Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day Inspires Millions Worldwide to Stand Up for Real Food

LOS ANGELES, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation launches its first-ever Food Revolution Day this Saturday, May 19 to inspire, educate, and empower people everywhere to stand up for real food. The weekend of events will bring together an international community of foodies, chefs, parents, educators, companies, activists and celebrities to arm people with the knowledge and tools to make healthier food choices.

"Somewhere along the line, our relationship with food broke down," said Jamie Oliver. "On May 19, I urge you to stand up for real food and pledge to bring food education back into our schools, workplaces and communities. Host a dinner party or sign up for one of the great events happening across the world. Cooking with real ingredients, understanding where food comes from and passing along that knowledge will get us back on track."

From chefs in Freetown, Sierra Leone, teaching school children how to cook, to a farmer's market food swap in Boulder, CO, where participants can swap their junk food for real food, to an organic farm tour in Kenai, Alaska, millions of people worldwide will create and participate in events that celebrate, highlight or educate about the wonders of fresh foods.

Food Revolution Day will inspire Americans and people around the world to make small, simple changes that will lead to healthier lives. Recent reports by the Institute of Medicine and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveal that two-thirds of U.S. adults and almost a third of children are either overweight or obese.  It is predicted that by 2030, 42 percent of adult Americans will be obese.

People everywhere can visit foodrevolutionday.com to find and create local food events, sign up to host a dinner party and request to bring food education to their school or workplace. More than 140 cities nationwide from New York and Chicago to Kennesaw, GA, are taking action.  

Notable May 19 events around the country include:

• Through the magic of Google+ Hangouts On Air, anyone from around the world can watch Jamie Oliver host a live dinner party with some lucky fans and supporters in a live, multi-person video conversation. Tune into the broadcast at 8:00 P.M. EDT from Food Revolution's Google+ page. It will also be shown live on the homepage of foodrevolutionday.com AND youtube.com/foodrevolution. 
• The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation's "Big Rig" Teaching Kitchen will roll up to the UCLA Medical Center where Jamie will give a very special cooking lesson to a group of Los Angeles kids from the Boys & Girls Club. This event is hosted by UCLA Medical Center in partnership with the Boy & Girls Clubs of America and the UCLA Health System.
• For a great night out with other like minded food revolutionaries, go to grubwithus.com/foodrevolution to participate in one of 34 social dining fundraisers happening across the US that have been curated with some of America's best restaurants.

Companies, Sports and Celebrities
Food Revolution Day is supported by celebrities including Natalie Portman, Adrian Grenier, Jimmy Kimmel and Cody Simpson; sports leagues, including the NFL, NHL and NBA; and leading companies such as Google, IDEO, The New York Yankees, Salesforce, Spotify and Twitter, who are advocating for fresh, real food, improved workplace nutrition, and better food education for their employees and their communities.

Real Food, Real Partners
Innovative companies and organizations across the globe have pledged time, creativity and resources to Food Revolution Day, including Gidsy, Grubwithus, StayClassy, and StudioGood.

Funds raised through all Food Revolution Day events will go towards Jamie's foundation projects in the UK, U.S. and Australia. In the U.S., funds will go toward launching the "Food Education Box" project in the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Each box will include fruits or vegetables along with a recipe, fun facts and lesson plan to educate kids about cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables, including where they come from and why they are good for you.

One-hundred percent of Food Revolution Day funds raised will go to support food education projects for both children and adults through the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation in the USA, a non-profit, pending 501(c)(3) status, the Jamie Oliver Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales, and in Australia, working with The Good Guys and their charitable arm, The Good Foundation, to facilitate and fund our Ministry of Food project.

About Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver started cooking at his parents' pub, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, at the age of eight.  After being "discovered" by a TV company while working at The River Cafe, his television series and books have inspired millions of people across the world to cook better food using fresh ingredients. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution aired on ABC in spring 2010 and won an Emmy for "Outstanding Reality Program." The second season aired in May 2011 and the corresponding campaign helped removed flavored milk from the nation's second largest school district. He is the author of multiple cookbooks, including The Naked Chef, Jamie's America, and Jamie's Food Revolution. After winning the prestigious TED prize in 2010, Jamie started the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation in the U.S. to educate and inspire Americans about real food. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) will present him with the 2012 Healthy Cup Award in honor of his transformative work on school lunch programs in the United States and the United Kingdom and for the dramatic influence his advocacy has had on public opinion around childhood obesity and the importance of healthy eating. Jamie lives in London and Essex with his wife and four children. 

SOURCE The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation