Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (VIDEO): First Graders Can't Identify Fruits, Veggies

Jamie Oliver walks into a first grade classroom, up to a table display that is draped with a sheet. As he pulls the sheet up to reveal piles of fruits and vegetables underneath, you can hear gasps of horror ripple through the classroom.

This image sets the scene for his newest series, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution , in which the celebrity chef (of The Naked Chef fame) aims to subvert America's ingrained eating habits. He starts out in Huntington, West Virginia, which has been called the unhealthiest city in America, hoping for a food revolution there that will create a chain reaction across the nation.

Oliver tests the waters with the first graders by seeing how well they know their fruits and vegetables.

"Who knows what this is?" Oliver asks, holding up a bunch of tomatoes.

WATCH to see how they fare:

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution premieres on Friday, March 26, on ABC.

Comments

[Bala Sanmuganathan]

04:06 AM on 04/20/2010

I am a fan of Oliver and I watched him since he appeared on BBC regularly . He has his own art of preparing meals so cheaper but more nutrition. Some time he was in charge of the students meals in Britain.

[Chef Sun]

02:58 PM on 04/07/2010

I cant get this video to load. Registered. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Donatella]

10:30 PM on 03/26/2010

I think the show was good but it would be more productive for the public to get some background information first. Documentaries like Food, Inc or Eating would be a good start.

If you just start as a "know-it-all" by telling people what to eat Americans will resent it, especially from a foreigner (good thing he wasn't French).

One of the bloggers said don't blame the government, well, that is exactly who you blame. They are to blame for subsidizing and supporting many of the unhealthy processed foods we eat and turning a blind eye to the truth about what is healthy food.

Frankly, I don't think there is any hope and we will see every consecutive generation in America have a shorter lifespan. Processed food with tons of fat and salt just taste too good and the corporations have billions in advertising dollars.

[notaverageJane]

10:07 AM on 03/22/2010

Reading these comments made me really sad. Why blame the school? Or the government? How about we blame the parents??? Everyone is so busy buying a bigger home or owning more than 2 cars, buying the latest tech gizmo, that they compromise the integrity and health of the family. If mom and dad are so busy paying for the bigger home or keeping the cable for the 4 TVs at home, they don't have time to cook anything and processed ready-to-eat junk and fast food wins. People's excuse for not cooking healthy and balanced meals is that they can't afford to, both money and time wise. But that's a one giant lame excuse.

Like so many Americans, I save and pinch too, and yet nothing in our home is pre-made or packaged. I cook 3 meals a day, and go grocery shopping with my kids. My little ones help me pick every fruit and veggie at the supermarket, they help me cook. That's when kids become open to trying various cuisines and various vegetables. Spinach, mustard green, squash, eggplant, turnips and beets... my kids are ready to try anything at least once, as long as they help me in the kitchen. For the family of 4, our average monthly food bill is $300. Once people start cooking everything at home, its evident how incredibly simple and easy to make foods from scratch which are actually help save so much money compared to buying processed stuff.

[JamesFly]

07:23 PM on 03/17/2010

I'm really digging the song on the promos. Does anyone know who it is? The lyric is 'open your eyes and see the world the way it should be'. Totally true! You gotta be something nearing blind not to know what a tomato is.

[AlBe]

12:37 AM on 03/20/2010

Hey JamesFly - the song is called 'open your eyes'. It's by an Australian band called All Mankind. You can actually download the song (free I think) from their website - http://www.allmankind.net. Hope that helps!

[rjallen71]

10:31 PM on 03/10/2010

Finally, a show worth watching! Too many of us getting fat, and it's starting younger and younger too! I am SO tuning in!

[quasar]

09:45 AM on 03/02/2010

those were GM tomatoes too. Just sayin'.

[Vernon Brown]

06:04 PM on 03/01/2010

When I was in 6th grade (1979), we planted crops behind the school. Yeah, it was a really small farming area; cotton, maize, etc, but man, today's level of disassociation is staggering. Kids don't know onions from potatoes and their grandparents want gov't to stay out of medicare. Get me outta here.

[garystartswithg]

06:13 PM on 03/27/2010

you would be disgusted by the classroom today. growing crops doesn't fit into no child left behind. i don't know how our schools got so pigeon holed and quite frankly, stupid.

[Baconista]

12:59 PM on 03/01/2010

If you feel inspired by Jamie's campaign, he has created an online petition, promoting healthy food for children, that he will present to the White House this spring. You can find the petition here:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition. Pass it along!

[Simon Woodward]

12:44 PM on 03/01/2010

Here in the UK, home of Jamie Oliver, ABC has blocked the content of the video on 'copyright grounds'. I thought we had the copyright in cockney chefs!!!!!! Shame on ABC

[michelesda]

12:32 AM on 03/01/2010

Spine-chilling to speculate on what these kids do eat if they've never seen any of this stuff. I'm so glad I have at least a patch of green, not as big as I'd like but big enough for a garden that feeds me well into winter. I remember once when some kid selling a heating plan, obviously a city kid, approached me in my garden, and couldn't believe his eyes. He was asking me what everything was, I handed him a tomato and he ate it right there on the spot while he was laying his sales pitch on me. Same way with string beans and such. I reached into the ground and pulled him out a potato and hosed it off for him and he gazed at it in wonder like it was the hope diamond. When he left he was walking down the driveway eating the thing raw; good thing it's an organic garden. I don't recall that I bought his plan, but it couldn't have been a total loss for him if real food was the revelation it appeared to be.

[WoodyCPM]

10:32 PM on 02/28/2010

Not all that surprising that young kids don't know what basic fruits and vegetables are. No one cooks anymore. What people do is "food assembly". They cook, if they even turn on a stove, from cans, bottles and boxes. They throw it in the microwave, heat it, tear off the plastic, and serve. Few take whole, fresh ingredients and start from scratch and even fewer bother to show their children how to do it.

Those who insist that this is a failure of the schools are full of beans.

[hereinmiami]

11:52 PM on 02/28/2010

its a failure on multiple fronts! my grandmother was a home-economics teacher, and its my understanding that that isn't really taught much anymore; how to cook, how to mend clothes, how to live on a budget. there's no reason why schools shouldn't teach that stuff, and it would REALLY help.

[WoodyCPM]

07:51 AM on 03/01/2010

I agree, but why is it the Home Economics is no longer taught in school? It's not the teachers' fault. Politicians and parents are to blame. Both of those constituencies have far far more power over the school curriculum than do teachers.

[HolliThompson]

04:37 PM on 02/28/2010

It's not surprising, most kids think food comes in bright packages. Apples are watery and in boxes, veggies are tiny cubes that float in canned soups, and potatoes are slivers of salty greasy goodness. I am looking forward to this show , March 26 on ABC.

[OdinsEye]

02:40 PM on 02/28/2010

Absolutely scary to think that kids don't even know what a tomato is.

[NaimahFuller]

09:24 AM on 02/28/2010

This is how far we've gone down the rabbit hole.