6th Nov 2008 - 00:00
Abstract
The House of Commons Health Committee is more accustomed with NHS finance directors but this week the committee called in Jamie Oliver to give evidence about the nation's health and the inequalities that exist.
The TV chef told the committee that as the UK heads for a recession families are becoming more and more reliant on cheaper, unhealthy foods. He highlighted how he is still concerned with the level of obesity in this country and added: "Anyone who thinks there is one solution is bonkers." Oliver said that cheaper foods can be healthy and the main issue is that many people are frightened of raw ingredients and don't know how to start putting fresh meals together. The BBC's health reporter Nick Triggle watched Oliver give evidence and said the MPs 'did not give him an easy life at all.' In his report Triggle explained how Oliver initially described himself as apolitical but soon let his feelings known about the government and how it spends tax-payers money. Oliver called on councils to take harder sanctions on fast-food outlets and keep them under control and added that he is in favour of the red, amber and green traffic light nutrition labelling system seen on most food packaging. And unsurprisingly there was no let up for school meals with the TV chef saying that more money is needed for schools as he believes it is nowhere near enough. Oliver described the lack of training for dinner ladies as a "disgrace". He suggested that dining rooms in schools need to be made more comfortable and accommodating to cope with the large numbers of pupils in schools across the country. The Scottish government came in for some praise for it's recent announcement about free school meals for five to seven-year olds. Committee chairman Kevin Barron didn't give the chef any special treatment but did say: "As we have seen, Jamie Oliver has had quite a powerful impact on this agenda. I think it was important to find out about his perspective."