know how to bake a nice pie or cake?

I think this is they key - 'housework' is now seen as a menial task - probably because society as a whole (note: not me personally) seemed to treat it that way - so people growing up are more interested in skills that will earn them money - and certainly not in learning to do things considered 'boring'.

I don't know how to address it - if Ainsley can't do it, I can't!

<snip>

but is pie and such other stodge the answer to the problem? They may as well carry on with the takeaway

eking things out or making more of the little you have is half of my point though - it's about budgeting and planning, and not a lot to do with the basic bit of cooking

but is pie and such other stodge the answer to the problem? They may as well carry on with the takeaway

eking things out or making more of the little you have is half of my point though - it's about budgeting and planning, and not a lot to do with the basic bit of cooking

This is the thing though, a lot of eked out recipes do include stodge. There's nothing wrong with some stodge anyway, as it fills you up, and it's essential for kids who need energy for growing (which is why teenage boys are always troughing chips at dinner time and still stay whippet thin, a bit of salad is just not enough for them).

And pie can be a nice vegetable pie (carrots, broccoli, mushies, onion all go well in pie), so combining the comforting and filling 'stodge' with the nutritious veg - add cheese or some cheap bits of chicken/beef (you can use just one chicken thigh from a pack of Tesco value ones that cost about £2-£3 for a dozen) and you've got protein too. Serve with a tin of peas, some boiled carrots and you've got a cheap and easy dinner that nobody's going to say "Eyuw, what's that foreign muck" at :thumbsup:

BTW I have someone in my house who is most suspicious of 'foreign muck' so I know all about different ways of making pies ;)

<snip lots of ingedients>... a pack of Tesco value ones that cost about £2-£3 for a dozen) and you've got protein too. Serve with a tin of peas, some boiled carrots and you've got a cheap and easy dinner that nobody's going to say "Eyuw, what's that foreign muck" at :thumbsup:

Are you the same person who was suggesting that poor people can't get to the shops a few pages back, and was berating me for suggesting that it was nonsense? And you're now saying they should go to Tesco, despite suggesting they were evil just before?

can we stop going round in circles please? :rolleyes:

People are too bloody Lazy to cook and make all sorts of excuses to justify feeding themselves and their kids crap. Fair enough, eat crap, forcing that on your kids because you can't be arsed to do anything other than think of excuses to justify your actions is selfish. Stop having kids if you either can't afford to look after them or just can't be bothered. A packet of fags costs £6, ANYONE who is a bit skint and says they can't afford to get the bus to a shop or to buy healthy food is talking rubbish when they continue to buy real fags. Smoking is a strong addiction, if you struggle to stop then at least smoke rolling tobacco, a packet would last a week instead of a day.

Oh dear, what an embarrassment. Millions watching from around the country will look at the samples on this programme as representative of South Yorkshire. Cringeworthy!!


He could have found equally thick/fat/common/embarassing people in London, but chose not to, thats because he is an attention seeking pillock.

Jamie Oliver in Rotherham? Pffft... cant even get it right. The episode the other night was filmed at a home in Goldthorpe which, as my memory serves, is in Barnsley :) Although, not a million miles away from the Rotherham border haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AAQWcLuHLM&NR=1

Why do people constantly make excuses for the s***e that 'graced' our screens during the course of this programme, and no, I don't mean Jamie Oliver?

"Kebab woman" openly admitted that she gives the kids kebabs etc because, to coin a phrase, she "can't be arsed".

Then we see her extolling the virtues of salmon in the town centre because someone is providing the salmon and because she gets on the TV.

Once back at her Council provided and paid for home ,she then reverts to type, blobbing for the cameras, claiming she can't afford "proper" food, had to sell all her jewellrey (whilst still wearing loads of it), blah friggin' blah, whilst puffing on cigarettes.

This country is in the s**t it's in because of revenue sucking garbage like "Kebab woman" who have never worked and will never work.

And don't try and tell me that I've never experienced life at the poor end because I have.

I also know that no one in this country now suffers genuine holes in your trousers, no carpets, no fuel, etc poverty, thankfully.

However, those of us that live in the real world, also know that we are surrounded by the type of individual seen on this programme.

We need to stop making excuses for them and make them contribute to society rather than excusing them for bleeding it dry.

You've not got much room to talk with a rant like that complete with oodles of swearing. ;)

Are you her Oaf?

Dont they still have fruit and veg markets in Rotherham anymore.
Thought Jamie would have gone round some of these helping the people to choose cheap fresh veg. etc, maybe he will in the other episodes.
Also plenty of cheap meat places in Rotherham.
I could only afford takeaways about once a week for my family if i wanted them. Veg and meat are much cheaper.

Stews seem to be the most economical and are healthy. No one should be unable to cook a stew, everything goes in one pan.
Or if im in a rush i steam all the veg and put in slow cooker. with the cooked meat and add gravy.

Ive started putting sweet potato or squash in with mash now,as it makes it go further
and i can get a big bag of sweet potato for one pound at Asda, at the mo.
They were also selling loose broccolli very cheap per kilo last week.
No one was born with a saucepan in their hand, you just have to get on with it.
Plenty recipes around.

Ive started putting sweet potato or squash in with mash now,as it makes it go further
and i can get a big bag of sweet potato for one pound at Asda, at the mo.
They were also selling loose broccolli very cheap per kilo last week.
No one was born with a saucepan in their hand, you just have to get on with it.
Plenty recipes around.

Do you use the sweet potato in mash to make it go further or the mash? I bet that's nice...my thing with mash at the moment is loads of leeks cooked in butter, and mustard. Corr, that's lovely with apple sausages. Mmmm...

I used up a tonne of broccoli the other week by making a soup - but I added marmite to it, and it turned out really nice.

Stews are great - I used to do one when I was on the dole that was thin sliced spuds, layered with corned beef, carrots, cheese and onions, with water and milk poured over, then baked for one hour. Unfortunately corned beef is really expensive now (more like £1.39 a can instead of 39p!) and fuel costs are soaring so stews might be off the menu for a lot of people :(

I wonder how many people will try and survive winter on cup-a-soups and sarnies? :(

You've not got much room to talk with a rant like that complete with oodles of swearing. ;)

Are you her Oaf?

Is swearing an indicator of something then? I'm not sure what your point is.

Will he try to force feed people on tofu again or just whip them?

Why am I not surprised that you've answered my post, Mathom?

Obviously, only your views are valid and every other is a rant.

No, I'm not her "Oaf" but obviously you are her Social Worker.

Why don't you go and call at her house and fling your luvvy arms around her and tell her how bad the world is and how much she is being persecuted by everyone?

You can share a kebab and a fag with her and discuss the "Facist" nation that provides her with everything so she'll never have to work.

Oooooh, listen at me swearing "work", what ever next?

Why am I not surprised that you've answered my post, Mathom?

Obviously, only your views are valid and every other is a rant.

No, I'm not her "Oaf" but obviously you are her Social Worker.

Why don't you go and call at her house and fling your luvvy arms around her and tell her how bad the world is and how much she is being persecuted by everyone?

You can share a kebab and a fag with her and discuss the "Facist" nation that provides her with everything so she'll never have to work.

Oooooh, listen at me swearing "work", what ever next?

What, exactly, had this woman done to you, that gives you the right to call her the Anglo-Saxon word for poo? Nothing. In fact all she had done was go on TV in an effort to turn her life round and had even made herself look vulnerable in doing so. A word like that should be reserved for someone who has done wrong. You are a bigot.

What, exactly, had this woman done to you, that gives you the right to call her the Anglo-Saxon word for poo? Nothing. In fact all she had done was go on TV in an effort to turn her life round and had even made herself look vulnerable in doing so. A word like that should be reserved for someone who has done wrong. You are a bigot.

Yea right, she won't learn anything or change anything. why not face up to it.

He means well, but he is really too naieve

What gives me the right Mathom, is the fact that I aint a social leech.

How naive can you possibly get?

Why don't you take it upon yourself to fund her lifestyle so that everyone else doesn't have to? If she's that vulnerable, and you obviously believe she is, let her come and live at your house and she can bleed you dry.

If the above views make me a bigot, I can live with that.

What will you do about the fact that you're as thick as five back doors?

What gives me the right Mathom, is the fact that I aint a social leech.

How naive can you possibly get?

Why don't you take it upon yourself to fund her lifestyle so that everyone else doesn't have to? If she's that vulnerable, and you obviously believe she is, let her come and live at your house and she can bleed you dry.

If the above views make me a bigot, I can live with that.

What will you do about the fact that you're as thick as five back doors?

The fact that you may be earning makes it worse. What you are doing is looking down on someone else. Being a snob. Being self-righteous.

Yet this woman has tried to do something positive about her lifestyle. What have you done to address being a bigot and your temper issues about people on TV? Did you actually watch the programme and see the efforts she was making, or just sit there fuming and not actually listening?

Oh and I do fund her lifestyle through my not inconsiderable taxes.

But you already know how to budget, plan and cook waxon, this is somebody who's learning all this anew. Whilst growing up as a kid in the seventies, our family was far from well off, particularly by the standards of the day (3 day working week, fuel shortages, powercuts etc), but my mum was more creative than most at putting food on the table, and constantly surprised any guests we did have

What Jamie doesn't realise he's doing is challenging a whole way of life, a whole spectrum of ingrained preconceptions and social 'rules', not just teaching a handful of people to cook and solving a huge social problem by doing so

in effect, what he's doing is similar to the 3rd world aid/charity of the late seventies/early eighties - buying tractor ploughs with no tractors to pull them, when what was needed was hand tools!

you can't teach people to cook, and expect them to change their lifestyle, if you don't equip them with budgeting and planning skills too

He's right about the school kitchens being stood empty all evening though - school facilities really should be available as community education centres of an evening. They've identified this wrt opening new sports facilities to the community, but why not other facilities too? and would vandalism drop if the building is occupied more of the time?


But thats just it. The programme is about people that couldnt cook. It isnt about people on benefits cooking. The first women shown were on benefits but the others werent. His point is that as a nation we eat rubbish and we need to improve and go back to the basics. His issue was people would have learnt to cook from each other and this dosent happen anymore. We are closed off in our own little houses eating crap. He took 8 people as a start to something bigger. Showing people its not as hard or as expensive then you think and anybody can do it. He showed them healthy simple meals that they could easily copy at home. You say he isnt showing them how to budget etc etc but if he gives them 10 basic healthy recipes they are the basis to many combinations to feeding a family on a budget. If they can manage those 10 recipes they are well on there way to being able to cook most things. Giving them the confidence to try new things and it brings familes and friends cooking together. People are also missing a big side effect of this project. It brought the lady from goldthorpe to the older man and all the other combinations of people cooking together and getting together round a table. This on its own is something that will make a big positive difference for the people involved.

I know what you mean about having a 'back up' of basic recipes. For example if you know how to turn a tin of toms into a sauce, it's the basis for a 1001 things.

I think the biggest problem in learning to cook for mums on benefit is that you can't risk it going wrong. If you're single and you make an unholy mess of the fish pie you're making you can still force yourself to eat it. But if you've got a lot of hungry little faces round the tea table you can't make them eat something that might have come out lumpy yet strangely runny, horribly burned and tasting of congealed flour. Yes, that's what happened to me once ;)

Why can't Oliver's mates Sainsburys and the like help fund school DS rooms to stay open in an evening and on weekends so folk can go in and learn with free ingredients? The chance of a free dinner should tempt a lot of people in.

The fact that you may be earning makes it worse. What you are doing is looking down on someone else. Being a snob. Being self-righteous.

Yet this woman has tried to do something positive about her lifestyle. What have you done to address being a bigot and your temper issues about people on TV? Did you actually watch the programme and see the efforts she was making, or just sit there fuming and not actually listening?

Oh and I do fund her lifestyle through my not inconsiderable taxes.Although I don't agree with you on everything I have to say I agree with you here. I also think you're wasting your time trying to fight their corner. There are people who are vengeful and have no humanity who want to keep the poor and oppressed down instead of if not actually helping them at least encouraging them.

Interesting article here (I think anyway before I get slated).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/01/foodanddrink.oliver

Why can't Oliver's mates Sainsburys and the like help fund school DS rooms to stay open in an evening and on weekends so folk can go in and learn with free ingredients? The chance of a free dinner should tempt a lot of people in.

As part of the benifits they do get vouchers for children under 3 to be used for fruit veg and milk. Its not a lot but it helps.

Although I don't agree with you on everything I have to say I agree with you here. I also think you're wasting your time trying to fight their corner. There are people who are vengeful and have no humanity who want to keep the poor and oppressed down instead of if not actually helping them at least encouraging them.

Oh I'm used to fighting for an unpopular side ;) I have a school report from when I was 12 where my history teacher commended me for sticking up for people.

If people are horrid and actively do not want to help themselves to better lives (like Oafs for example) then fine, have a pop. But it's really low when you kick someone who's giving it a go :(

Although I don't agree with you on everything I have to say I agree with you here. I also think you're wasting your time trying to fight their corner. There are people who are vengeful and have no humanity who want to keep the poor and oppressed down instead of if not actually helping them at least encouraging them.

Apart from the extreme offensive people calling them scruber or whatever most people are just a little peeved that they have been given a huge oppertunity and are wasting it. Completley irrelevant to the project but the first dinner lady from school dinners continues to work for the project in a head role. I presume this has helped her considerably career wise and the same could happen for the others on the show if they put the effort in. Whilst I do agree it is very hard in these situations people making excuses for them just gives a reason not to try. If your that low it takes everything to get the omph to do something. If somebody says oh poor you it dosnt matter you have it too hard, they give up. If someody says well actually look you have done this and look how easy it is to do that, they get they enthusasim to keep going and try harder.

Interesting article here (I think anyway before I get slated).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/01/foodanddrink.oliver

Damn, I was gonna post that! It's really good. :thumbsup:

This bit was really shocking:

When you are on a low income you buy the kind of food that fills you up most cheaply. What may seem ignorant choices to others are in fact quite rational. Lobstein has calculated the cost of 100 calories of food energy from different types of food. The cheapest way to get your 100 calories is to buy fats, processed starches and sugars. A hundred calories of broccoli costs 51p, but 100 calories of frozen chips only cost 2p. Good-quality sausages that are high in meat but low in fat cost 22p per 100 calories, but "value" fatty ones are only 4p per 100 calories. Poor quality-fish fingers are 12p per 100 calories compared with 29p for ones made with fish fillet that are higher in nutrients. Fresh orange juice costs 38p per 100 calories, while the same dose of energy from sugary orange squash costs 5p.

It even has what Orwell says about the diets of the working classes, and asks why we are so shy of addressing this as a class issue, when it has everything to do with what we eat.

Apart from the extreme offensive people calling them scruber or whatever most people are just a little peeved that they have been given a huge oppertunity and are wasting it. Completley irrelevant to the project but the first dinner lady from school dinners continues to work for the project in a head role. I presume this has helped her considerably career wise and the same could happen for the others on the show if they put the effort in. Whilst I do agree it is very hard in these situations people making excuses for them just gives a reason not to try. If your that low it takes everything to get the omph to do something. If somebody says oh poor you it dosnt matter you have it too hard, they give up. If someody says well actually look you have done this and look how easy it is to do that, they get they enthusasim to keep going and try harder.

Is she wasting it though? That was only the first part of the series remember. She was just having a set back, which is why I don't understand the vitriol poured on the woman. Everyone has setbacks when they're trying to change their lives around! Being horrible about it makes it worse.

To be honest, if people are not going to actually watch and listen, and just use it as more fodder for pub-style rants about 'scrubbers' and whatnot, there's not a lot of point in C4 showing the programme :(

"About £70 out of a weekly benefits cheque of just £80 on fast food and junk."

"The bottom drawers of Natasha's fridge are stuffed full of sweets and chocolate bars."

"Five-year-old Kiya has already had to go to the dentist twice to have rotten teeth removed."

Come on all the do-gooders lets hear how you justify this as its not their fault is it:roll:,having to have teeth pulled at five years old, some would call that child neglection

Is she wasting it though? That was only the first part of the series remember. She was just having a set back, which is why I don't understand the vitriol poured on the woman. Everyone has setbacks when they're trying to change their lives around! Being horrible about it makes it worse.

To be honest, if people are not going to actually watch and listen, and just use it as more fodder for pub-style rants about 'scrubbers' and whatnot, there's not a lot of point in C4 showing the programme :(

Peoples arguements against her were based on what they saw. You may find reasons around it but from the perspective of what was shown was a house full of expensive items, a fridge full of beer and sweets and a boyfriend with a cafe then lighting up whilst saying she cant afford the food. To be honest it was a load of cobblers. Her problem is she is depressed and has other issues going on, but not having the money because she is on benefits isnt one of them. Not having money because she is spending it on the wrong things is probably more the problem. But then thats what happens when you get so down. I still dont think making excuses helps her though.

This bit was really shocking:

<quote within quote not quoted because the forum doesn't automatically do it!>

It even has what Orwell says about the diets of the working classes, and asks why we are so shy of addressing this as a class issue, when it has everything to do with what we eat.

Its an interesting quote, but hardly surprising. I think we are all aware of this calculation, even if it is only to calculate the most efficient way to get drunk with your paper round money. (always 20:20 with a straw IIRC)

It is still the case that buying food and cooking with it is cheaper than buying it ready made, fat laden and calorie dense or otherwise.

Peoples arguements against her were based on what they saw. You may find reasons around it but from the perspective of what was shown was a house full of expensive items, a fridge full of beer and sweets and a boyfriend with a cafe then lighting up whilst saying she cant afford the food. To be honest it was a load of cobblers. Her problem is she is depressed and has other issues going on, but not having the money because she is on benefits isnt one of them. Not having money because she is spending it on the wrong things is probably more the problem. But then thats what happens when you get so down. I still dont think making excuses helps her though.

I agree with this 100%.

I'm really hoping that as the series progresses, the woman on the programme realises this too and gets herself out of the rut she's in.

I still dont think making excuses helps her though.

And so say all of us. :clap::clap::clap:

To be fair, she didn't kick off making excuses, the pair of them weren't understanding what the other was about

She was embarrassed at letting him down, so that was her focus, and he NEEDED to understand where she'd tripped up, as he'd mentioned earlier in the programme that he may be looking at this all too simplistically

as a result, when she was reluctant to make excuses, he pressed her, so instead of actually telling him what had happened (which she wasn't going to tell the cameras), she rattled off a handful of excuses reminiscent of the claptrap people use for not doing homework

Basically she's not coping with life itself. Recovering from that takes input/support on an ongoing basis, not a film crew turning up once a month. She's identified what she's doing is wrong. She's trying to do something about it. Kicking her when she falls off the waggon doesn't help

I'm so pleased that everybody here knows exactly how to recover from living in the depths of despair. Why don't you go tell everybody who's wasting the time of the NHS, MIND and other such similar establishments? We could close all of the support services in the whole country and just put a notice on the door saying 'pull yourself together' :rolleyes:

That article made one heck of a lot of good observations, and reinforces the struggle Jamie's having on this series. Did anybody else read it right to the end?

The fact that you may be earning makes it worse. What you are doing is looking down on someone else. Being a snob. Being self-righteous.

Yet this woman has tried to do something positive about her lifestyle. What have you done to address being a bigot and your temper issues about people on TV? Did you actually watch the programme and see the efforts she was making, or just sit there fuming and not actually listening?

Oh and I do fund her lifestyle through my not inconsiderable taxes.


Why shouldn't I consider myself to be better than this individual? Do you consider yourself to be on a par with everyone no matter how degenerate?

I'm earning now, thank God, but I haven't always been. I've spent nine months on the dole in the past and have done some pretty awful jobs before now.

The difference being I have worked and attempted to find work when not employed. I've never blamed anyone else for a lack of employment nor have I considered it my right to blame everyone else/feel sorry for myself.

I have also helped and will help genuine people who are struggling to cope with life. I don't, however, deem "Kebab woman" to be part of this category.

I did watch the show but unlike yourself I wasn't wearing rose tinted specs.

Precisely what efforts did she make, by the way?

I have no temper or bigotry issues, I am just a realist. Look it up in one of your dictionaries.

The fact that you may be earning makes it worse. What you are doing is looking down on someone else. .... Being self-righteous.
...
I do fund her lifestyle through my not inconsiderable taxes.

What colour is that kettle again, Lady Pot?

[QUOTE=Strix;4135579]I'm so pleased that everybody here knows exactly how to recover from living in the depths of despair. Why don't you go tell everybody who's wasting the time of the NHS, MIND and other such similar establishments? We could close all of the support services in the whole country and just put a notice on the door saying 'pull yourself together' :rolleyes:[QUOTE]

Well said!

Precisely what efforts did she make, by the way?

So you didn't watch it then? Or you would have noticed almost the whole show was about the efforts she was making.

What colour is that kettle again, Lady Pot?

However, I do not have a problem with paying taxes which go on welfare. I have had enough of it in the past and one day might need it again.

As might all of us soon.

However, I do not have a problem with paying taxes which go on welfare. I have had enough of it in the past and one day might need it again.

As might all of us soon.

We are all one bad day against losing everything. Anybody can end up on the poverty line.

The whole point of the programme is that the woman in question is trying to do something to change her life.

I agree that you can feed a family on a budget but it does take a lot planning & organisation. The whole point is that the people who have signed up are admitting that they can't cook at all. I know its shocking that in this day & age people can't even prepare simple meals but thats what they were saying. I think the concept is a good one & I hope it works.

poor jamie his new book not even released has been leaked on internet i got it emailed to me yesterday pm for details with email addy

The book is out - they had it in Smith's yesterday.

ministry of food is out but not next naked chef

Well, Jamie's in trouble for using Rotherham as his opening program in his new TV Series.

