Proceeds to benefit:
EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
Regardless of the cause or reason, change will forever be both embraced and resisted. It takes a very bold individual to make the most-needed changes, as they seem to come hand-in-hand with a large number of people not willing to accept something new.
As a well-known and respected chef in the UK, Jamie Oliver made huge strides in changing Britain's school lunch system in 2005 by replacing the processed food with food made from scratch. This was a highly controversial change to promote, but in the end it was successful and Jamie was commended on his efforts from numerous people around the globe.
But Jamie didn't stop there. He presented his quest for "honest food" at the 2010 TED conference and won. With his $100,000 prize money, he came to the United States and filmed "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," which aired on ABC this spring. While watching this program, I witnessed Jamie's struggle to help the residents of Huntington, West Virginia, understand why changing the way they eat was so important and how to keep the change going after he went back to Essex.
It was hard for me to watch when Jamie was met with an overwhelming amount of resistance from the town when he first started the program, and equally heartbreaking when students couldn't identify basic fruits and vegetables. But when you get a grown man dressing up as a giant peapod running around the schoolyard screaming "EAT YOUR VEGGIES!" you know that if he can't make this change, no one can.
But fortunately for Jamie and the generations to come, his efforts are working. As I write this, there are currently 608,687 people in the United States that have signed Jamie's petition to promote better food in school systems and to teach children cooking skills. I have signed this petition and hope you do too.
It only takes one person in a peapod costume to wake everyone up from junk food comas. However, those who embrace and speak about Jamie's bold move will help spread the Food Revolution and keep it going for years to come.