December Food Revolution Toronto Challenge - Oaty Fruity Cookies

I am one of a group of many Food Revolution Ambassadors in Toronto and around the World a group of people that believe in Jamie Oliver's mission to educate people to eat better food and currently on a mission to fight childhood obesity.

Each month we get Challenges that are sent to us by the team in the U.K. that manage the Ambassadors around the world.  I try and participate in the ones I am able to do.  I wasn't able to do November's because it was a pasta dish although somewhat simple I had a bit of a fall and haven't been able to lift my right arm to make it on my own.  I even purchased the ingredients before I got hurt and hope to make the recipe at some point.

The Toronto Team have decided to select monthly recipes for us to make and to share with out social streams for a chance for people to win a cookbook each month.

December's recipe is Jools' Oaty Fruity Cookies but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make this recipe because of my injured shoulder,  but my friend came over to visit me and bring me a few things and I told him about the challenge and asked if he would help me do it and he provided the reaching, mixing and all the physical things that it took to complete this recipe.  He did most of the work but we did it in my very tiny kitchen as you can see there isn't much prep space.

The reason I wouldn't have been able to do it myself was because of the ingredients and tools were either stored very high and out of my reach or too heavy for me to access.  This recipe requires a lot of ingredients that you may or may not use everyday.  Luckily I got help and together we worked our way through this recipe.

The link to the recipe is below.  For my cookies I used Pumpkin seeds, flax and sesame seeds.  I used coconut sugar and white sugar and I used raisins, golden berries and some dried cherries.  That's what I had. You can adjust for what you might have.  For the spices I used cinnamon, ginger and cloves for that winter spice flavour.  It's not difficult once you have organized all of the ingredients.  They bake very quickly too.

If you would like to try this recipe and get a chance to Win a Jamie Oliver cookbook you can see the link and the details below this photo.

This recipe might be great to make with kids that can gather the ingredients and dump and stir and form the cookies because you just need an ice cream scoop to measure equal portions.  Give it a try and let me know what you added to yours.

Hey #Canada - we want to get you BAKING! Starting today, December 1st 2016 until December 31st 2016, bake up a batch of Jools Oliver's Easy Oaty Fruity Cookies for your chance to win one of four Jamie Oliver cookbooks thanks to HarperCollins Canada!

http://www.jamieoliver.com/…/fruit-recipes/jools-easy-oaty…/

How to enter:

Bake Jools' Easy Oaty Fruity Cookies with your family, snap a picture and share it on social media using the hashtag #CookwithFoodRevTOand tag us here on FB, or at @FoodRevToronto on Twitter or Instagram and you'll be entered to win a cookbook!

Eligibility and contest rules:

– Contest begins on December 1st 2016 at10am EST on and closes December 31st 2016 at 6pm EST.
– Prize consists of one (1) Jamie Oliver cookbook (various titles)
– There are four (4) prizes in total.
– Open to readers or the age of majority with a Canadian mailing address.
– No purchase of any product necessary for entry.
– Winners will be chosen randomly (using random.org) from all qualified entries on December 31st 2016 after 6pm EST.
– Winners will be notified via email January 1st 2017 and will have 48 hours to respond to the email.
– Winners will be required to answer a skill testing question.

Jamie Oliver energizes Toronto

Jamie Oliver & Linda Matarasso

Did you ever do something for so long and felt like nothing was happening and then you start to wonder why you did it in the first place?  Well, lately I have been feeling that way.  Over 5 years ago I became a Food Revolution Ambassador to represent Jamie Oliver's vision to make people live healthier happier lives by eating better food.  I was originally inspired by his school lunch campaigns and work in the UK and USA so I joined.   But for the past few years I have been spending a lot of my time shouting to whoever will listen on social media about what he and myself and the rest of the Ambassadors were trying to do.  I kind of felt like I was in the ocean in a little boat waving for help and nobody could hear me.  I spent 5 years trying to host events and write about Food Revolution but had never actually met Jamie in person even though I had seen him at television shows and appearances in Toronto a few times.  This time was different though.