Dare he ever return to the town where I was born and bred? ;) :hihi:

Times Online today

Jamie Oliver faces backlash over new show

Campaigning celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who successfully battled to improve the quality of school meals, has enraged the subjects of his latest quest to wean families off a diet of junk food and help them cook home meals.

Oliver, 33, launched his new Channel Four show Jamie's Ministry of Food this week where he will attempt to teach eight people from the Yorkshire town of Rotherham to cook and then pass on their skills to friends, who will in turn do the same, until 250,000 people have been taught.


and, further:

same source:

But the chef's mission statement that "anyone can learn to cook...it’s fun, cool, can save you money and help you, your family and friends to live a healthier life" appears to have upset many in Rotherham who have accused Oliver of casting the whole town as a bunch of kebab-eating "numpties".

John Gilding, leader of Rotherham Council’s Conservative group, said he agreed in principle with the show's intentions but it had given the three-million strong audience, who tuned in to the first of four episodes on Tuesday, the wrong impression of the town, which once thrived on a huge steel and iron industry.

“The people he put on television were pretty downmarket and he gave the impression that everyone living here is like that,” said Mr Gilding.

“His idea is to have eight volunteers teach two of their friends and so on until a quarter of a million people have learned to cook - well that is the whole population of the town.

“It looks like he thinks we’re all as thick as planks, and that we live on doner kebabs".

“People are enraged about it. I agree that he has a point with regards to school dinners and it is good he is trying to educate people but Rotherham people are not numpties.”

ps ... I highlight in bold the parts which creased me up with laughing!
pps .... note he doesn't deny that we live on donner kebabs :o

Full Article Here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article4880921.ece)

Was Jamie Oliver's programm making Rotherham people look thick. I saw this item of news. I watched the programme and couldn't see anything he did implied it. The programme clearly stated that Rotherham was typical of many towns and cities, not unique. It's been stated for years that many people do not know even the basics of cooking. This isn't because everyone who can't cook is stupid nor did Jamie Oliver imply it. The opposite in fact as he clearly believes all his students capable of learning and teaching others.

I think he chose Rotherham because it was one of the highlighted places where mothers were 'outraged' when he made their childrens school feed them real food.

They were stuffing bags of fish & chips through the railings at lunchtime :lol:

I think he chose Rotherham because it was one of the highlighted places where mothers were 'outraged' when he made their childrens school feed them real food.

They were stuffing bags of fish & chips through the railings at lunchtime :lol:

The truth of what that woman did is a lot more boring unfortunately. Rawmarsh Comp changed their canteen system for the new term in accordance with the new guidelines, but they hadn't organised it very well. They locked the kids in at dinner and were trying to feed all 1,000 of them in two 30 minute sessions, so her kids were coming home having only had something like a potato that was raw in the middle for their lunch and only 5 minutes to eat it in after queueing. She was going to the local sandwich shop and just bringing things back from there for her own kids initially.

Anyway, he did it there because he became friends with this woman, no sinister reason.

I don't know the woman or the school, only what was shown on the news over a number of days.

It's good to see that even after all the flack Oliver has got from some quarters he's still on a mission to change peoples attitudes, I'm not a big fan of his personally but at least he's doing something.

He lost any influence he may have had over my own 11yr old when he saw him smoking though, which is a pity.

It's good to see that even after all the flack Oliver has got from some quarters he's still on a mission to change peoples attitudes, I'm not a big fan of his personally but at least he's doing something.

He lost any influence he may have had over my own 11yr old when he saw him smoking though, which is a pity.

You let your 11yr old smoke? Can't you wait till he's 12 before buying him fags, like most Rotherham parents do?

I don't know the woman or the school, only what was shown on the news over a number of days.

I think they just saw the chance of a "scrubber" story and nobody stood a chance of knowing what a shambles the school had made of its healthy eating changes. Besides, everyone would still have been going on about the "scrubber" even if the right story had been put out after. ;)

i think people were a bit bothered by it because they only people he spoke to were those on benefits, who only fed their children with kebab and chips every night! lol

i think the majority of people here do know how to cook at least a few meals from scratch. its just a shame a few of them havent been brought up quite so well and dont even know what boiling water looks like, or think its acceptable to welcome someone to their town by chanting 'you fat b*****d' at them.

i think people were a bit bothered by it because they only people he spoke to were those on benefits, who only fed their children with kebab and chips every night! lol

i think the majority of people here do know how to cook at least a few meals from scratch. its just a shame a few of them havent been brought up quite so well and dont even know what boiling water looks like, or think its acceptable to welcome someone to their town by chanting 'you fat b*****d' at them.

Only stating a fact (http://www.superchefblog.com/images/jamieoliverfat3_100dpi320x480pxl.png).....

I think they just saw the chance of a "scrubber" story and nobody stood a chance of knowing what a shambles the school had made of its healthy eating changes. Besides, everyone would still have been going on about the "scrubber" even if the right story had been put out after. ;)

To be fair I do remember the women passing the food through the gates being interviewed in the same news story, and not really getting a positive point across, it was more of a Jeremy Kyle moment, which again is a shame because they had the opportunity to highlight any crisis that was going on, on the evening news.

I don't think he portrayed them in a bad light. The editing was rather sly though - one minute a mother in tears because she can't afford to travel to the shops to buy fresh ingredients; the next shows her lighting a cigarette. But then that is a valid point to make - £80/week to spend, but you choose to spend £5 upwards on a pack of cigs.

To be fair I do remember the women passing the food through the gates being interviewed in the same news story, and not really getting a positive point across, it was more of a Jeremy Kyle moment, which again is a shame because they had the opportunity to highlight any crisis that was going on, on the evening news.

They'll have been fuming, having been paying for school dinners that weren't cooked and their kids didn't have enough time to eat. I think I'd have been gobbing off about Jamie Oliver too ;)

They'll have been fuming, having been paying for school dinners that weren't cooked and their kids didn't have enough time to eat. I think I'd have been gobbing off about Jamie Oliver too ;)

I agree the point of why they were doing it was lost - but had they been pushing salads and sarnis through the gates, it wouldn't have made the news in the way it did, would it?

I don't think the programme is being disrespectful per se - after all, the people and places they showed really were from Rotherham. But they certainly had an agenda as to how they portrayed the place.

However, I'm sure next week they'll be visiting a family down Moorgate, or taking a little stroll around Wentworth perhaps...

What irks me more is the advertising for the programme, why do they have to say it's a 'Northern' town? What difference are they trying to imply?

If it was south of Watford Gap would they be saying he was in a 'southern' town?

I think not.

I think they would have said a southern town if he'd picked Slough. I'm sure he picked Rotherham because of the news story that showed them shoving burghers and chips through the railings. There certainly was no healthy foods going through, not even sandwiches. Obviously you pick those on benefit as it highlites the problems you have on low income if you don't know how to cook and to shop healthily. If they knew how to cook they would know how you can save money by doing it. Most recipe books are for foodies who have a good income. The challenge is for Jamie Oliver to prove you can eat better and afford it on a low income.

I love the outrage this has caused. Everyone is going on about it describing all people from Rotherham are on benefits etc. What people fail to see is the working mother from Doncaster. She doesn't cook because she simply does not have time, not because she is living on benefits.
Jamie Oliver may not be everyones favourite personality but at least he is trying to make people aware of what is a massive issue. I appreciate the fact that someone in this country is trying to sort out many issues including obesity that costs me as a taxpayer a lot of money. Also in 10-15 years time an awful lot more.
Well Done Jamie, keep it up!!!!!!!!

I think they would have said a southern town if he'd picked Slough. I'm sure he picked Rotherham because of the news story that showed them shoving burghers and chips through the railings. There certainly was no healthy foods going through, not even sandwiches. Obviously you pick those on benefit as it highlites the problems you have on low income if you don't know how to cook and to shop healthily. If they knew how to cook they would know how you can save money by doing it. Most recipe books are for foodies who have a good income. The challenge is for Jamie Oliver to prove you can eat better and afford it on a low income.

That shows you don't know, because the woman at the centre of it was initially just buying tuna sandwiches freshly made from the shop round the corner for one of her kids. ;)

That shows you don't know, because the woman at the centre of it was initially just buying tuna sandwiches freshly made from the shop round the corner for one of her kids. ;)

Apparently. She then perpetuated any false rumours by buying other kids fried foods.

Apparently. She then perpetuated any false rumours by buying other kids fried foods.

She did indeed fetch chips or pies for some of the other kids who asked for them, but it was mostly sarnies, pop and crisps, standard fare for a kid's dinnerbox. A long way from not giving them anything 'healthy' though.

She did indeed fetch chips or pies for some of the other kids who asked for them, but it was mostly sarnies, pop and crisps, standard fare for a kid's dinnerbox. A long way from not giving them anything 'healthy' though.

I would hardly say pop and crisps are healthy, nor should it form part of any kid's lunch. :huh:

He might have a point.

I was in a card shop in Rotherham only last week and was surprised to see a birthday card which said:

"Happy 30th Birthday, Grandma".:hihi:

Anyway, we seem to live in a generation that is always screaming how offended they are when someone states the bleeding obvious.

Or are they outraged because Mr Oliver has made a penny or two?

The truth of what that woman did is a lot more boring unfortunately. Rawmarsh Comp changed their canteen system for the new term in accordance with the new guidelines, but they hadn't organised it very well. They locked the kids in at dinner and were trying to feed all 1,000 of them in two 30 minute sessions, so her kids were coming home having only had something like a potato that was raw in the middle for their lunch and only 5 minutes to eat it in after queueing. She was going to the local sandwich shop and just bringing things back from there for her own kids initially.

That may or may not be the case.

It doesn't alter the fact that she was eventually posting chips through the fence though does it?

Wouldn't it have been easier to send her kids to school with a packed lunch? Cheaper too.

The truth of what that woman did is a lot more boring unfortunately. Rawmarsh Comp changed their canteen system for the new term in accordance with the new guidelines, but they hadn't organised it very well. They locked the kids in at dinner and were trying to feed all 1,000 of them in two 30 minute sessions, so her kids were coming home having only had something like a potato that was raw in the middle for their lunch and only 5 minutes to eat it in after queueing. She was going to the local sandwich shop and just bringing things back from there for her own kids initially.

Anyway, he did it there because he became friends with this woman, no sinister reason.

That isn't how it came over in the programme. There were a group of women pushing chips and pizzas through the railings. I couldn't help thinking, if they were so concerned why not give the kids a healthy packed lunch?

That isn't how it came over in the programme. There were a group of women pushing chips and pizzas through the railings. I couldn't help thinking, if they were so concerned why not give the kids a healthy packed lunch?

Because they don't know how to make healthy meals. Or any meals, for that matter. Hence the programme.

Because they don't know how to make healthy meals. Or any meals, for that matter. Hence the programme.

