A Letter from Jamie Oliver
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