I finally got to meet Chef/Activist Jamie Oliver, the person that inspired me to join Food Revolution 5 years ago and representing his Food Revolution campaign.  Jamie was in town to do many things.  He was promoting his 2 restaurants at Yorkdale and Square One in Mississauga and also his new cookbook Super Food Family Classics and he did lots of media interviews a Press Conference Panel and a chat with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Ambassadors around Toronto were invited to go to Jamie's relatively new restaurant Jamie's Italian at Yorkdale for a dinner and Q&A for media and other influencers.  They set aside a very long table for a sit down dinner after Jamie's chat with the media and we were given loads of food.  We were told he would pop by to say hi but as we got through our dinner we didn't think that was going to happen and then someone spoke to Jamie and he came over finally.

He sat down with us and listened to what we have been doing and what we wanted him to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his chat with him the next day.

He had a very long day and was probably extremely jet lagged but he was still full of passion and energy when speaking about what he wanted to do for his Childhood Obesity campaign.

Jamie Oliver and Senator Nancy Green Reine

He invited us to attend a Press Conference panel discussion that was held at the Evergreen Brickworks the next morning with some very important people who were all involved in creating change in the area of Childhood Obesity.  Nick Saul the CEO of Community Food Centres Canada was the moderator.

Members of the panel included:

• Dr. Jan Jux, Chief Sciences Officer, Canadian Diabetes Association
• Dr. Tom Warshawski, Pediatrician and Chair of the Childhood Obesity Foundation
• Geoff Craig, Chief Marketing Officer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
• Honourable Senator Nancy Greene Raine
• Nathan Sing, Student at Ryerson University

They discussed some statistics about sugar consumption, rates of childhood obesity, and many other health concerns that will increase if changes aren't made now.

Jamie has so much energy and passion and he captivated the room as he stood up in his Canadian Tuxedo to discuss his plan to support changes in Canada through new policies that the Prime Minister makes.

I think the Ambassadors took up half of the small gathering of people.  We all got re-energized from Jamie's passion and enthusiasm.

After the Press Conference and his one on one interviews with the media he set aside time with us to do a Facebook Live with all of us.  We all tried to get our 2 cents in as Jamie shared his thoughts to the Facebook World.  It was so fun.  He asked us to tweet a message at 3pm that would get attention before his meeting with Justin Trudeau at 4pm.

We added the hashtag #JamieSpeaks4FoodRev so if you check that on twitter you can see all of our messages.

And after much love, food and attention for a couple of days then he was gone but left us all fired up ready to do whatever we can to help people lead healthier better lives.

We finally got acknowledged and thanked for our efforts and it really helped to legitimize what we have been doing individually on our own.

After spending a couple of days listening to him speak I remembered why I got inspired to join in the first place.  I agree with everything he says about food and health.  It's all about balance and education.  People need the knowledge to make the right choices and they also need access to fresh food and water to be able to live their lives fully and have a fighting chance to reach their potential.

Jamie's energy is contagious and we all got energized from his presence.
Let's see what the Toronto Team can do this year.  One of the Super Ambassadors from the Netherlands said it crossed the pond to her too.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION 

www.foodrevolution.org

Visit Jamie's 2 Jamie's Italian Restaurants in Canada at Yorkdale and Square One.

Jamie's Italian

Food Revolution 2016 - Chef's Plate Contest

WIN 1 of 2 $25 Gift Certificates for Chef's Plate

I have been a Food Revolution Ambassador for  over 5 years now.  When I started there were just a handful of Ambassadors and now there are thousands all over the world and about a dozen in Toronto.
We all do different things but it all falls under the umbrella of FOOD REVOLUTION.
This year they have changed the website to JamiesFoodRevolution
Jamie Oliver created the Food Revolution movement over 5 years ago to get people all around the world involved in taking control of their food, whether it's learning how to cook or growing your own food or getting involved in the food system in whatever way you can.  In the past it was focused on ONE DAY.  Usually the 3rd Friday in May or if you are in Canada the day leading up to the May 24 long weekend.