The lady pushing chips through the railings could cook (before her cooker was repossessed - according to The Mirror). She was telling Jamie about it on the programme, and even made him Sunday lunch.

The lady pushing chips through the railings could cook (before her cooker was repossessed - according to The Mirror). She was telling Jamie about it on the programme, and even made him Sunday lunch.

Then it is inexcusable. If you can cook then you must have an understanding of food - and appreciate that chips and other fast foods are unhealthy, not particularly nutritious and do not form an acceptable lunch for children.

Hopefully, the government will start recognising fat kids as the victims of neglect and/or abuse and start treating the parents accordingly.

He might have a point.

I was in a card shop in Rotherham only last week and was surprised to see a birthday card which said:

"Happy 30th Birthday, Grandma".:hihi:


Seriously?! That's hysterical! :D

And maybe more than a little bit disturbing, but let's keep that discussion for another day....!

Hopefully, the government will start recognising fat kids as the victims of neglect and/or abuse and start treating the parents accordingly.

Get off the high horse :thumbsup:

Get off the high horse :thumbsup:

Eh? Completely miss the point of your post...

Do you want to just let the current situation carry on, or just leave it to celebrity chefs to sort out?

Eh? Completely miss the point of your post...

I'm not going to do an idiot rewind.

I'm not going to do an idiot rewind.

Eh? I'm lost now. Was there a point?

I'm not going to do an idiot rewind.

OK... Funny you mention the word idiot, when that very word had crossed my mind already...

I heard Jamie Oliver being interview (loose term as it was the Chris Moyles Show) and he was talking about his programme in Rotherham and he sounded sincere about it all. Anyway, he went to say that his 3rd child was conceived in Rotherham... so it cant be all that bad. Just hope he doesnt go down the path of other celebs by naming the child after the place it was conceived. Can see the headlines now.... Rawmarsh Oliver, or would it be Maltby Oliver?! :D

Eh? I'm lost now. Was there a point?

No, I don't think so. Unfortunately, expressing a slight right wing opinion on here usually seems to get slated by the idiot contingent.

Was Jamie Oliver's programm making Rotherham people look thick.

No they did that themselves! Thought I can't fault that one woman who actually put some effort into it and turned out to be bloody good at cooking. Respect to her and the impact she will have on others watching tho it did do my head in when she started moaning about money then fired a £5 pack of cigarettes out! - Still a way to go..!

I heard Jamie Oliver being interview (loose term as it was the Chris Moyles Show) and he was talking about his programme in Rotherham and he sounded sincere about it all. Anyway, he went to say that his 3rd child was conceived in Rotherham... so it cant be all that bad. Just hope he doesnt go down the path of other celebs by naming the child after the place it was conceived. Can see the headlines now.... Rawmarsh Oliver, or would it be Maltby Oliver?! :D

Does he really expect us to believe he actually stayed in Rotherham? Surely he would have stayed at the St Pauls in Sheffield, or some such other s****y place :hihi:

ETA - they think I'm being rude! s-w-a-n-k-y is what I put, in case anyone's wondering what swear word I was using...

They'll have been fuming, having been paying for school dinners that weren't cooked and their kids didn't have enough time to eat. I think I'd have been gobbing off about Jamie Oliver too ;)

They should still learn to express themselves in such a way as to educate and and justify their position instead of gobbing and making themselves look like scanks!

No, I don't think so. Unfortunately, expressing a slight right wing opinion on here usually seems to get slated by the idiot contingent.

Correct !

Does he really expect us to believe he actually stayed in Rotherham? Surely he would have stayed at the St Pauls in Sheffield, or some such other s****y place :hihi:

ETA - they think I'm being rude! s-w-a-n-k-y is what I put, in case anyone's wondering what swear word I was using...

I dont know about that.... Rotherham could almost be classed as the Venice of the north. I will set the scene..... after a barge trip on the canal and gondola trip down the don, a romantic walk later amongst the pigeons of the main shopping area. It would be enough to make anyone feel the love and check into one of the many quality 5 star hotels that overlook the bus station ;) :D How could a place like that fail to set the mood.

Look, I'm not going to get into this tiresome argument to put straight this bigotry any more. Here are the facts, take them or shut your ears and go "La! La! La! Not listening!"

I've laid out what the woman was doing - buying sandwiches for her kids from Chubby's sarnie shop over the road when they were fed undercooked food in a school which did not have the facilities to provide a decent lunch - some kids were only getting 5 minutes to throw some raw potato down their necks, others weren't getting any dinner at all.

Talk to people round there instead. They will tell you the truth. The kids were locked in not because the head wanted to forcefully shovel salad down them (the school was still serving up things like chips anyway!) but because of road safety on Monkwood Rd.

A fresh portion of fish and chips or a sandwich is far, far better than a raw potato or no dinner at all. If my child was suffering from a crap dinner or no dinner, I'd be the one buying him a sarnie and putting it through the railings, too!

If you are stupid enough to believe the tripe pushed at you by the newspapers who love a "fat scrubber" story to put alongside the picture of some trollop's tits (or to substitute for the absence of a "scummy immigrants" headline story in the case of the Daily Heil) then I feel sorry for you.

Look, I'm not going to get into this tiresome argument to put straight this bigotry any more. Here are the facts, take them or shut your ears and go "La! La! La! Not listening!"

I've laid out what the woman was doing - buying sandwiches for her kids from Chubby's sarnie shop over the road when they were fed undercooked food in a school which did not have the facilities to provide a decent lunch - some kids were only getting 5 minutes to throw some raw potato down their necks, others weren't getting any dinner at all.

Talk to people round there instead. They will tell you the truth. The kids were locked in not because the head wanted to forcefully shovel salad down them (the school was still serving up things like chips anyway!) but because of road safety on Monkwood Rd.

A fresh portion of fish and chips or a sandwich is far, far better than a raw potato or no dinner at all. If my child was suffering from a crap dinner or no dinner, I'd be the one buying him a sarnie and putting it through the railings, too!

If you are stupid enough to believe the tripe pushed at you by the newspapers who love a "fat scrubber" story to put alongside the picture of some trollop's tits (or to substitute for the absence of a "scummy immigrants" headline story in the case of the Daily Heil) then I feel sorry for you.

Your starting to repeat yourself son! Others have expressed that she was on the news and completely failed to clarify these points!

A fresh portion of fish and chips...

Nice post. Of course, the fried fish and fried chips being fresh make it healthier...

and do you really believe that they only had a bit of raw potato! Get a grip! Maybe it was a slightly unerkooed potato with some salad and other product and because the food on about 3 kids plates was a little undercooked or rushed out they used it as an excuse en-mass to clamber against the railings demanding what they want!

Kind of off the point. Woman in question has stated she can cook and that she thinks it sad many cannot cook. Jamie Oliver has appologised for calling her a scrubber. Fact is many children are badly fed. My own son tells me of other children whose lunchboxes have several bars of chocolate as their lunch and this wasn't Rotherham or even an area which is a particularly low income though obviously some are as its such a large catchment area. I don't give my children sweets though sometimes they buy some but even then its not every day or even every week. I don't buy carryouts I can't afford it. I do buy some ready meals. The rest of the meals are cooked by me, or my husband, or sometimes the children. It works out cheaper. Junk food is often more expensive. I wasn't taught how to cook at home although my mother did cook. She wouldn't allow me in the kitchen. I've learned. Getting the raw ingredients can be difficult as supermarkets seem to stock more and more instant food and fewer raw ingredients. So its difficult at first. You need to know your sources. If you've never cooked you don't know about shopping, about where the cheaper food is. You don't know how to time meals. Doesn't make you stupid. Does make you uneducated at least in cooking.

Was Jamie Oliver's programm making Rotherham people look thick. I saw this item of news. I watched the programme and couldn't see anything he did implied it. The programme clearly stated that Rotherham was typical of many towns and cities, not unique. It's been stated for years that many people do not know even the basics of cooking. This isn't because everyone who can't cook is stupid nor did Jamie Oliver imply it. The opposite in fact as he clearly believes all his students capable of learning and teaching others.

I dont think Jamie needed to make them look thick they are disgusting and made me cringe to think they would embarass themselves by saying and doing half the things they did!! £80 a week with a widescreen tv and an 8 burner cooker me thinks not !!!

One of my friends went to school with the woman who could not even turn a cooker on and even she could not believe the rubbish she was talking, if that is what a couple of people are like in rotherham im glad i was brought up in sheffield!!

I've laid out what the woman was doing - buying sandwiches for her kids from Chubby's sarnie shop over the road when they were fed undercooked food in a school which did not have the facilities to provide a decent lunch -

...If you are stupid enough to believe the tripe pushed at you by the newspapers who love a "fat scrubber" story

Thing is, I've seen video footage of her putting chips through the railings to a crowd of kids, who surely weren't all hers.

So I don't always believe what I see in the papers, but I am inclined to believe what I have seen, which is a crowd of 20 or 30 kids being passed chips through a railing.

Thing is, I've seen video footage of her putting chips through the railings to a crowd of kids, who surely weren't all hers.

So I don't always believe what I see in the papers, but I am inclined to believe what I have seen, which is a crowd of 20 or 30 kids being passed chips through a railing.

Depending on how clear the footage was, they could have been cigarettes which, to be fair, are far more healthy than chips, give you much more pleasure and make you irresistable to the opposite sex.

Rotherham was obviously picked because of the food being passed through the railings to the schoolchildren. Its a misconception thinking that Rotherham people are any different to people from elsewhere. The differences are in people generally - doesn't matter which town, there will be parents who think its fine to wean their kids by giving them a sausage roll, and others who carefully prepare and blend fresh food - organic only! Then there will be the majority who try and feed their children sensibly.

Its quite shocking that someone on a really limited income only feeds her child on takeaways. Home made soup is cheap and nourishing, as are shepherd's pie, pasta, even fish fingers (grilled, obviously), or a boiled egg and soldiers :P - and are better for children than doner kebab! Thank goodness the children whose parents are on benefits get free school dinners.

... there will be parents who think its fine to wean their kids by giving them a sausage roll, and others who carefully prepare and blend fresh food - organic only! Then there will be the majority who try and feed their children sensibly.

What's not sensible about preparing fresh, organic food?

Its quite shocking that someone on a really limited income only feeds her child on takeaways. Home made soup is cheap and nourishing, as are shepherd's pie, pasta, even fish fingers (grilled, obviously), or a boiled egg and soldiers :P - and are better for children than doner kebab! Thank goodness the children whose parents are on benefits get free school dinners.

She just didn't have a clue about food. A lot of people don't. Students can be shocking. I used to share with this guy who was so bad a cook it was funny. He used to put a pan of beans on and then go for a bath! And he'd eat the blackened beans we'd shoved on the side after rescuing the pan!!!

He used to watch me eating my meal and ask how I'd made it so we did a lesson one night and I gave him a list of ingredients to buy for a pasta dish - he came back with a net of pickling onions instead of one onion :huh: Bless, he was a sweetie though ;)

I knew another guy who was so badly off his diet consisted of value bread wiped round the pans when his housemates had finished cooking :gag:

The only thing my brother's mother in law could prepare was cornflakes, she even managed to make canned custard go lumpy.

