Iceberg to Arugula

Like so many other people I have been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC. I’m watching for a variety of reasons, but the main one is that aspects of my day job are very similar to what Jamie is doing in this project. I don’t work in schools (yet….) but I do work in institutional healthcare kitchens training cooks to be better cooks. Change is difficult, especially when you are trying to convince a cook who has done the same job the same way for 25 years that there is a better way.

I genuinely appreciate and understand what Jamie is trying to do. Improving the quality of any institutional food is a lofty but worthy goal. However, as someone experienced in this arena I’ve found myself sometimes chuckling at his well intentioned but ill planned culinary assault on the kitchens providing public school lunches in Huntington, West Virginia. Clearly he expected to roll into town, declare his “Food Revolution”, fix the problem and ride off into the sunset leaving the town better and more well nourished than he found it.

That’s not what happened.

Instead he ran into VERY heavy resistance from the school cooks, some members of the media and the community at large. He spends a good chunk of time wondering why no one is “on his side”.

Some other celebrity food personalities such as Paula Deen and Rachael Ray are also getting in on the act, using their influence and contributing recipes to help fix the problem. I think it’s a great start, but it doesn’t take into account that this is a job that goes way beyond showing up with better recipes and star power. It’s about changing a deeply ingrained food culture that values cheapness above quality and ease of preparation over real culinary skill. The results of this culture are accepted reliance on heavily processed foods and cooks who have spent most if not all of their careers heating and serving rather than actually cooking.

Real improvement takes time. Time to build a trusting relationship with workers who really don’t want you there. Time to revamp the food ordering and procurement system. Time to build essential culinary skills in workers who likely have no formal training and only know how to open boxes and reheat.

In my experience I’ve found that the most important thing I can do to help turn around an institutional kitchen is to build pride in workmanship in the cooks. I show these workers what they really can do. Something as simple as teaching a cook how to make a real sauce instead of ripping open an instant packet can be a revelation. The funny thing about pride and excitement is that they are infectious and sustainable.

Truth be told, I was actually a bit offended by the Food Revolution show at first. It implied that in the US virtually nothing is being done to improve the quality of school lunches and we needed a hero to light the way because we simply can’t figure out on our own that catsup and French fries aren’t vegetables. On the contrary, I am aware of many organizations and people who spend their working days slogging through soggy acres of limp fish sticks and greasy pressed chicken nuggets slowly, doing the unglamorous grunt work that is required to make real sustainable change. Some of these heroes include:

Chef Ann Cooper: The Renegade Lunch Lady

CAFF Farm to School Initiative

Marin Organic School Lunch Program

and the countless and many times anonymous foodservice directors and dietitians who  slowly make positive changes happen with astonishingly little money.

Bottom line is: I’m not offended anymore, because I have put Jamie and the other food celebs in perspective. They are the flash in the pan that brings attention to the problem. They will help lay the groundwork and funding for the real heroes to come in and get the job done.

What do you think?