This year the Jamie Oliver Foundation want to change the focus from one day to YEAR ROUND.

I joined because I was inspired by Jamie's Food Revolution series and when they sent out a call for Ambassadors I applied to see what I could do.  Over the past 5 years I have had a dinner party at home, a Mexican Fiesta at Aphrodite Cooks,  Cooking Italian food from Scratch at the Depanneur and last year a Middle Eastern food demo at Hendrix Restaurant Supplies

This year due to time I wasn't able to do a public event, so I am going to do something completely different this time.   I want to get you into the kitchen but I am not going to do a demo, YOU are going to try and teach yourself how to cook.

Jamie Oliver has provided 10 RECIPES to get you started in the kitchen if you want to DIY it.  Download them and try them and then make them your own and don't forget to tag them with #FoodRevolution so that we can all see how you did.

If you think that might be a bit of a challenge if you really are a beginner or you can't even "boil water" as they say then I have a GIVEAWAY for you to get you started in the kitchen.

You can WIN (1) of 2-  $25 gift certificate towards the purchase of your first Chef's Plate order.  
Their mission is to put real food back into people's diets.
They are a meal-kit delivery services based in Toronto that delivers pre prepped portioned ingredients and recipe cards for meals that you put together fresh yourself.  It saves you time gathering the ingredients and measuring the quantities.  Real, whole meals don't have to be boring, difficult or expensive and we want people to fall in love with cooking again.

To WIN (1) of (2) gift certificates you need to:

1.  Follow Chef's Plate on Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chefsplateca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefsplate/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/chefsplatecanada

2.  Follow me on my social media:
  Twitter  & Instagram @lindamatarasso
  Join my facebook page www.facebook.com/starvingfoodie

3.  Tweet the following message:
"@lindamatarasso I want to be a #FRD16Chef & Join the #foodrevolution & start with +Chef's Plate"

Eligibility and contest rules:

– Contest begins on Monday May 16th 2016 at 9.00am EST on and closes on Food Revolution Day on Friday May 20th 2016 at 12pm EST.
– Prize consists of one (1) gift certificate towards a Chef's Plate meal (Value $25CAD each)
– Open to readers or the age of majority with a Toronto mailing address.
– Winners will be chosen randomly from all qualified entries and notified on Friday May 20th 2016 after 1pm EST.

*Only 1 entry per person is eligible to win.
You will receive the prize by email after being notified and an email address provided by you.

Good luck

You can also JOIN the REVOLUTION at www.jamiesfoodrevolution.org

You can also see what other Toronto Ambassadors have planned by joining the Facebook Group:
Food Revolution Day Toronto

Jamie Oliver's Italian Restaurant opening in Toronto

Jamie Oliver is opening his first Jamie's Italian Restaurant opens in Toronto on Sunday December 6th, 2015 but I got a special preview tasting invite from my fellow Food Revolution Ambassador,  friend Denise,  owner of Petits Chefs Academy in Vaughan to join her and her staff for lunch at Jamie's Italian at Yorkdale Mall today.  The restaurant is training it's staff this week and they have invited a few people to sample the food and give them feedback and get their staff used to the menu and the operations of the restaurant.
The staff are extremely exhausted as they have been working night and day training and getting things ready for the official opening on the 6th.  Appropriate date for the 6ix don't you think?

The sign out in front of the restaurant isn't up yet but there is a huge photo and sign at the side beside the entrance to the mall.  The interior is completely ready and is gorgeous and spacious.  With the bright teal blue bar seats contrasting the rustic wood interior, the 2 story feels both warm and airy with the light spilling in from the large storefront windows.  We were seated at the back near their pasta making station which doesn't have natural light so my photos are a bit yellow from the lighting so it doesn't do the food much justice so you will have to take my word for it that it looks much better in real life.

The staff are both exhausted and excited for the opening.  They are all very friendly and accommodating.  Denise and I briefly spoke to Jamie's partner Chef Rob Gentile of Buca and Bar Buca and the person responsible for making sure that the restaurant runs at Jamie's standards.  We also met Chef Francisco and the General Manager who were all interested in feedback to make sure they get everything right before the general public walk in the door.

There were 5 of us there to sample some of the menu and we decided to all pick different things so that we could all share and try a lot of different items on the menu.  We pretty much ate about 75 percent of the menu I think.

Some of the things we tried included:

• Rabbit Cassarece
• Fried Polenta,
• Shrimp linguine
• Pear and Prociutto salad
• Mushroom Fritti
• Arancini
• Chicken puttanesca
• Steak and frites
• Jamie's Italian sausage Tagliatelle

and we demolished the whole dessert menu of:

• Tiramisu
• Sorbetto Gelato
• Panna Cotta with Blueberry and raspberry sauce
• Affogato
• Lemon Meringue cheesecake pie
• Extreme Brownie with ice cream and popcorn

My favourite dishes were the Chicken puttanesca with a great smokey flavour.  I didn't try the Arancini but they looked good.  Jamie's Italian Sausage Tagliatelle had great flavour too.

My favourite dessert was the Extreme Brownie which tasted kind of like a flourless chocolate cake.  Not too sweet but full dark rich chocolate flavour.  I also really liked the Lemon Meringue pie.

Denise pretty much inhaled the Affogato so I think she liked that too.

There were a couple of menu items I would have liked to try but they had sold out already but I hope to return to try some other things in the new year.

They are still working out the kinks of a new restaurant and are extremely focused on getting quality control right at this time and they want to have everything perfected by the weekend.  They have 150 staff who have been working really hard during the training period and I hope they all get a bit of rest before the opening because it's going to be an extremely busy place.  It's pretty much the best restaurant choice at the mall and as Chef Gentile put it he has been eating at the food court during the building process and he is really happy that the restaurant is finally up and running.  

Jamie's Italian Canada is located beside the Crate and Barrel at Yorkdale Mall (Dufferin Street) in Toronto, Canada.  It's the first Canadian restaurant chain for Jamie Oliver.  

I don't think Jamie will be around for the opening as he was just in town recently but the staff are all pretty excited at the fact that he might show up at any time when he comes to town.

Social

Instagram

Website

Twitter

*Disclaimer:  Our meal was complimentary but all of the opinions and photos are my own.  

Food Revolution Day Thank You!

THANK YOU

Another year of Jamie Oliver's Annual Food Revolution Day events is now over but all of the Ambassadors and everyone involved with Food Revolution Day want to continue the momentum and keep cooking skills alive and help drive more food education in schools for the rest of the year.  

If you haven't signed Jamie Oliver's Petition it's not too late.  

Take a minute to go to change.org/JamieOliver and sign  the petition.  Signatures will be collected until October and brought to G20 leaders in November.

I want to take this time to thank all of the sponsors and people that assisted in helping me make my Food Revolution Day event a very successful one.

Photos provided by my photographer friend Alex Tsang @hypebelly

First I want to thank Alissa from Hendrix Restaurant Equipment & Supplies for organizing all of the tools needed in their amazing new test kitchen and the rest of the staff for going above and beyond what I expected was possible.

Martina, Susan, Alissa, Linda, Jenny, Lisa

I would also like to thank fellow Ambassador Susan Ng (dough making machine), Jenny Roger (mandolin master), Martina Kelly and Lisa Swainston my Food Revolution greeters or supreme welcoming committee.

I would like to thank Sobeys who provided a gift card for food supplies for the event and also provided gift cards for prizes and also aprons, measuring spoons, pens and notepads for the attendees.

I would also like to thank Richa from Good Food For Good who provided the sauce that I used to make the Spicy Carrot soup.  I used the Chiltomate or now known as the Tacos sauce.  She was also in attendance at the event to provide support and speak about her line of sauces.