My mother won't eat meat unless it's blackened (I once had to hide the meat off my Christmas dinner it was that nasty, and I went and ate at my mate's house later), and she used to try and make us eat disgusting greasy value fried and burnt burgers slopped on the plate when dad was at a conference or something (he is the cook); I used to sneakily give them to the dog and creep down and make myself a buttie later when she fell asleep in front of the telly! The other week she offered to make some tea, which was going to be boiled mince and chips :gag::gag::gag: I had flashbacks to those horrible meals as a child. At least she is good at baking - her cakes are bloody amazing!

Hmmmmm :hey hey:.......why not just pass it on ?

:thumbsup:

Fast food is much cheaper than freshly cooked, I'm sure a meal of Fish & Chips is much cheaper than buying a fresh piece of fish,all the salad ingredients, and some fresh fruit, unless you catch your own fish and grow all your own fruits and veg, also the gas to cook it with.

i think people were a bit bothered by it because they only people he spoke to were those on benefits, who only fed their children with kebab and chips every night! lol

i think the majority of people here do know how to cook at least a few meals from scratch. its just a shame a few of them havent been brought up quite so well and dont even know what boiling water looks like, or think its acceptable to welcome someone to their town by chanting 'you fat b*****d' at them.

Well he hardly has enough time to visit the entire population of rotherham. The point he was trying to make is that good food doesn't have to cost a fortune if you know how to cook a few recipes! Having Kebabs every night is just lazy and expensive! Cooking doesn't take that much effort!

She just didn't have a clue about food. A lot of people don't. Students can be shocking. I used to share with this guy who was so bad a cook it was funny. He used to put a pan of beans on and then go for a bath! And he'd eat the blackened beans we'd shoved on the side after rescuing the pan!!!

He used to watch me eating my meal and ask how I'd made it so we did a lesson one night and I gave him a list of ingredients to buy for a pasta dish - he came back with a net of pickling onions instead of one onion :huh: Bless, he was a sweetie though ;)

I knew another guy who was so badly off his diet consisted of value bread wiped round the pans when his housemates had finished cooking :gag:

The only thing my brother's mother in law could prepare was cornflakes, she even managed to make canned custard go lumpy.

My mother won't eat meat unless it's blackened (I once had to hide the meat off my Christmas dinner it was that nasty, and I went and ate at my mate's house later), and she used to try and make us eat disgusting greasy value fried and burnt burgers slopped on the plate when dad was at a conference or something (he is the cook); I used to sneakily give them to the dog and creep down and make myself a buttie later when she fell asleep in front of the telly! The other week she offered to make some tea, which was going to be boiled mince and chips :gag::gag::gag: I had flashbacks to those horrible meals as a child. At least she is good at baking - her cakes are bloody amazing!

The Phrase "Mummy's Boy" Was made for this Soft Lad! LOL What a Plank!

I dont think Jamie needed to make them look thick they are disgusting and made me cringe to think they would embarass themselves by saying and doing half the things they did!! £80 a week with a widescreen tv and an 8 burner cooker me thinks not !!! One of my friends went to school with the woman who could not even turn a cooker on and even she could not believe the rubbish she was talking, if that is what a couple of people are like in rotherham im glad i was brought up in sheffield!!

Yeah I noticed that too? Plus the Laminated Floors and nice new fireplace! Unless her partner works his arse off! God knows how she afforded all that?

I missed the program when it first aired and turned up at work the following day to everyone saying how embarrassed they were at the way the people of roth cam across (i work at roth hospital and am originally from maltby in rotherham). Well i decided to watch it for myself so when the repeat came on i settled down to see what all the fuss was about and my word- i cringed all the way through it!!! We all know he chose Roth because of the woman shoving crap food through a school fence but the program just implied rotherham people all live on junk food and wouldn't know what a pan looked like!!

I used to work at a very popular chippy in maltby and was astounded at the amount people spent in there on a daily basis. These people were on benefits yet used to get chip shop food EVERY night and not just a bag of chips but kebabs, fish, pies etc and it added up to a pretty penny. Its because of this i can see where captain pukka is coming from. However, my own parents used to cook fresh meals every night - they might have been a pie or a casserole but they were made with fresh food and always had greenery with it too and we were not flush as a family.

Some people are just lazy (i know i am sometimes!!!) but to eat takeaways and say they can't afford healthy food is silly (especially as they light a fag up whilst bemoaning their lack of funds - QUIT SMOKING! The price of one pack pays for the jamie oliver principle of feeding well balanced meals for a family of four for a fiver). Most of the chain stores have late opening smaller shops within walking distances of homes and they stock a much more diverse range of food now so you can get peppers etc for the recipe cards.

I live in sheffield now and i'm thinking of signing up for this veg delivery thing that my friend and his sister get. You choose what type of fruit and veg you like and which you def do not want to receive and tick it on an order sheet and then you decide what value of box you want and then every week a box of fresh farm fruit and veg turns up on your door. You can also choose organic or non-organic. He has a 10 pound box and he gets loads - much more than you'd get from a supermarket and its all really good stuff. He then turns it into stews and soups, salads etc and makes enough for an army!!! He never goes hungry and he's one seriously healthy guy who eats like a horse and it doesn't cost him that much. I think i'm going to follow his lead with the veg and get me some jamie oliver cards for ideas!!! My friends mum has already passed one onto me to try!!

What's not sensible about preparing fresh, organic food?

Oops. Perhaps I could have put that better. Of course fresh and organic is always good, but lots of folk feed their families 'sensibly' even though they may not buy only organic or free range, or prepare everything from scratch. Its the other end of the range from constant takeaways, with the majority of us somewhere in between.

There's no need to go Organic. Good food is enough. Organic is far too expensive even for us never mind people on benefits or really low incomes. Plus the supposed 'benefits' of it are completely debatable. Most of the supposed nasties on veg can be washed off anyway, even if they are there in the first place.

The Phrase "Mummy's Boy" Was made for this Soft Lad! LOL What a Plank!

I am no mere boy. Nor am I a 'soft lad'. Quite a long way from those things in many, many ways. ;)

Who's the plank now, eh? :hihi: Why, you are like the Arnold Laver of planks after that outburst :hihi:

I am no mere boy. Nor am I a 'soft lad'. Quite a long way from those things in many, many ways. ;)

Who's the plank now, eh? :hihi: Why, you are like the Arnold Laver of planks after that outburst :hihi:

Could be wrong, but I thought Casback was referring to your student mate who couldn't cook and ate the blackened beans...?

Anyway, I was exactly the same when I left home. I had no idea how to boil an egg. When I was living at home during sixth form college I either ate what my mum did or concocted myself something that could be microwaved or toasted. I had a penchant for chocolate pop tarts (why, why why?) after the pub and regularly filled the house with the burning stench of chocolate pap :gag:

It wasn't until I met my first proper boyfriend and moved in with him that I was (reluctantly) taught how to cook. I still don't manage 5 a day or particularly healthy meals, though - it'll take having children, probably, to make me take this food thing seriously.

I don't mind Jamie Oliver. There was an interesting comment in the paper at the weekend about this show:

Was it not all a bit patronising? was the concern. Was superior, southern Jamie not picking on these poor, northern, working-class folk? Indulging in stereotypes? Should he not understand a bit more?

How did we get to such a pretty pass that we worry more about whether a TV presenter is patronising and care less about some of the brutal realities featured in the programme? We're introduced, for instance, to a five-year-old girl, the daughter of one of Oliver's pupils, who has never eaten a meal cooked at home and whose teeth are already rotten. There's another pupil who doesn't know what boiling water looks like.

In fact, one of the strengths of Oliver's style is that he, initially at least, doesn't try to hide his bemusement, his shock, his disbelief at some of what he sees. And the genius, unwitting or otherwise, of the format is that not knowing about food, it is soon made clear, is bound up with a whole host of other stuff - taking care of yourself and loved ones; taking pride in mastering a skill; the ability to express yourself, to pass on knowledge (the simple communication of a recipe presents problems to some of the gang).

In short, it's bound up with all the stuff that counts. And if Oliver is naive to make it clear to the viewers that he thinks such a state of affairs is wrong - how can Britain eat like this, be like this in 2008? - then thank God for his lack of pieties, because it is wrong, isn't it?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/05/foodanddrink.schoolmeals

I would hardly say pop and crisps are healthy, nor should it form part of any kid's lunch.


Incomplete agreement with you there Brian,

my 6 year old has pack up's for school, simply because he doesn't like the food that school have to offer (he does eat very healthily at home) Crisps & pop of ANY variety do not go into his pack up & he has never had 'junk' food in his pack up, some parents send their kids to school (& I'm talking primary aged kids BTW) woth a 250g bar of cadburys in the lunch bag & I have often seen kids walking to school with a grab bag of crisps & a big bag of sweets for breakfast!!!!

& WE WONDER WHY OBESITY IS ON THE UP IN THIS COUNTRY?????????

My son's pack up typically consisits of:
A sandwich (either cheese, ham or cucumber)
A Drink (usually pure apple Juice/Pure orange juice)
A fromage frais
Min. 1 piece of fruit
Carrot sticks/cucumber sticks (depending on whether or not he's got cucumber in his sandwich)
A mini cheese (usually babybel)

:D :hihi: :D :hihi:

He's 6 years old, Always eats 90% of his lunch & is very healthy, he knows what 'junk' food is, he IS allowed it sometimes IN MODERATION & he knows that a lot of fried is bad for you, his favourite foods are pizza & spinach & ricotta ravioli both of which he helps me cook!

Has no one noticed that since the education department abolished the 'homecraft'/home economics/ cooking classes in schools (where it was drummed into kids from primary school about cooking & healthy eating) that the nation seems to be eating more & more crap?? & that those parents that bother to get their kids cooking with them from an early age seem to also have kids that are prepared to eat healthily instead of relying on take aways/junk food every day.
:suspect: :huh: :suspect: :huh:

Every supermarket now offers budget price fruit & veg..... there is no excuse!

Could be wrong, but I thought Casback was referring to your student mate who couldn't cook and ate the blackened beans...?


I know what it looks like to me ;) It's up to him to apologise if he wants to chuck random insults round. I'm a bit fed up with how what Jamie Oliver is trying to do is just being used as yet more fodder for the tools who like to look down their noses at other people. Especially when he, who was the biggest self-righteous swine of all, has changed his tune. Some perspective - it's just food. It just goes to show how Health has replaced the bible-thumping brand of Christianity as the new zealotry.

Like you say, a lot of people from ALL walks of life don't know how to cook. In 20 years' time it will be the kids of the posh career parents who are stuffing their own nippers with kebab, because they don't exactly spend much time cooking with mum either, they're in nursery from 7 til 7 every day.

