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Jamie Oliver’s TED Award speech


00:00:15sadly in the next 18 minutes when I do

00:00:19our chat for Americans they’re alive

00:00:23we’ll be dead through the food that they

00:00:26eat my name is Jamie Oliver I’m 34 years

00:00:31old I’m from Essex in England and for

00:00:37the last 7 years I’ve worked fairly

00:00:40correctly to save lives in my own way

00:00:43I’m not a doctor I’m a chef I don’t have

00:00:47expensive equipment or medicine I use

00:00:51information education i profoundly

00:00:55believe that the power of food has a

00:00:58primal place in our homes that binds us

00:01:02to the best bits of life we have an

00:01:07awful awful reality right now America

00:01:14you’re at the top of your game this is

00:01:17one of the most unhealthy countries in

00:01:19the world can I please just see a raise

00:01:22of hands for how many of you had have

00:01:24children in this room today please put

00:01:26your hands up

00:01:27auntie’s uncle’s you can continue to put

00:01:29your hands up auntie’s and uncles as

00:01:30well most of you ok we the adults of the

00:01:35last four generations have blessed our

00:01:37children with the destiny of a shorter

00:01:40lifespan than their own parents your

00:01:45child will live a life 10 years younger

00:01:48than you because of the landscape of

00:01:51food that we’ve built around them

00:01:54two-thirds of this room today in America

00:01:57are statistically overweight or obese

00:01:58you lot you’re alright but we’ll get you

00:02:01eventually don’t worry all right

00:02:03the statistics of bad health are clear

00:02:06very clear we spend our lives being

00:02:10paranoid about death murder homicide you

00:02:13name it it’s on the front page of every

00:02:14paper CNN look at homicide at the bottom

00:02:17for God’s sake right

00:02:26every single one of those ones in the

00:02:28red is a diet related disease any doctor

00:02:32any specialist will tell you that fat

00:02:34diet related disease is the biggest

00:02:36killer in the United States right now

00:02:39here today this is a global problem it’s

00:02:45a catastrophe it’s sweeping the world

00:02:47England is right behind you as usual

00:02:55I know they were close but not that

00:02:57close we need a revolution Mexico

00:03:00Australia Germany India China all have

00:03:03massive problems of obesity and bad

00:03:06health think about smoking it costs way

00:03:11less than obesity now obesity cost you

00:03:14Americans ten percent of your healthcare

00:03:17bills 150 billion dollars a year in 10

00:03:22years it’s set to double three hundred

00:03:24billion dollars a year and F be honest

00:03:26guys you ain’t got that cash I came here

00:03:32to start a food revolution that I so

00:03:36profoundly believe in we need it

00:03:39the time is now we’re in a tipping point

00:03:41moment I’ve been doing this for seven

00:03:43years I’ve been trying in America for

00:03:45seven years now is the time when it’s

00:03:48right right for the picking I went to

00:03:50the eye of a storm

00:03:51I went to West Virginia the most

00:03:54unhealthy state in America or it was

00:03:55last year without a new one this year

00:03:56but we’ll work on that next season

00:04:00Huntington West Virginia

00:04:02beautiful town I wanted to put heart and

00:04:04soul and people your public around

00:04:09statistics that we’ve become so used to

00:04:11I want to introduce you to some of the

00:04:13people that I care about your public

00:04:15your children I want to show a picture

00:04:17of my friend Brittany she’s 16 years old

00:04:21she’s got six years to live

00:04:25because of the food that she’s eaten

00:04:28she’s the third generation of Americans

00:04:30that hasn’t grown up in a food

00:04:32environment where they’ve been taught to

00:04:33cook at home or in school or her mum or

00:04:36a mums mum she has six years to live

00:04:40she’s eating a liver to death Stacey the

00:04:44Edwards family this is a normal family

00:04:46guys Stacey does her best but she’s

00:04:49third generation as well she was never

00:04:51taught to cook at home or at school

00:04:52the families are beasts just in here 12

