Jamie's Ministry of Food
| Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Jamie Oliver |
| Presented by | Jamie Oliver |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 30 September – 21 October 2008 |
Jamie's Ministry of Food is a four-part Jamie Oliver series that aired from 30 September to 21 October 2008.
The series was based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Oliver aimed to make the town "the culinary capital of the United Kingdom" and tried to get the town's inhabitants to learn how to cook fresh food and establish healthy eating as part of daily life.
The title of the show is a play on the Ministry of Food that existed during the Second World War to help people eat well despite food rationing. A companion cookbook of the same name was also released.
The 'Pass It On' campaign also featured in this series with the local townspeople being taught a selection of recipes and passing them on to family members and friends. The concept of the 'Pass It On' campaign was that if Oliver taught 8 people how to cook some simple recipes, and they each 'passed it on' to 2 people, then in 15 steps, the whole of the town would be cooking. Oliver also organized several other 'Pass it On' events in workplaces and at social gatherings.
The 'Pass It On' campaign has a small following on the social networking website Facebook which has a group and fan page with users signing up to chart their progress.
During the series, Oliver uses several different activities to get people cooking. He focuses on individuals teaching friends, workplaces providing cooking lessons, and the council providing free cooking lessons and information. All the events and initiatives were designed such that they could be repeated and copied elsewhere, without Oliver's involvement.
The series particularly focuses on a few members of his class of students.
Natasha Whiteman is a 22-year-old single mother of two, living on benefits. Prior to the show, she had never cooked a meal for her kids. They ate take-aways for dinner, primarily kebab and chips with cheese and the drawers in her refrigerator were filled with chocolate bars. She turns out to be one of Oliver's most willing students. She even started a small vegetable garden on her own initiative after learning that her little girl thought kebabs came from a plant. By the end of the series, Natasha showed such a flair and enthusiasm for cooking that Oliver helped her get a placement at the local catering school.
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