Fresh City Farms also helped out with fresh vegetables for the recipes and also gave me vegetables that I used for our group photo and I donated the rest to fellow Ambassador Dorothy Pang's Cooking Challenge.  They also provided 2 Gift Certificates for 1 Fresh City Farms bag of groceries to get a couple of lucky people started with their delivery program of fresh local foods.

I also want to thank Aroma Espresso Bar who donated gift cards to some lucky attendees so they could try some of their fresh healthy foods.

Jennifer from Pluck Teas also sent over a last minute bag of AFTER EIGHT teas for guest to sample during my event.

And A.Vogel Canada who provided Sprouter kits to all of the Ambassadors across Canada.  My sprouter arrived after my event so I am going to be doing a giveaway for one of them soon.

I want to thank everyone that attended.  The feedback from everyone has been great and a few people have already made a couple of things at their homes.

And Congratulations to the Winners of the 2 Gift Baskets.  Leo(I think on left and Fabian on the right).

Thank you to everyone that contributed in some way to make this a fun event and to everyone that came to participate I hope that it was inspiring and fun and everyone comes back again next year.

Photo credit for all of the above photos by Alex Tsang.  Thank you Alex for the great pics.

Food Revolution Day Cooking Demo at Hendrix Toronto

FOOD REVOLUTION DAY COOKING DEMO 

Photos credit: Linda Matarasso & @hypebelly

Food Revolution Day around the world happened on May 15th but on May 16th I hosted my FOOD REVOLUTION DAY Wonky Veg Cooking Demo at Hendrix Restaraurant Supplies & Equipment's brand new Showroom space in North York.

The Hendrix staff were amazing to work with.  I spoke to Alissa who organized things with me at least once a day for a couple of months to get things organized.  On the day before while I was in the store to drop off some things I mentioned to the manager Chip that it would be great to have big signs pointing to the store.  He said "I think we might be able to work that out" and the next morning there was a huge sign in the entrance that they took outside.  I also talked to another staff member Alex about the beverage station and she mentioned that Jennifer from Pluck Teas might be interested in providing teas to the attendees and poof a bag of After Eight teas was promptly sent over that evening.  Another staff member drew a fun chalkboard sandwich board to welcome people into the store.  Everyone really pitched in to make all the little details great.  Hendrix even offered up a $20 coupon for people that spent over $50 during the event.

When people arrived at the event they were greeted by my friends Lisa and Martina who are my volunteer pals from the Toronto Film Festival.  We are experts in greeting people as we have been a team for years so I knew that they would know what to do when people arrived.  When people arrived they collected their Eventbrite registrations for a ballot or were given a ballot to fill out.  If there were kids they were given Sobeys aprons and a cookbook by Sarah Elton called Starting from Scratch and they were also given fun straws, measuring spoons and fun things to use in photos. 

Once in the store they were able to have a tea or some iced flavoured water with fresh mint and lemon and lime and I think the staff were also making coffees on demand.  They then had a bit of time to stroll around the showroom and see all the great things before settling in for my demo.

photo credit: @hypebelly

I took over their shiny new test kitchen to grill up a lot of vegetables and we mixed up batches of fresh pita dough that we grilled on flat grills and Lodge cast iron grills.  Whatever hot surface we could use we had food cooking on it.   I also had a huge stock pot with carrots boiling for a spicy carrot soup with the flavouring from Good Food For Good's Taco sauce.  I hoped to use some crazy looking vegetables but all of the vegetables I got from Fresh City Farms and Sobeys looked perfect so it was more of a demo in options of how you could make the vegetables your own.  

I had assistance in the kitchen from 2 food bloggers.  Susan Ng is a food blogger who's blog is Susanssavourit.  She is also a Food Revolution Super Ambassador for Canada.  Susan whipped up 9 batches of my pita dough recipe on 2 kitchenaid mixers to feed everyone and grilled most of the vegetables.  Susan was my right hand while food blogger Jenny Roger of Ice cream and knishes blog was my left hand prepping all the vegetables for grilling and the citrus for the flavoured water.  She started as a novice on the Mandolin and became an expert at it after loads of slicing.