Fast food is much cheaper than freshly cooked, I'm sure a meal of Fish & Chips is much cheaper than buying a fresh piece of fish,all the salad ingredients, and some fresh fruit, unless you catch your own fish and grow all your own fruits and veg, also the gas to cook it with.

Troll, me thinks...?

I know what it looks like to me ;) It's up to him to apologise if he wants to chuck random insults round. I'm a bit fed up with how what Jamie Oliver is trying to do is just being used as yet more fodder for the tools who like to look down their noses at other people. Especially when he, who was the biggest self-righteous swine of all, has changed his tune. Some perspective - it's just food. It just goes to show how Health has replaced the bible-thumping brand of Christianity as the new zealotry.

Like you say, a lot of people from ALL walks of life don't know how to cook. In 20 years' time it will be the kids of the posh career parents who are stuffing their own nippers with kebab, because they don't exactly spend much time cooking with mum either, they're in nursery from 7 til 7 every day.

Yep, it's far too easy to judge other people on the basis of a heavily edited TV show. Wife Swap is another particularly good/bad example of that...I had to stop watching it when I realised I was just mouthing off about people's domestic lives and getting cross with them when it was None of My Business.

I think (disclaimer: I haven't watched it) that the woman who was smoking while saying she couldn't afford food deserves pity, in the most non-patronising way possible, and empathy.

I like to think that I will happily give up smoking the day I become pregnant, but I actually have no idea how easy that will be. It horrifies me to see pregnant women smoking, but I can still allow room for the slight, nasty thought that I'll hide in a corner somewhere and light up when no one else is looking. People are flawed - no one is perfect.

The programme doesn't make the people on the show look thick, they manage it very well themselves. As for the woman who brought the kids healthy food (chips, pies, crisps) to the kids in the school, being mouthy and opinionated doesn't make her right.

The fact that these people eat fast food 5 or 6 times a week was not edited to sound anything other than what that is when you have children. Irresponsible, ignorant, lazy and selfish is what I would say that this is.

I guess we can blame this on schools or police or immigrants rather than take responsibility for our own actions.

Look, I'm not going to get into this tiresome argument to put straight this bigotry any more. Here are the facts, take them or shut your ears and go "La! La! La! Not listening!"

I've laid out what the woman was doing - buying sandwiches for her kids from Chubby's sarnie shop over the road when they were fed undercooked food in a school which did not have the facilities to provide a decent lunch - some kids were only getting 5 minutes to throw some raw potato down their necks, others weren't getting any dinner at all.

Talk to people round there instead. They will tell you the truth. The kids were locked in not because the head wanted to forcefully shovel salad down them (the school was still serving up things like chips anyway!) but because of road safety on Monkwood Rd.

A fresh portion of fish and chips or a sandwich is far, far better than a raw potato or no dinner at all. If my child was suffering from a crap dinner or no dinner, I'd be the one buying him a sarnie and putting it through the railings, too!


If kids are not getting properly cooked food, then the school need to reconsider their kitchen management IMO & funnily enough it is much cheaper to make your child a pack up than to give them a few quid a day to but fish & chips & a can of pop or a sandwich, packet of crisps, chocolate bar & can of pop from a sandwich shop!! it's all a case of being bothered, it takes 10 mins to throw together a sandwich, put a drink & a piece of fruit into a lunch bag/box for your child, at least then you can keep an eye on what your child is eating!!

My sons packed lunches cost me around £5 a week so cost is no excuse, it's all down to a funny little illness called idleitis for those unsure of the symptons GOOGLE IT!!!

I by no means claim to be perfect nor do I claim to be the worlds most perfect mother, but I do claim to try my best to provide for my family & make sure my son eats healthily that's what part of the job is about, who are these parents going to blame when their kids are super morbidly obese?? & who are they going to blame when they are being bullied for being fat?? also how are they going to feel when their kids are having a heart attack in their early 30's because they have learnt bad eating habits???

Just thow an additional spanner of debate into the proverbial works...... these parents that say that they can't afford to buy fruit & veg for the kids they are going to the sandwich shop at lunch time for should possibly consider using the time spent travelling to & from school & waiting in the sandwich shop cues to possibly go to work for a few hours while the kids are at school in order to then be able to afford to buy healthier food for the kids (not always possible, but those who can SHOULD TRY IT!)..... this again leads onto other issues of how we raise our kids!

There's no need to go Organic. Good food is enough. Organic is far too expensive even for us never mind people on benefits or really low incomes. Plus the supposed 'benefits' of it are completely debatable. Most of the supposed nasties on veg can be washed off anyway, even if they are there in the first place.



I am no mere boy. Nor am I a 'soft lad'. Quite a long way from those things in many, many ways. ;)

Who's the plank now, eh? :hihi: Why, you are like the Arnold Laver of planks after that outburst :hihi:

I was talking about the guy in your little tale! not you

Definition of idleitis

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=idleitis

Could be wrong, but I thought Casback was referring to your student mate who couldn't cook and ate the blackened beans...?

Anyway, I was exactly the same when I left home. I had no idea how to boil an egg. When I was living at home during sixth form college I either ate what my mum did or concocted myself something that could be microwaved or toasted. I had a penchant for chocolate pop tarts (why, why why?) after the pub and regularly filled the house with the burning stench of chocolate pap :gag:

It wasn't until I met my first proper boyfriend and moved in with him that I was (reluctantly) taught how to cook. I still don't manage 5 a day or particularly healthy meals, though - it'll take having children, probably, to make me take this food thing seriously.

I don't mind Jamie Oliver. There was an interesting comment in the paper at the weekend about this show:



http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/05/foodanddrink.schoolmeals

I don't think Jamie came across as acting superior at all! At the end of the day he has got this knowledge thathe's earnt through hard work in his life (and believe me I worked in a kitchen it is hard work) and he's happy to pass it on to anyone who willing to listen! Problem is without realising it he's only aimed it at the young 'trendy' middle class people who watch Channel 4!

The different is that the people in question used his background as an excuse not to listen and chose to ignore their own hypocricey by saying his recipes were "too expensive!" when the spend more money on non essentials things like takeaways, fags and booze! They didn't have a leg to stand on!

okay - so who's going to kick off this week's slagging match? :D

He looked sick on more than one occasion in this week's show

Natasha has really come on in leaps and bounds, and it just goes to show what he's giving people here

I can't believe he interviewed her on the radio and completely missed out what it was doing for the relationship with her kids to be doing this

... and the miner!!! :D :D :D

I'm loving the differences on people's faces when they get the recipes to turn out! People who probably came through school just being told off and probably not praised for the successes they've had at school or home (well it's not the northern way is it ;) )

Based on tonights program?

Absolutely not. I think it shows our friends in Rotherham in a rather good light. Especially Natasha and Claire is coming on a bundle. Well done to all involved

I thought it was great this week -and Natasha in particualr was fabulous.

The woman who last week couldn't afford the bus fare to the shops now has her own vegetable garden. Get her some chickens and she won't need the bus.

Excellent.

I don't think Jamie came across as acting superior at all! At the end of the day he has got this knowledge thathe's earnt through hard work in his life (and believe me I worked in a kitchen it is hard work) and he's happy to pass it on to anyone who willing to listen! Problem is without realising it he's only aimed it at the young 'trendy' middle class people who watch Channel 4!

He knows what he's aimed it at. The chipy cockney isn't as daft as you make him out. And he's not had it hard at all, I guarantee you that. Not exactly from the ghettos....


I will give credit where it's due, his fifteen thing was I feel, genuine. As for the rest of it, he can foxtrot oscar

aaahhhhhhhh!!!!! I just realised

Natasha has been called a single mum multiple times this week

Was her emotional break down last week due to a relationship break up?

It was a great show. I take my hat off to Natasha, we should all be so adaptable

Fast food is much cheaper than freshly cooked, I'm sure a meal of Fish & Chips is much cheaper than buying a fresh piece of fish,all the salad ingredients, and some fresh fruit, unless you catch your own fish and grow all your own fruits and veg, also the gas to cook it with.

Are you still in The States?

You will be lucky to get Fish and Chips for less than £3 now.
If you are buying for a family of 4, home cooking will be much, much cheaper.

I saw some of last night's programme - well done Mick the miner. :thumbsup: The sheer enthusiasm that guy had for learning something new was a pleasure to watch.

I see the programme skilfully avoided the pitfalls of Northern stereotypes - oh wait, the two people featured were a miner and a farmer:rolleyes:

I'm sorry, but I cant stand this programme. I reached the end of my tether when the fat chav was laid on the hospital bed having her liver examined.

"Tell me wot e means, not in doctors words Jamie?"

WTF?

Ah! Rotherham women. Thank goodness for them. It only takes four of them to make a kids bouncy castle for the day and only costs a McDonalds. :thumbsup:

Well last night's programme just goes to show what a difference can be made when you can be bothered & when you actually try something, Well done to Natasha, Claire & Mick for making the effort & finding for yourselves that cooking good food isn't only cheaper, but very rewarding when you get the end result!!!

Natasha admitted herself that she had a wake up call when her toddler said that Kebabs grew from the ground, & that encouraged her to make an effort into trying to grow some veg of her very own WELL DONE YOU!!!

Well last night's programme just goes to show what a difference can be made when you can be bothered & when you actually try something, Well done to Natasha, Claire & Mick for making the effort & finding for yourselves that cooking good food isn't only cheaper, but very rewarding when you get the end result!!!

Natasha admitted herself that she had a wake up call when her toddler said that Kebabs grew from the ground, & that encouraged her to make an effort into trying to grow some veg of her very own WELL DONE YOU!!!

Yup! I totally agree. Home cooking is what its all about and if the people of Rotherham are offended then its rubbish. I suppose he could have found any town to pick on, just be glad he started a new food and good food regime around you.

Any help is good help. He is not a bad fella.

what got me was when they were at the football stadium & one bloke (who was far from skinny) said unless it involves a chip pan that he's wasting his time, we like our chips to much, (the likes of him are exactly why the problems exsist!) & then another bloke asking who Jamie thought he was because northerners know how to cook, I was shouting at the telly!! It's evident that some people NO MATTER WHICH TOWN THEY'RE FROM don't know how to cook, this was proven by the fact that we have 20 somethings not knowing what boiling water looks like, the girl who turned her life around after going from 70 packs of crisps a week, & living on crisps & chocolate to heathy eating (especially after finding out she was pregnant!)

it actually encourages people to sit up & think, "If they can do it why can't I??"

I thought last nights programme was a much better take on things. How people can change so much just by learning a few recepies.

Natasha - hats off to her, she's even growing her own vegetables and teaching a class of 8 to cook, well done for turning her life around and realising the error of her ways.

That minor, from cooking nothing to cooking for his wife and kid 5 times a week, even after a long shift down the pit, well done.

Well done Jamie!

