a social media toolkit to help people spread the word . He created the Food Truth Gang for kids , which includes no-junk breakfast recipes , teaching tools to help students become food savvy , and a separate section for schools that includes recipes , lesson plans and activity sheets . Jamie hopes that early food education will engage young people into considering careers in cooking .
“ There is nothing more beautiful than kids cooking . Becoming a chef is one of the best jobs because you just have to be good at what you do , turn up and be a pleasure to be around ,” he said . “ As a cook , you never have to be unemployed , plus you could get to travel and see things you could never dream up .”
Cooking Doesn ’ t Have to be Complicated
His latest message resonating with his fans is that cooking doesn ’ t have to be complicated . In his latest bestselling effort , his book 5 Ingredients : Quick and Easy Food became an instant classic . It contains simple recipes anyone can follow .
“ This is my 20th book and it has been a really unusual phenomenon because it is connecting with people in a global way . In my past books , we ’ ve covered cost and saving money , speed and time and 15-minute meals , but this book seems to be the superhero of all of those snappy genre-busting books ,” said Jamie . “ To see people connect with the book like this with kids hashtagging it and people embracing it like they have , they are realizing how easy it is to cook with five ingredients .”
The premise of the book is to bring the best out in those ingredients , which often times are easily accessible . Jamie says if he ’ s done his job right , anyone who flips through the book may have some of those ingredients in the house already .
“ For me , this has been the one book in my life where maybe I just got the tone and the timing right ,” said Jamie , who has developed several shows as part of the 5 Ingredients experience .
It ’ s no surprise that 5 Ingredients : Quick and Easy Food has become a runaway hit . The ‘ fakeaway ’ recipes on Jamie ’ s Food Revolution website have earned an almost cult following for the tasty , healthful shortcuts featured in it . One example is John Quilter ’ s pumpkin spice latte recipe using maple and agave syrup instead of processed white sugar . Such easy conversions to more healthful options have helped drive the groundswell from the very start .
“ We launched Food Revolution Day on a couple of laptops , with no budget , and managed to interact over a billion people in 24 hours on Twitter . Now there are thousands of activities happening in what has become a giant thunderclap ,” he said . “ We ’ ve pulled
off some extraordinary things at a massive scale which is lovely and great , but still nowhere near enough — now our challenge is how to have a food revolution every day .”
The Journey is Just Beginning
Jamie has witnessed CEOs becoming advocates instead of complainers , families go from unhealthy to healthy , and entire communities take a turn for the better , embracing sustainable ingredients and teaching kids to cook for themselves . In his mind , the journey is just beginning .
“ As I look at the next 10 years of my life , I want to use all the skills I ’ ve learned to inspire and work with governments like a Ninja . I recognize the only weapons we have are trust and time ,” he said . “ Most ministers have a life expectancy of four years and we know it ’ s the dollar or the vote , so our goals have to be long-term and leaving yourself open to a network of people who believe the same things .”
In his quest to foster a deeper connection between people and their food , Jamie encourages a mix of technology and person-to-person engagement .
“ Anyone can cook , especially in this day and age with YouTube , where you can learn anything from cheese on toast , which can be a pure beauty , to a roast chicken to-die-for or a badass minestrone ,” said Jamie , though his preferred method for breaking bread is together . “ Above all , go old school , because nothing we do is more powerful than cooking together — call up your friend or neighbor and invite them to come round tonight or next Tuesday , because we are programmed to pass it on .”
Join Jamie ’ s Food Revolution at www . jamiesfoodrevolution . org and for Jamie ’ s books , recipes and other resources , visit www . jamieoliver . com .
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