Photo credit: @toongrrl & hypebelly

Since I was buzzing around trying to organize everything and then doing the actual demo of how to make pickled onions, the carrot soup and the pita dough from scratch I needed lots of extra hands in the kitchen to make enough food so that everyone could taste the food.  I was expecting over 80 people to attend and was planning on cutting things up into small samples but because people these days don't bother showing up to things the people that did attend were able to have a full buffet style sandwich and soup.  We set up all the pitas and the different vegetables along with a tahini sauce, mint yoghurt sauce, parmesan cheese and crumbled feta and the pickled onions and some fresh mint too.  They were able to customize their pita sandwiches according to their own preferences.  That way people who were gluten intolerant or lactose intolerant or just didn't like certain things could still try whatever they liked.  I think it ended up being a good thing because we were able to have people participate in a more interactive way and get to know people better at the same time while saving us a lot of time assembling the sandwiches.  We only had from noon to 3pm to demo the food and have everyone try it.   I also gave everyone a chance to get their hands dirty by setting up the tables to roll out individual pitas which they were then able to bring home to try and cook them up at home on their own.

Photo credit: Susan Ng

After everyone had a chance to sample all of the food then we started the prize draws at 3pm.  I had 2 large prizes that included a Jamie Oliver cookbook, Sobeys gift card, apron, pens and note pads,  Aroma Espresso Gift Card, Uber Card,  and a free bag of food from Fresh City Farms. 

At the event I explained what Food Revolution Day was all about and encouraged people to go to Change.org/JamieOliver to sign the petition for food education and also go to www.foodrevolutionday.com website to see how they can get more involved.

Everyone had a great time and a couple of people bought some of the tools I used to make the food so I hope they try my recipes at home a lot.  I tried to choose recipes that were simple but you could customize them to make them really interesting.  Simple ingredients anyone can get anywhere.  The only thing I used that they might have to look for at certain supermarkets was the Good Food For Good sauces but I used those as a time saver for people that don't have time to spend developing flavours when making soups or other things.  Richa does the slow cooking for you so you have more time for other things.  All of the feedback that I got was great, they loved the food, they were surprised at foods they thought they didn't like and loved the Hendrix store space and kitchen and I even got feedback on how informative I was which was really great to hear.

So although I was totally exhausted and had to stop for a few minutes while cleaning up it was a very successful event overall.   Thanks to all of the great sponsors who chipped into make this event a reality and a fun day.

photo credit: Sue Kurtz

There are more photos to come from my awesome photographer friend Alex @hypebelly but for now this is a compilation from photos from what I could take and from my friends that participated.

Northview Hts Squashed it for Food Revolution Day

This week was a flurry of activities all leading up to FOOD REVOLUTION DAY on May 15, 2015.

All over the world people were hosting or attending all kinds of Food Revolution Day events.  

On this day I headed back to my Grade 13 High School  - Northview Heights Secondary School for my pal and fellow Ambassador' Susan Ng's huge event with about 1200 kids either in the cafeteria, the gym, and patched in from other classes and schools.  We were in the Cafeteria with about 500 kids and a group of kids from Wilmington P.S. who were probably the most excited about the whole thing.

Other Ambassadors on hand to support Susan were Mary Catherine Anderson and Mardi Michels.  We were assigned to try and capture the events and for support for Susan.  Unfortunately we weren't able to capture the faces of the kids so I can't show you how excited some of the kids were.

They had set up a video conference system to patch in the other classes and also a feed to speak with Jamie Oliver in London.  Unfortunately there was only a couple of minutes to speak to Jamie and the audio wasn't working so all he could do was wave to all of us while he watched Susan holding the microphone and frozen.  Sadly we weren't able to speak to Jamie but at least he could see us and gave us a big wave.

The whole cafeteria was a flurry of vegetable smashing though as the kids were set up at different tables and given ziploc bags filled with vegetables to smash for Jamie's Food Revolution Day Squash It Sandwich.  It's a sandwich of various vegetables like cauliflower, red peppers, and whatever you have on hand and bashed up into little bits and then put onto a multigrain bun that is spread with hummus on one side of the bun and a ricotta or other type of creamy cheese on the other side and the vegetables in the middle.  The hummus helps the vegetables stick on the bun.

