celticpilgrim

And why did some tw*t always put the milk crate next to the friggin' radiator?

D70

I think it's got more to do with the fact he comes across as an earnest, slightly arrogant type and used to ride around on a scooter while doing his 'lifestyle' shaky camera cookery programs. That and the annoying sainsbury adverts.
I've never really thought anything of him to be honest and I don't now, but then again I don't spend a large proportion of my life watching TV so I get little exposure to him.
I'm sure his motivation for the school dinners campaign comes from a genuine concern though. So even if he is an annoying middle class mockney w@nker it's hardly relevant.

PG

I have no reason to dislike the guy. He is a personality who doesnt mince around thinking the world owes him a living.
From what I can see the guy has done good. When he first came on the scene there was a bit of media saturation and as such some people probably got sick of seeing him so started to slag him.
I missed the School Dinners thing the first time round so am watching it all this week and I take my hat off to the guy. He seems to be dedicating a lot of time and effort to this and sometimes to the detriment of his personal life. Granted this is not too dissimilar to the layperson puting in the hours in an office or simmilar for promotion.
His profile will be boosted by this but anyone who believes this is the sole reason for him taking on this task can only be jealous that this young guy has done so well for himself and can make more impact on this society than they can.
There are many people who will benefit from his efforts and if it all goes well then I am sure the benefits will be far reaching.
If he makes a bit of cash from this then good (he deserves it with the graft he has put in)
If the kids get healthier then good
If the better food helps the kids concentration and helps teachers then good
If there are less fat ***** taking ££ out of the NHS then good

Let the guy drive his Maserati, X5, Range Rover, 6 series BMW and his Kia Sedona he has earned it in my eyes.
Between the School Dinners thing and Clinton @ 15 I have a new found respect for the guy.

Oh and Nora the dinner lady he is in partnership with should get something out of this too. Get her on all those "celebrity" progs

Dazzler

Yes, it's brought him into the forefront of the public eye. Yes, he'll probably make a killing on the sales of his related book. No doubt he'll now get plenty of offers for new shows and will focus on an entirely different area of cooking and make loads of dosh again.

I still take my hat off to him for doing this programme though, it needed someone with his sort of profile to highlight how dire the current state of meals are in most schools.

No doubt he and and a tv producer drummed up the idea, "well, now I've got kids why not do a food show on something related as a new angle!".

So what! He has brought it to everyone's attention and is hopefully going to make our kids eat more healthily, leading to higher levels of concentration to take in what they're learning.

CrisPDuk

One of our teachers used to deliberately leave her class' crate on the window sill of her sun facing classroom, and give detention to any kid who didn't drink it all, I can remember throwing mine back up on more than one occasion

Like PG I missed it first time round, but he is definitely opening my eyes! What amazes me more is the fact that most of these kids are saddled with useless lazy **** parents, who quite obviously do nothing with them other than dump them in front of the telly
Following the kids home to see what the parents are feeding them would make a rather interesting follow up

Holy Ghost

hang on. anyone read the small print? the £220m is not "new" as kelly said. tb immediately corrected her by saying that it "was part of the existing education budget but was new in the sense that it was now specifically allocated to school meals". there's always a catch.

so something else in the education budget is being cut as a governmental spin-response to being embarassed by oliver. no genuinely new money has been found.

apparently, after deductions from within the system, it equates to an increase of just 5p average spend per meal (up from 45p to 50p) that schools are "able" to allocate. but the schools aren't spending it: they're outsourcing to private contractors to provide the food and they then skim down the money even further - unpoliced - to improve the profit margin.

result? some sleight of hand that generates positive headlines. it's scandalous but as ever, predictable.

oliver needs to be congratulated for what he's done - i think he's a star as well as a splendid chef - but i suspect he has been faultlessly outmanoeuvred by no.10 and the heavily-politicised senior civil service.

as always, many journalists should be shot for failing to ask the right questions - instead they just swallow this guff like the PR jizz-junkies they are.

warrenm2

Agree with you there mate, guy is trying to do stuff to help and improve life for people, and then others turn round and slag him off. He works bloody hard and has achieved lots - and is vilified. He should be praised for getting off his **** and making things happen

03-CTR

i don't like the guy personally but can definitely appreciate what he's doing. at the end of the day the majority of school dinners are crap so could do with pepping up.

the thing that confirms to me that jamie is a complete dick though is that he needs to look at what he's got at home before taking on the world. at the end of the day i don't care who you are or how much you earn, if you decide to have two kids then you need to spend some bloody time with them. it's no use moaning that your wife is getting shirty because you can't even spend 1 night a week bathing the kids. having kids is a mutual decision so if you decide to have them then you have to take some friggin responsibility instead of dumping them on your wife 24/7. ****.

to me that's just as bad as the majority of the countrys parents not taking responsibility for their kids' diet and letting them eat the crap served up in schools. it's all well and good taking a stand and getting proactive with stuff but at least get your **** straight before hand

7 Foot

You know no more than I do regarding what really goes on in the Oliver household, and I know bugger all.

Your rant about is home life is based on no more than a passing glance.

03-CTR

yeah sure but this has happened on tv on more than one occasion/series so what's more to know?? he's openly said that joolz is unhapply because she expects him to be at home at least once a week to see the kids and he can't even meet that basic requirement (like you should have to meet a basic requirement in the first place ).

to then be worried about the wellfare of everyone elses kids seems a bit rich don't you think ??

Tiggs

need to find a bookies with odds on celeb divorces.....easy money!

Leslie

I think he has done children a good turn by bringing it into the public eye, but I also don't think it deserves a knighthood.

Les

DBY

Yes

Spring Heeled Jack

As UB says if Elton John can be made a peer of the realm for being nothing more than a fat, bald dwarf bummer then why not Jamie Oliver?

As it is I suspect he will be marked out by New Labour as a trouble maker and probably meet with a nasty scooter accident late one night.

Jack.

ozzy

No, and don't be daft. He's done a great service and deserves praise, but a Knighthood FFS God, they're giving them away like lollies thesedays.

He's also done far more than half the ***** on here that would slate him first. I'm glad someone's got the ***** to sort out the Schools.