00:04:55years old he’s 350 pounds he gets

00:04:57bullied for God’s sake the daughter

00:04:59there Katie she’s four years old she’s

00:05:01obese before she even gets the primary

00:05:03school Marissa she’s alright she’s one

00:05:06of your lot but you know what

00:05:08other who was obese died in her arms and

00:05:11then the second most important man in

00:05:13her life her uncle died of obesity and

00:05:16now I step there is obese you see the

00:05:20thing is obesity and diet-related

00:05:23disease doesn’t just hurt the people

00:05:25that have it it’s all of their friends

00:05:27families brothers sisters pastor Steve

00:05:31an inspirational man one of my early

00:05:34allies in Huntington West Virginia he’s

00:05:36at the sharp knife edge of this problem

00:05:39he has to bury the people okay and he

00:05:43fed up with it he’s fed up with burying

00:05:44his friends his family as a community

00:05:46come winter three times as many people

00:05:49died he’s sick of it this is preventable

00:05:53disease waste of life oh by the way this

00:05:55is what they get buried in we’re not

00:05:58geared up to do this

00:06:00can’t even get at the door and I’m being

00:06:02serious

00:06:03I’m getting there forklift okay I see it

00:06:07as a triangle okay this was our

00:06:09landscape of food I need you to

00:06:10understand it you’ve probably heard all

00:06:12this before but let’s just go back over

00:06:13it over the last 30 years what’s

00:06:15happened that’s ripped the heart out of

00:06:17this country let’s be frank and honest

00:06:20well modern day life let’s start with a

00:06:23Main Street fast food has taken over the

00:06:26whole country we know that the big

00:06:28brands are some of the most important

00:06:30powers powerful powers in this country

00:06:34supermarkets as well big companies big

00:06:37companies you know 30 years ago most of

00:06:40the food was largely local and largely

00:06:43fresh now it’s largely processed and

00:06:46full of all sorts of additives extra

00:06:48ingredients and you know the rest of the

00:06:49story portion size is obviously a

00:06:51massive massive problem labeling is a

00:06:55massive problem the labeling in this

00:06:58country is a disgrace they want to be

00:07:01self they want to self-police themselves

00:07:03the industry want to self-police

00:07:04themselves what in this current climate

00:07:06they don’t deserve it how can you say

00:07:09something is low-fat when it’s full of

00:07:10so much sugar home

00:07:15the biggest problem with the home is

00:07:17that used to be the heart of passing on

00:07:20food food culture what made our society

00:07:25they ain’t happening anymore and you

00:07:27know what as we go to work and as life

00:07:29changes and as life always evolves we

00:07:32kind of have to look at it holistically

00:07:33step back for a moment and readjust the

00:07:35balance

00:07:36it ain’t acne and hasn’t happen for 30

00:07:37years okay I want to show you a

00:07:40situation that’s very normal

00:07:44right now the Edwards family let’s have

00:07:47a talk this this stuff goes through you

00:07:51and your family’s body every week and I

00:07:54need you to know that this is going to

00:07:57kill your children’s early how you

00:08:00feeling just fell one really Saten

00:08:04depressed right now but you know I want

00:08:07my kids to succeed in life and this

00:08:09isn’t gonna get in there but I’m killing

00:08:12them yes you are but we can stop that

00:08:22normal let’s get on schools something

00:08:27that I’m fairly much a specialist in

00:08:29okay school swathi school who invented

00:08:33it what was the purpose of school school

00:08:35was always invented to arm us with the

00:08:37tools to make us creative be I do

00:08:40wonderful things

00:08:40make us earn a living etc etc etc you

00:08:43know it’s being kind of in this sort of

00:08:45tight box for a long long time okay but

00:08:48we haven’t really evolved it to deal

00:08:50with the health catastrophes of America

00:08:51okay school food is something that most

00:08:57kids thirty-one million a day actually

00:08:59have twice a day more than often