I finally got round to watching this last night and...

a) Having had the misfortune to work in Rovrum for the last year, the people aren't as portrayed in the prog. They're much, much worse and...

b) Think I can see where this programme is heading. It's basically a series-long imitation of Ramsey:


Cocky git rides into town in flash car insulting everyone.
Everyone hates said cocky git
Cocky git shows locals errors of their ways
By last programme, cocky git is everybodys hero. "Oh thank you St. Jamie, how would we have managed without you?

what got me was when they were at the football stadium & one bloke (who was far from skinny) said unless it involves a chip pan that he's wasting his time, we like our chips to much, & then another bloke asking who Jamie thought he was because northerners know how to cook, I was shouting at the telly!! It's evident that some people NO MATTER WHICH TOWN THEY'RE FROM don't know how to cook, this was proven by the fact that we have 20 somethings not knowing what boiling water looks like, the girl who turned her life around after going from 70 packs of crisps a week, & living on crisps & chocolate to heathy eating (especially after finding out she was pregnant!)

it actually encourages people to sit up & think, "If they can do it why can't I??"

I'm not sure it was all about insulting people from where they are, maybe the programme was meant to be a wake up call about what you are filling yourselves with and anyone can change, it just takes the will.

I saw my owd Mam lose major weight this last year and eat healthy all from weight watchers and its amazing. She is wearing trousers now and her ankles have gone down so much she can wear every day shoes. I am so proud of her and she only started in January this year. I don't tempt her with anything when she comes round here and I've always got semi-skimmed milk in for her tea as I'm right behind her but that really is a health issue and she has done herself proud and all of us.

You can do whatever you want Stressed Mum, maybe you just need to find a support group to help you on your way. I wish you luck beautiful.

I wasn't referring to myself there dive, I was considering signing up to the pass it on scheme as a volunteer more than a pupil, although new recipies are always a good one to add to the home made cook book!!

I have made the change of lifestyle a long time ago, but after spending 8 years being pumped with steroids I have continually battled with my weight, I am myself of larger stature (although I have lost over 2 stone) & I have always eaten healthily, I have my '5 a day' & I have been raised in a household where cooking is & has always been fun, my mum used to come into my primary school to give the kids cooking lessons & teach about healthy eating, I don't own a chip pan/deep fat fryer haven't done for 5 years, in our house we consume roughly 2 bunches of bananas, 1-2 bags of apples, 4 mangoes, at least 1 big bag of carrots, 2 cucumbers, an iceberg lettuce, a pack of tomatoes, a pack of onions, a pack of maunge tout, a pack of baby sweetcorn, a bag of peppers, a small pack of mushrooms (I'm the only one in the house that likes mushrooms) a bag of potatoes that are usually baked or steamed (& that's without detailed listing of my grocery shopping) per week!!!, In our house we eat a wide range of different meals, I know how to make cook food from lots of different cultures (english, mediterranean, Indian, Chinese, swiss, german, thai etc)

I offered my services to my sons old school (he's not in mainstream at the mo' but he was at the time) to help teach the kids to cook but they didn't seem that bothered, which concerns me because I do make the effort to teach my son about healthy eating & how to cook, what about those who don't? are these kids going to fall into the same trap as some of the ones highlighted on the programme??

The miner was great!!!!! such a positive thing - made a change from last week! Wasn't so chuffed with "if it dunt involve a chip pan he's got noooooo chance - we like us chips in rotherham"

I like this programme and I think last nights programme was much more positive. I don't think the programme particularly intended to show Rotherham in a bad light, just the state of society in general. I am sure he could have picked any town and come up with a group of similar people.

His idea is a good one, what is wrong with what he is trying to do? he can be a bit patronising but I think his heart is in the right place. Kids should be taught basic cooking in school (chilli, curries, stews pasta sauce etc). I used to work with young people in supported housing and none of them could cook. They had just never been shown. You can eat fresh, healthy food quite cheaply aswell, I don't agree with the cost thing.

I was a bit cynical as it never say's where to find the recipes he shows. I thought you would have to buy the book but I have just looked on his website & they are all on there. None of them seem to have any particularly expensive ingredients.

I think you can buy a recipe book of all these recipes too. It's good that they're offered for free too - shows he's putting his money where his mouth is.

The miner was great!!!!! such a positive thing - made a change from last week! Wasn't so chuffed with "if it dunt involve a chip pan he's got noooooo chance - we like us chips in rotherham"

He was brilliant - watching him get excited by cooking made me want to get in the kitchen and start whipping up a lasagne!

Natasha was also truly inspirational. Seeing her grow her own vegetables was brilliant, and probably far more than Oliver ever hoped for when he started. If nothing else, the programme has at least had a positive impact on the lives of some of those involved.

Maybe next week they'll highlight the point that lack of cookery skills isn't just a class issue - there's plenty of folk with disposable income and comfortable lives who can't be arsed cooking for their kids too. I really admire what he's trying to do - I just wish he'd get shut of that miserable gobby woman, who seems to cause nothing but disharmony and pour scorn on what he's trying to do. I want it to work if only to wipe the smug grin off her face!!

Three cheers for old Mick the miner !! He has shown everyone how its done !! :thumbsup:

I really admire what he's trying to do - I just wish he'd get shut of that miserable gobby woman, who seems to cause nothing but disharmony and pour scorn on what he's trying to do. I want it to work if only to wipe the smug grin off her face!!

You mean Julie Critchlow, the woman who passed burgers etc through the school gates when he did his school diners campaign. I agree she down talks all his ideas, what he needs are posotive people who really want to learn to cook and pass it on to their family and friend. OK if she thinks it won't work that's her opinion, stop following him round then or is that because she wants her face on TV? I admire what he's trying to do and I also admire the people who are trying to change their cooking skills and ways of life, it's not an easy thing to change something your so used to in life. Like the 80 odd year old bloke, his Mum probably cooked for hima nd his wife will have picked up where she left off so to start cooking in your 80's when you have never even peeled a potato before is a really hard task, well done to him I say, as some old people are so stuck in their ways they's have never tried but him he's trying and without Jamie would he have done?

the school fence woman?? she was a stirring sod wasn't she!! Must admit made me want to cook then my mum brought out a lovely home made casserole and i thought well i'll let her feed me before i head home!! Ok Mr Oliver can come across like a little pious about the whole thing at times but he has a point. I'm still working on getting rid of all the weight i gained vfrom living on a convenience (or should that be rotherham) diet when i was studdying whilst working shifts. i turned into a right porker from sitting on my ass and eating rubbish cos i was too tired to bother cooking. wish i'd taken more time rather than spending the last couple of years trying to get my waist back to normal (which it thankfully now is!!). And after growing my own tomatoes i reackon home grown stuff is way nicer than the shop stuff too!!

OK he may talk funny (and not just cos he's a southerner) but he has a point does Jamie.

Still smiling about how excited the miner seemed about cooking bless him

Three cheers for old Mick the miner !! He has shown everyone how its done !! :thumbsup:

Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!!!!

MICK THE MINER IS TURNING INTO A BIT OF A CELEB HERE METHINKS

Fast food is much cheaper than freshly cooked, I'm sure a meal of Fish & Chips is much cheaper than buying a fresh piece of fish,all the salad ingredients, and some fresh fruit, unless you catch your own fish and grow all your own fruits and veg, also the gas to cook it with.

No it's not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 quid for a good piece of cod from the fishmongers as opposed to nearly 4 quid in the chippy. In the fish and chip example the margin is tight, and if you charge for your own time and inconvenience the price might be about the same but other examples.. I'm going to make a lamb and spinach curry tonight and it will serve 4 people. I reckon it comes to £7.50 all in (ic rice) and thats only because I bought expensive lamb for it!

Watched this last night. I didn't think he was disrespectful in the slightest. The opposite in fact. And really good to see actual real people on telly from this region instead of the usual wannabe celeb you often get on these things.

I watched it for the first time last night after hearing his interview on BBC and think what he is doing is great. I mean, not only is he addressing a problem, but is also getting people interested in cooking (healthy) wholesome food and steering them away from convenience meals etc. Not only that, he has managed to get Rotherham MBC to fund the Ministry of Food too. It can only have a positive effect on the local population and as a Rotherham council tax payer, I am only too happy for my cash to part fund this venture.

After last night's programme, I think he's got a lot of things right, but still has a bit of a leap to make to understand really what issues some people might have with budgeting to feed a family healthily.

I mean, asparagus and pancetta???
Although I did laugh when one bloke said you could use owt instead of the asparagus, and Jamie said 'what's owt??', perhaps thinking it was some local heritage vegetable he was unaware of...

Does he really expect us to believe he actually stayed in Rotherham? Surely he would have stayed at the St Pauls in Sheffield, or some such other s****y place :hihi:

ETA - they think I'm being rude! s-w-a-n-k-y is what I put, in case anyone's wondering what swear word I was using...


From last night's programme it looked like he was staying at Whitley Hall (http://www.whitleyhall.com/) - hardly Rotherham!

while i agree that we should all eat more healthily the problem is that kids dont get enough exercise sat in front of the telly at night.they dont seem to be able to think of things to do unless you need to plug it into the lectric or they have to wreck it or paint graffiti on it.

I'm sick of hearing Rotherham people whinging and complaining on local telly about the victimised people of Rotherham... :roll:

.

After last night's programme, I think he's got a lot of things right, but still has a bit of a leap to make to understand really what issues some people might have with budgeting to feed a family healthily.

I mean, asparagus and pancetta???
Although I did laugh when one bloke said you could use owt instead of the asparagus, and Jamie said 'what's owt??', perhaps thinking it was some local heritage vegetable he was unaware of...

If he can make a bif of a difference then it's good, but I doubt he'll make a huge difference - if he has the secret of sorting out people who are unable to budget he ought to be Chancellor of the Exchequer ;)

Once you know how to cook and are confident you get the knack of adapting recipes. I was watching that pancetta thing and straight away thought about making it with bacon instead, and serving up other veg. Asparagus is vile and just wrong out of season ;)

I was talking about the guy in your little tale! not you

Apologies are in order then! :thumbsup:

I saw some of last night's programme - well done Mick the miner. :thumbsup: The sheer enthusiasm that guy had for learning something new was a pleasure to watch.

Especially when Jamie had them all "lashing" their meat! :hihi:

*get's coat*

From last night's programme it looked like he was staying at Whitley Hall (http://www.whitleyhall.com/) - hardly Rotherham!

I caught that bit too and I'm pretty sure that was his own house, not Whitley Hall. I expect Whitley Hall is a lot smaller :hihi:

Three cheers for old Mick the miner !! He has shown everyone how its done !! :thumbsup:

He is a hottie too!!! Mrs Mick had better watch out. :love:

See! Natasha is alright! She was just finding it hard at first - she was a right star on that last night :thumbsup:

Isn't there a lot of swearing on it though? :o

Yup! I totally agree. Home cooking is what its all about and if the people of Rotherham are offended then its rubbish. I suppose he could have found any town to pick on, just be glad he started a new food and good food regime around you.

Any help is good help. He is not a bad fella.

If the people of Rotherham are offended maybe it is because they do not see themselves in a good light and are being a bit sensitive?

Personally I found a couple of the people annoying, however, I applaud the effort of the others and think they are doing a splendid job. Natasha is amazing and now growing her own veg!!

Think again people of Rotherham... I think you look good.

Threads merged - please try and find out if there is a thread on the same topic before starting a new one. Ta.

Wrong place to put the thread given the nature of the discussion but hey!

Once you know how to cook and are confident you get the knack of adapting recipes. I was watching that pancetta thing and straight away thought about making it with bacon instead, and serving up other veg. Asparagus is vile and just wrong out of season ;)



That's my point - are the people in his class going to learn the basic skills of having core recipes that can form the basis of many meals? Will they be able to improvise and 'make do'? Will they be able to look in their cupboards and think up something to make from what they have left, or will they be stuck to the only recipes they know from Jamie?
If he can teach them the skills of thrift, improvisation and imagination in cooking then this might just be sustainable.
Why doesn't he start with the basics, instead of introducing these luxury ingredients which might put people off implementing the recipes when they come to follow them on their own?

That's my point - are the people in his class going to learn the basic skills of having core recipes that can form the basis of many meals? Will they be able to improvise and 'make do'? Will they be able to look in their cupboards and think up something to make from what they have left, or will they be stuck to the only recipes they know from Jamie?
If he can teach them the skills of thrift, improvisation and imagination in cooking then this might just be sustainable.
Why doesn't he start with the basics, instead of introducing these luxury ingredients which might put people off implementing the recipes when they come to follow them on their own?

I think the ability to make recipes up comes with confidence - with having cooked for a while. I'm sure they'll get to that stage if they stick with it.

You can hardly ask someone who has never cook to 'make something from these leftovers'

I think the pancetta recipe (I presume that's what you mean by luxury ingredients) was Mick's own - unless I missed a bit while I was making tea :)

Incidentally, if you make the pasta, pancetta and pea thing Mick made - but throw in some toasted pine nuts (I just put them in the pan first and toast them in some oil) and then stir in some pesto at the end it's nicer :)

I'm sure they would - it's the 'sticking to it' bit that's going to be difficult, if once you have learnt these recipes you go to try and replicate them and find out you can't afford the ingredients you were taught with, or that they're not available in your local shop.

The pancetta recipe I was on about was the one he did with the hundred blokes at the footie ground - chicken breast pan-fried with cheese and pancetta and served with asparagus.

Why couldn't he have done it with bacon and beans or peas? Just pointless poncy-ing cheffiness in my opinion.

Slap a bit of bbq sauce on it and you've got hunters chicken!! Yum!

ETA: To me pancetta and asparagus are luxury ingredients that are never available in my local shop, more's the pity... although I'd splash out if I had friends coming for dinner x

Ah - the one at the football ground was with prosciutto - available in the little Sommerfield in Maltby, so Mick would be fine :)

You'll not get fresh asparagus there though - they rarely have apples worth eating!

The one Mick made himself had pancetta in it.

I guess Jamie thought that by getting people to cook with ingredients they normally wouldn't consider, it showed that it is really simple to cook - even 'poncey things'

Ah - the one at the football ground was with prosciutto - available in the little Sommerfield in Maltby, so Mick would be fine :)

You'll not get fresh asparagus there though - they rarely have apples worth eating!

The one Mick made himself had pancetta in it.

I guess Jamie thought that by getting people to cook with ingredients they normally wouldn't consider, it showed that it is really simple to cook - even 'poncey things'

Prosciutto, that's it, my confusion.

As I understood it, the people on the show don't cook full stop, it's not a case of getting put off by poncey ingredients.
It's not really that big a deal, I just got annoyed by it because to me it seemed to demonstrate his lack of understanding of what food ordinary people can afford to buy!

Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!!!!

MICK THE MINER IS TURNING INTO A BIT OF A CELEB HERE METHINKS

Yeah lets make him one :D :D :D !!!! GO MICK !!

:hihi:

saw this for the first time yesterday.......gotta admire the guy (jamie!!) for pitching up in front of a football stadium full of supporters and putting his case forward.

i think he's awesome :)

ETA: To me pancetta and asparagus are luxury ingredients that are never available in my local shop, more's the pity... although I'd splash out if I had friends coming for dinner x

Heeley Co-op by any chance? ;) But there's more chance of getting the asparagus there than in that green grocers that has in the past sold me some very unpleasant veg. Least the Co-op do some very good, quality items like their legendary profiteroles that are nearly as nice as mine :D The butcher might get you all sorts of meat though, he's very good :thumbsup:

in Aldi & Lidl panchetta is really cheap (about £1.50 per pack) as opposed to in big supermarkets like Morrisons, Asda etc where it will cost you about £3.50 per pack. also asparagus is quite cheap in these supermarkets too! in fact most veg is less than £1 in Aldi & Lidl & it's good quality too!!!

I think Jamie's intentions are good and he's doing a good job. He's obviously realised that there are many factors that contribute to people not cooking, such as money, self-esteem, time, and yes, idleness.

I think he's doing it in rotherham because of the Julie Critchlow (spelling?) woman who was featured on School Dinner's (feeding kids junk food through the fence) - it's just a 'hook' to a new series and a new project - nothing else.

As for Natasha - I think she comes across great. Yes she looks like a chav; yes, thus far she's fed her child crap; yes she moans about a lack of money but still smokes; but who the hell's perfect here? She's trying to better herself - can't knock anyone for that!

P.S. to the person who said they have social worker family - your social worker family should be ashamed of you - or they shouldn't be in the job. social work is underpinned by a set of values which, on the basis of your statement, either you, or more worryingly them, don't seem to share.

i think the basic premise is fab - he used the hoo ha surrounding julie critchlow to launch his plan. The chicken recipe was to make people realise they didn't need to be afraid to use new ingredients but like he told the guy who didn't like asparagus - pick something you do!!! like most reality tv shows they used people from the extremes of the society it is set in but it just makes the changes all the more dramatic and appealing to watch. i'll be supporting natasha and mick the miner all the way!!!

He knows what he's aimed it at. The chipy cockney isn't as daft as you make him out. And he's not had it hard at all, I guarantee you that. Not exactly from the ghettos....


I will give credit where it's due, his fifteen thing was I feel, genuine. As for the rest of it, he can foxtrot oscar

I'm Not Saying he's had it "hard" or that he is daft! But I seriously doubt he became a famous millionaire chef "Overnight!" He has been doing his profession since he was a teenager and it in his 40s now, so has had to graft like any chef does for many years to get to the top! No amount of good upbringing will teach you skills and do the hard work for you will it!

I have more repect for people who work for years in 12 hour a day jobs than someone who lives on money paid from other people's taxes, spends it on stupid stuff they don't need, and try to claim they can't "afford" important things like good food for their kids!

I like this programme and I think last nights programme was much more positive. I don't think the programme particularly intended to show Rotherham in a bad light, just the state of society in general. I am sure he could have picked any town and come up with a group of similar people.

His idea is a good one, what is wrong with what he is trying to do? he can be a bit patronising but I think his heart is in the right place. Kids should be taught basic cooking in school (chilli, curries, stews pasta sauce etc). I used to work with young people in supported housing and none of them could cook. They had just never been shown. You can eat fresh, healthy food quite cheaply aswell, I don't agree with the cost thing.

I was a bit cynical as it never say's where to find the recipes he shows. I thought you would have to buy the book but I have just looked on his website & they are all on there. None of them seem to have any particularly expensive ingredients.

It don't think he was patronising at all he just had never experienced the type of people that come from Rotherham and was just talking to them the same way he would if he was teaching someone else! Hence why he didn't know what that guy meant when he said "You can use Owt!"

People can't help having accents but they can come across equally ignorant if they assume everyone understands their slang or local dialect! Hence them assuming he was just a pouncy southerner when he's taking time out his life to try and help them not to "tell them what to do!" No one in the programme is forced to try these recipes are they!

He's offering Free expertsed knowledge which some people actually pay hundreds of pounds to learn! and he slated for it by a load of people who can't look outside their little bubble? I would have just thought "Sod em!" but he's sticking to it even if it only has a minimum impact!

You mean Julie Critchlow, the woman who passed burgers etc through the school gates when he did his school diners campaign. I agree she down talks all his ideas, what he needs are posotive people who really want to learn to cook and pass it on to their family and friend. OK if she thinks it won't work that's her opinion, stop following him round then or is that because she wants her face on TV? I admire what he's trying to do and I also admire the people who are trying to change their cooking skills and ways of life, it's not an easy thing to change something your so used to in life. Like the 80 odd year old bloke, his Mum probably cooked for hima nd his wife will have picked up where she left off so to start cooking in your 80's when you have never even peeled a potato before is a really hard task, well done to him I say, as some old people are so stuck in their ways they's have never tried but him he's trying and without Jamie would he have done?


Yeah he shouldn't waste time trying to convince her of his intentions because a) he doesn't need to she's only 1 person!, and b) nothing he says will change her way of thinking, cause she is only hoping he will fail in order to make her look good! Which just shows what an awful human being she is and should be ignored by jamie, the cameras and everyone else on there!

There's enough timewasters getting too much airtime on stupid shows like the X factor already, we don't need anymore on shows that are actually trying to do something usefull for people for a change!

The others may not always agree with him but at least they are trying it out before they start bashing all the ideas!

I really hope that Critchlow woman doesn't cause too much trouble for Jamie,as in the end of the last episode, wasnt he more or less called two faced and a back stabber by her for him introducing mick and others into the group.

I felt sorry for Jamie when she said this as he only went looking for others because some of the group couldnt be bothered passing recipes on.
What a bitchy person she seems.

I'm Not Saying he's had it "hard" or that he is daft! But I seriously doubt he became a famous millionaire chef "Overnight!" He has been doing his profession since he was a teenager and it in his 40s now, so has had to graft like any chef does for many years to get to the top!

:suspect: Jamie Oliver's 33... not in his 40's!

:suspect: Jamie Oliver's 33... not in his 40's!

Was thinking of Ramsay for a second There! But Still doesn't take away all the years he's been at it does it really!

Interview with him.

:)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/15/jamie-oliver-ministry-food-rotherham

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1086562/Viewer-complained-Jamie-Oliver-swearing-TV-told-f--off.html :hihi:

I have only just seen the last episode of this as I taped it. Overall I think its a brilliant idea. I really enjoyed watching it & thought it was quite uplifting at the end (Natasha's presentation to the Lord Mayor & the street parties etc).

I like Jamie Oliver. At least he tried tries to help people (his restaurant, school meals & now this). He may alienate some people on the way but at least he has a go. I know he has a book to sell from this but a book tour & doing the chat shows would have been much easier for him to do.

All the recipes on the show are available on the internet for free so you don't have to buy anything.

Are Sheffield council getting involved in anyway? They weren't mentioned in the programme but I wondered if anyone on here knows? I think its a bit poor on them if not.