As you can see from the photo above the kids were given step by step instructions on how to assemble the sandwiches.   After all that smashing and assembling they got to eat the sandwiches.  They all seemed to like the sandwiches because all that was left were little bits of vegetables that had fallen out of the buns.

Other than the technical problems it was a very successful event.  I don't think Susan expected it to be as big of an event as it turned into.  She certainly didn't know that Jamie was going to be doing a video conference in.  The school board members were very excited about the event and their teacher Dimitra was so excited that she couldn't stop hugging all of us.  We were just there to facilitate,  Susan and the school really did all the work and of course the students participation.  

I hope that it translates into the kids taking it home and telling their parents they want to make it at home or if the kids are ever left on their own they will remember that they can make it themselves and always be in control of what they eat.

We will see in the future how this vegetable smashing event inspires them in different ways.  I hope we see future chefs or food advocates in the future.

Great job Susan!

You can read more about Susan on her blog Susans savour it http://susanssavourit.blogspot.ca/

Food Revolution Day Squash It Sandwich Recipe

Want to participate in a FOOD REVOLUTION DAY 2015 activity but don't have any in your area?

You can make this official Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day 2015 recipe with your kids or your friends and family or even your co-workers.

There are a lot of ingredients but if you can't get them you can substitute what you can find or like as long as you stick to things that can be eaten raw because this recipe doesn't require any cooking but you might want to pick up a rolling pin or a tenderizing mallet to let loose on these tea towel covered vegetables.  Kids will love bashing their veggies and adults might like letting out their frustrations on the little wrapped up package of vegetables by pounding the heck out of them.

If you decide to make them for yourself or with anyone else don't forget to take some selfies and tag them #FOODREVOLUTIONDAY so that we can see you participating in this Global initiative.

While the food bashing may be fun it's meant to be a metaphor for #Fighting for Food Education this year's theme.  Jamie Oliver is on a mission this year to get G20 governments to make a change in the school system that will have a ripple effect on generations to come.  

So do your part and make the sandwich on May 15, 2015 and Sign Jamie Oliver's PETITION on www.change.org/JamieOliver   Sign It and Share It.  and don't forget to take some selfies of you doing it so we can count all the people participating in the World.

Follow the Toronto Teams Tweets and Instagram posts at #foodrevTO

Because I am hosting an event at Hendrix Restaurant Supply store I chose some of my own recipes instead of the Squash It sandwich because it requires pounding on things and my venue is a brand new Test Kitchen.  I will have another post with those recipes available on May 16th so you can try them if you can't attend my event.  But for now SQUASH away.

You can download the Recipe by clicking on this link:

Squash It Sandwich -Food Revolution

http://www.foodrevolutionday.com

Help Jamie Oliver and WIN!

This is my 4th year being a part of Food Revolution Day and participating by hosting events and spreading the word.  Food Revolution Day events are happening all over the world this week leading up to Food Revolution Day on May 15th.   I am hosting my event the day after Food Revolution Day and it's already SOLD OUT!  I will have over 80 people attending my event but there are larger and smaller events happening everywhere.

This year Jamie Oliver is on a mission to get everyone to sign his PETITION to get G20 leaders to put Food Education on the curriculums of schools all around the Globe.

I have signed the petition.  Have you?  Please SIGN IT and SHARE IT and help Jamie reach a MILLION signatures before Food Revolution Day on May 15th.   www.change.org/jamieoliver

What's in it for you?  Well you can help future generations live in a world without kids having Type 2 diabetes because of their diets.  You can help future generations live healthy and productive lives and not drain health care costs to society.

Just to make it worthwhile for you if you SIGN the PETITION and SHARE IT.