00:09:01breakfast and lunch 180 days of the year

00:09:05so you could say that school food is

00:09:07quite important really judging the

00:09:09circumstances before I crack into my

00:09:17rant which I’m sure you’re waiting for

00:09:20I need to say one thing it’s so

00:09:24important in in hopefully the magic that

00:09:27happens and unfolds in the next three

00:09:29months

00:09:29the lunch ladies the lunch cooks of

00:09:32America I offer myself as their

00:09:35ambassador

00:09:36I’m not flagging them off they’re doing

00:09:39the best they can do they’re doing their

00:09:43best but they’re doing what they’re told

00:09:46and what they’ve told you what they’ve

00:09:47been told to do is wrong the system is

00:09:50highly run by accountants there’s not

00:09:53enough or any food knowledgeable people

00:09:56in the business there’s a problem if

00:09:57you’re not a food expert and you’ve got

00:10:00tight budgets and it’s getting tighter

00:10:02then you can’t be creative you can’t

00:10:04duck and dive and write different things

00:10:05around things if you’re an accountant

00:10:07and a box ticker the only thing you can

00:10:09do in these circumstances is buy cheaper

00:10:11now the reality is is this the food

00:10:14but your kids get every day is fast food

00:10:17it’s highly processed there’s not enough

00:10:19fresh food in there at all you know the

00:10:21amount of additives ie numbers

00:10:23ingredients you wouldn’t believe there’s

00:10:25not enough veggies at all french fries

00:10:26are considered a vegetable pizza for

00:10:28breakfast they don’t even get given

00:10:30crockery knives and forks now they’re

00:10:32too dangerous there’s scissors in the

00:10:35classroom but knives and forks no and

00:10:37the way I look at it is if you don’t

00:10:39have knives and forks in your school

00:10:40you’re purely endorsing from a state

00:10:43level fast food because it’s handheld

00:10:45and yes by the way is fast food it’s

00:10:47sloppy joes its burgers its wieners its

00:10:50pizzas it’s all of that stuff 10% of

00:10:56what we spend on health care as I said

00:10:57earlier is on obesity and it’s going to

00:11:00double we’re not teaching our kids

00:11:03there’s no statutory right to teach kids

00:11:05about food elementary or secondary

00:11:07school okay we don’t teach kids about

00:11:09food right and this is this is a little

00:11:11clip from an elementary school which is

00:11:12very common right

00:11:16who knows what this is potato so you

00:11:20think these are potatoes do you know

00:11:22what that is do you know what that is

00:11:25what about this that good old friend do

00:11:27you know what this is honey no what do

00:11:30you think it’s time onion No immediately

00:11:33you get a really clear sense after the

00:11:36kids know anything about where food

00:11:38comes from who knows what that is oh

00:11:39yeah what do you think this is I don’t

00:11:42know if the kids don’t know what stuff

00:11:44is then they will never eat you normal

00:11:51England and America England and America

00:11:54guess what fixed that guess what fix

00:11:56that two one-hour sessions we’ve got to

00:12:01start teaching our kids about food in

00:12:02schools period I want to go I want to

00:12:11tell you about something I want to tell

00:12:13you about something that kind of it kind

00:12:15of epitomizes the trouble that we’re in

00:12:17guys okay I want to talked about

00:12:19something so basic as milk every kid has

00:12:22the right to milk at school your kids

00:12:24will be having milk at school breakfast

00:12:26and lunch right they’ll be having two

00:12:28bottles okay and most kids do but milk

00:12:31ain’t good enough anymore because

00:12:33someone at the milk board right and

00:12:35don’t get me wrong I support milk but

00:12:37someone on the milk board probably paid

00:12:38a lot of money for some geezer to work

00:12:40out that if you put loads of flavorings

00:12:41and colorings and sugar in milk right

00:12:44more kids will drink it yeah and

00:12:48obviously you know now that’s going to

00:12:50catch on the Apple board is going to

00:12:52work out if they make toffee apples

00:12:53they’ll eat more apples as well do you

