Jamie Oliver gets ready for part two of the Food Revolution

Jamie Oliver ran into many obstacles in his campaign for healthy eating in the US and UK. He fought against a culture that is fond of fast and inexpensive food rather than fresh alternatives. The showdown between food quality and money is the main obstacle in his fight, but he may have a few tricks up his sleeve.

During his time in Huntington, Oliver found out that schools have to walk a fine line between USDA guidelines and their tight budgets. Just look at the labor differences between a box of chicken nuggets and Oliver’s dish of brown rice with carrots, raisin and orange dressing. Oliver’s side dish has more than five steps for the rice alone while popular chicken nugget brands bake in minutes.

Because of the increased steps in the recipes, Cabell County Schools is looking at major increases in labor and training funds. Rhonda McCoy, director of Food Services, estimated that she’ll need $96,000 to train existing employees and hire additional cooks to continue with Oliver’s menu.

The money situation at Huntington’s Kitchen is in a similar spot. The kitchen has daytime, evening, and weekend schedules where people can drop in to learn new recipes. Operated by Ebenezer Medical Outreach through Cabell Huntington Hospital, their estimated yearly budget is $130,000. As of now, they’ve only raised $50,000.

ABC has gotten great ratings from the show but haven’t announced if Oliver will return for a second season. Even if he doesn’t go back to Huntington he has plans for the rest of the US. He wants to use the $100,000 award he got from the TED Prize which is given to those that have “One Wish to Change the World.” Oliver’s dream is to challenge companies that peddle processed food and establish

“a network of community kitchens; launching a traveling food theater that will teach kids practical food and cooking skills in an entertaining way and provide basic training for parents and professionals; and bringing millions of people together through an online community to drive the fight against obesity.”

Back in Britain, Oliver’s putting his own cash behind a pseudo-grant program to boost the food related infrastructure in a number of elementary schools. In the next decade, schools would be able to go after funding for gardens, kitchen improvements, and instructional materials. His goal is to act as a blueprint for the British government or as he said, “now we've proved it - just do it.”