Give the man an OBE!

I’m not known to be a really big “fan” of bands, celebrities, etc. I am of course a massive fan of Jacques Villeneuve , a F1 racing driver that was born in the same town I was and who’s resilience and fighting spirit I truly admire. But there is one more person that I will say I truly admire and that I am a huge fan of and that’s Jamie Oliver!
JAMIE!!!

Brought to fame because of the Naked Chef TV series this young man from Essex (he’s 1y and a half older than me and worth £17millions more..) is a true model when it comes to using his celebrity status to help other people. Recently, he set up a restaurant in the East End of London called Fifteen who is no only a top class restaurant, but also a registered charity where Jamie trains 15 young people every year (3rd now) from disadvantaged backgrounds, often homeless, living in care and having learning difficulties and all unemployed and gives them the opportunity to become top class chefs. Graduates are placed overseas in some of the world’s best restaurants. This is not only a great thing for the young people who’s lives are changed, but it also changes their attitudes towards success and achievement which is often one of the biggest barriers. I’m sure that these people he’s directly helped will not only have a better lifestyle, but will also be able to share these values with their environment, friends and family which will contribute to promoting a culture of success and of aiming higher, rather than sitting on your backside thinking that the world owes you everything. He started this project just as his wife, the beautiful Juliet “Jules” Oliver
Just looking for an excuse to pose a picture of her!!

was about to give birth to one of his daughters and while also preparing a new book and tours in Asia and America. (By the way, I was just looking for an excuse to put a pic of her.
;)

Then, he decided to help one of his friends Jimmy start a farm of rare breed pigs, close to extinction and then went on a crusade to support local farmers and promotes organic food producers to make sure that they are treated fairly by the large supermarkets. For a long time, the only company he’s been associated with is Sainsbury’s , the supermarket that makes the most in order to promote and help organic production in Britain.

And most recently he started the Feed Me Better campaign making sure that children all over the UK get a chance to have good , balanced school meals. This is especially important because as he says on his website: ” What we eat affects everything. Mood, behaviour, health, growth, even our ability to concentrate.”

He’s already won in the county of Greenwich where now, thanks to his efforts more than 6,000 schoolchildren are now eating healthy school meals, cooked from fresh ingredients, every day. Now, it has become a political issue and the Labour Party have jumped on the bandwagon once they realized how Jamie made people realize how important what the children eat is for their wellbeing. The results are already in and behaviour has already changed in a most positive manner!

And now, children of a fairly deprived area get a chance to eat herb-crusted fillet of fish, Mediterranean braised beef with couscous, and much more rather than greasy chips.

Now again, like a lot of good people trying to do their best, he’s come under quite a bit of criticism. Some people talk about his “mockney accent” whatever that means..
Some people say he’s using this for his own fame. Then again, I think that if I was worth £17 million, had a beautiful family who would rather I spend more time at home, I’d find other ways to increase my fame. Also, how many famous people have managed to push these social issues as much as he has? I don’t know of any!

So yes, I’ll buy his books and yes, I signed his petition for the Feed me better campaign! And I hope you do to! Because not only is Jamie Oliver a great individual, but also if everyone that had the means to act did the way he does, the world would definitely be a better place.