00:12:54know I mean for me there ain’t no need

00:12:58to flavor the milk okay there sugar in

00:13:00everything I know the ins and outs of

00:13:02those ingredients it’s in everything

00:13:04even the milk hasn’t escaped the kind of

00:13:07modern-day problems

00:13:08there’s our milk there’s our carton in

00:13:10that is nearly as much sugar as one of

00:13:12your favourite cans of fizzy pop when

00:13:14they’re having two a day so let me just

00:13:16show you we’ve got one kid here having

00:13:22you know eight tablespoons of sugar a

00:13:25day you know

00:13:28there’s your week there’s your month and

00:13:32I took the liberty of putting in just

00:13:35the five years of elementary school

00:13:37sugar just from milk now I don’t know

00:13:46about you guys but judging the

00:13:48circumstances right any judge in the

00:13:52whole world would look at the statistics

00:13:54and the evidence and they would find any

00:13:56government of old guilty of child abuse

00:13:58that’s my belief

00:14:08now if I came up here and I wish I could

00:14:11come up here today and hang a cure for

00:14:13AIDS or cancer you’d be fighting and

00:14:16scrambling to get to me

00:14:18this all this bad news is preventable

00:14:21that’s the good news

00:14:23it’s very very preventable so let’s just

00:14:27think about we’ve got a problem here we

00:14:29need to reboot okay so in my world what

00:14:33do we need to do that here’s the thing

00:14:35right it cannot just come from one

00:14:37source to reboot and make real tangible

00:14:40change real change so that I could look

00:14:43you in the white of the eyes and say in

00:14:45ten years time the history of your

00:14:47children’s lives happiness and let’s not

00:14:49forget you’re clever if you eat well you

00:14:51know you’re going to live longer all of

00:14:53that stuff it will look different okay

00:14:56so supermarkets where else do you shop

00:14:59so religiously week-in week-out

00:15:01how much money do you spend in your life

00:15:03in a supermarket love them they just

00:15:06sell us what we want all right they owe

00:15:08us to put a food ambassador in every

00:15:11major supermarket they need to help us

00:15:13shop they need to show us how to cook

00:15:15quick tasty seasonal meals for people

00:15:19that are busy this is not expensive it

00:15:22is done in some and it needs to be done

00:15:23across the board in America soon and

00:15:26quick the big brands you know the food

00:15:29brands need to put food education at the

00:15:32heart of their businesses I know easier

00:15:34said than done it’s the future it’s the

00:15:36only way

00:15:37fast food with the fast food industry

00:15:40and you know it’s very competitive I’ve

00:15:44had loads of secret papers and dealings

00:15:46with fast food restaurants I know where

00:15:48they do it I mean basically they weaned

00:15:51it on to these hits of sugar salt and

00:15:53fat and XY and Z and everyone loves them

00:15:56right so these guys are going to be part

00:15:58of the solution but we need to get the

00:16:01government to work with all of the fast

00:16:03food purveyors and the restaurant

00:16:04industry and over a five six seven year

00:16:06period we knit off the extreme amounts

00:16:09of fat sugar fat and all the other

00:16:11non-food ingredients now also back to

00:16:14the sort of big brand labeling I said

00:16:16earlier is an absolute fart and has got

00:16:19to be sorted

00:16:20okay school obviously in schools we owe

00:16:25it to them to make sure those 180 days

00:16:27of the year from that little precious

00:16:29age of 4 to 18 20 24 whatever they need

00:16:32to be cooked proper fresh food from

00:16:37local girls on-site okay there needs to

00:16:39be a new standard of fresh proper food

00:16:40for your children yeah under the

00:16:48circumstances it’s profoundly important

00:16:50that every single American child leaves

00:16:53school knowing how to cook 10 recipes

00:16:55that will save their life life skills

00:17:00that means that they can be students

00:17:03young parents and be able to sort of

00:17:06duck and dive around the basics of

00:17:08cooking no matter what recession hits