Take a selfie like this or one at an Aroma Espresso Bar in Canada and tag me on Twitter & Instagram @lindamatarasso and HASHTAG it #FoodRevFoodie 

Thank @aromaespresso on twitter and  @aromaespressobar on Instagram and say hello to my great sponsor partner.

I will pick ONE person with the best photo to WIN an AROMA ESPRESSO GIFT CARD for $10

You have until MAY 15th!

The WINNER will be notified on MAY 17, 2015 through social media

(no purchase necessary)

Aroma Espresso Bar is supporting #Foodrevolutionday with this special offer.  

Drop into any Aroma in Canada and order this special DOUBLEUP combo.

www.foodrevolutionday.com

A letter from Jamie Oliver

A Letter from Jamie Oliver

Sign the petition at: https://www.change.org/jamieoliver

As you may know, recently I launched a global petition to fight for compulsory, practical food education for all children in schools across the world.  Within a month, we had well over 700,000 signatures but now I really need your help to get more.  

I profoundly believe that it is every child’s human right to have access to food education from a young age. It’s only with this knowledge and understanding of food, where it comes from, how it affects their bodies, and how to grow, cook and enjoy it, that we will be able to fix the terrible state of global health as it stands today.

To give you just one stat, according to the World Health Organisation, 42 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese around the world in 2013.  Under the age of five.  Something is seriously wrong with our relationship with food and we need to act now before our health services around the world become overwhelmed by the effects of preventable

diet-related disease.

I really need as many people as possible in every country to sign this petition and share it with their friends all over the world. With enough support, we can create a movement that’s powerful enough to force governments everywhere - including yours - to take action in the fight against diet-related diseases, and I really believe this is possible.

We’re lucky today that we can harness the power of technology like this to make our voices heard easily, instantly and ultimately, with impact. In 2014, my annual day of action, Food Revolution Day, created more than 1.4 billion impressions on Twitter in under 24 hours, all centred around the importance of food education, so I know you guys care.

Quite simply, I believe that signing this petition is the first step in changing the world. That’s a bold statement I know, but I’m confident that by harnessing our unified, global voice, we have the power to shape the future.

Let’s look at what I’m dreaming of here – it’s really not rocket science. I simply want every child to plant seeds, to witness food growing, to tend to it, nurture it, harvest it, have fun cooking it, and most importantly, to enjoy eating it and sharing it with the people they love. This is absolutely the heart of the solution – food education is a complete necessity in reversing the poor health of future generations.

Think about it, any school subject can be taught through food – weighing ingredients in maths, planting and growing in biology, provenance in geography. I’m talking about an understanding of food that should instinctively and naturally be part of every day life, so it carries across the core subjects and can be easily embraced to widen that level of knowledge. 

Already, there have been hugely positive steps in the right direction – last September, the government in the UK implemented the School Food Plan making food education compulsory in schools across England. And we’re not alone – Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden are all applying similar strategies. But there are so many more countries where we must drive change.. 

Here’s why this petition will work – people power. You really can’t underestimate it. Over the years, I’ve worked with many leaders and politicians, and the one thing they’ve all consistently voiced is that if we demand change, they’ll action it, and that’s exactly what we did 10 years ago in the UK for my School Dinners petition. The campaign felt fruitless at the start but we put school food firmly under the spotlight, we were successful in getting new money put into schools and there’s been radical transformation across the whole system, with many schools going above and beyond what I ever thought possible. That’s people power for you, pure and simple.

I’m privileged in my position that I can reach a wide audience easily, and that’s why 30 seconds of your time to sign this petition will allow me to spread this fight even further, to get food education onto the upcoming G20 agenda and, from there, to all corners of the world. Good health, happiness and well-being should be our priority as individuals, no matter where you live and what stage of life you’re at.

Over the past 15 years I’ve consistently, and often successfully, campaigned for better public health, so please trust me when I say that with your help, we can make a profound difference. Please sign and share the petition with everyone you know today, and together let’s change the world. We need to arm our children with the life skills they so urgently need to lead healthier, happier, more productive lives.  I’m optimistic for our children’s future.

 

Jamie Oliver – April 2015