00:17:10the next time if you can cook recession

00:17:12money doesn’t matter if you can cook

00:17:14time doesn’t matter the workplace we

00:17:18haven’t really talked about it you know

00:17:20it’s now time for corporate

00:17:22responsibility to really look at what

00:17:24they feed or make available to their

00:17:26staff the staff other mums and dads of

00:17:29America’s children

00:17:30Marrissa a father died in a hand I think

00:17:33she’d be quite happy if corporate

00:17:35America could start feeding their staff

00:17:37properly definitely they shouldn’t be

00:17:39left out let’s go back to the home now

00:17:41look if we do all this stuff and we can

00:17:43it’s so achievable you can care and be

00:17:46commercial absolutely but the home might

00:17:49need to start passing on cooking again

00:17:51for sure for sure partially owned is a

00:17:54philosophy and for me it’s quite

00:17:56romantic but it’s about if one if one

00:17:58person teaches three people how to cook

00:18:00something you know and they teach three

00:18:02of their mates that only has to repeat

00:18:04itself 25 times and that’s the whole

00:18:06population of America romantic yes but

00:18:09most importantly it’s about trying to

00:18:13get people to realize that every one of

00:18:15your individual efforts makes a

00:18:17difference we’ve got to put back what’s

00:18:19been lost

00:18:19Huntington kitchen Huntington where I

00:18:23made this program you know we’ve got

00:18:25this primetime program that hopefully

00:18:26will inspire people to really get on

00:18:28this change I truly believe that change

00:18:30will happen

00:18:31Huntington kitchen I work with a

00:18:32community I worked in the school

00:18:35I found local sustainable funding to get

00:18:37every single school in the area from the

00:18:39junk on to the fresh food six and a half

00:18:42grand per school that’s all it takes six

00:18:46and a half grand per school the kitchen

00:18:48is 25 grand a month okay this can do

00:18:505,000 people a year which is 10% of

00:18:54their population and it’s it’s people on

00:18:56people you know it’s local cooks

00:18:57teaching local people it’s free cooking

00:18:59lessons guys free cooking lessons in the

00:19:02main street this is real tangible change

00:19:05real tangible change around America if

00:19:08we just look back now there’s plenty of

00:19:11wonderful things going on there’s plenty

00:19:14of beautiful things going on there are

00:19:16angels around America doing great things

00:19:18in schools farm to school setups garden

00:19:22setups education there are amazing

00:19:25people doing this already the problem is

00:19:27they all want to roll out what they’re

00:19:28doing to the next school and the next

00:19:30but there’s no cash we need to recognize

00:19:34the experts and the angels quickly

00:19:36identify them and allow them to easily

00:19:39find the resource to keep rolling out

00:19:41what they’re already doing and doing

00:19:43well businesses of America need to

00:19:45support mrs. Obama to do the things that

00:19:48she wants to do

00:19:54and look I know it’s weird having an

00:19:58English person standing here before you

00:19:59talking about all this all I can say is

00:20:02I care I’m a father and I love this

00:20:05country and I believe truly actually

00:20:09that if change can be made in this

00:20:11country beautiful things will happen

00:20:13around the world if America does it I

00:20:15believe other people will follow it’s

00:20:17incredibly important when I was in

00:20:26Huntington trying to get a few things to

00:20:27work when they weren’t I thought if I

00:20:30had a magic wand what would I do and I

00:20:35and I thought you know what I just love

00:20:36to be put in front of some of the most

00:20:39amazing movers and shakers in America

00:20:41and a month later Ted’s phone me up and

00:20:44gave me this award I’m here so my wish

00:20:56dyslexic so I’m bit slow my wish is for

00:21:06you to help a strong sustainable

00:21:08movement to educate every child about

00:21:14food to inspire families to cook again

00:21:18and to empower people everywhere to

00:21:22fight obesity

00:21:35country