Huntington Revolution....

Last night, after dinner, SLing, SYuen and myself plonked on our plushed sofa and watched Jamie Oliver Food Revolution - Huntington, West Virginia on Astro Channel 707 [ 7.00pm slot ]. I must say, it was the most wonderful 60 minutes of our lives, actually. I must say that I am really in amazement of what Jamie Oliver is trying to do for the community of Huntington, West Virginia which was deemed by the CDC [ Centres for Disease Control & Prevention ] of US as the nation's unhealthiest people. Gosh! It is really shocking for all of us as we watched the 60 minutes fare. My hats off to Mr. Jamie Oliver!

I guess, I must say that I am so proud of Mr.Jamie Oliver for taking the courage and wanting to make a change in that community. It is really obvious that "change" is the one word that scares a lot of people and it is evidently portrayed by the way Jamie was relentlessly chewed by local disc jockey, Rod 'The Dawg' Willis and one cook, Alice of Central City Elementary School, Huntington.W.V. The show started out with a trip by Jamie to the radio station where he was practically eaten alive by the DJ who sneered at him for his mission. Then, he went to the local church, First Baptist Church of Kenova to see the pastor, Pst. Steve Willis and together, flipping through the book of the church congregation, he was informed that many of the church congregation had died at their prime and it is a saddening fact. If it weren't bad enough, he decided to check out local trucker family and upon asking the wife to prepare the food listed for the entire week, it was obvious that the food spread out on the table was making the entire family members into obese people,man. Seriously, that's a lot of oily stuff and processed food on the table for a family of 5. I was really shocked at what they feed their families especially the fried food stuff. SLing and SYuen cringed at the sight of the food as they beckoned to the corner of the sofa set. After the realisation, Jamie helped the family into getting them to cook fresh food and simple pasta dish. That really touched my heart because you could see that Jamie is really on a mission to help them. Nothing fake nor bollocks about it. It wasn't just a TV reality show but a real genuine effort by a bloke [ celebrity chef ] from England to get the people to eat right. Yeah and why shouldn't he be given the credit for the genuine desires in his heart. I was really moved when I saw this celebrity chef was reduced to tears when his statements in the papers were twisted and made to mock the people of Huntington. Poor fella but I guess, when you have a great heart and a mission to do a change, somehow, the One above would help in a way.

I must say, the greatest shock to us was the food fare fed to the elementary school children during breakfast and lunch. Can you imagine having pizza for breakfast and nuggets for lunch? It was disheartening to see children dumping apples, bread and the good stuff into the bin while stuffing nuggets, pizza and processed food into their tiny stomach! I was really knocked off my socks for that matter. That's day in day out in their school food program! It is no wonder that they get to chose their plots earlier! The other thing is this; the authorities in charge of the school food program are equally cuckoo too,man to serve such food to the children in America!

As Jamie spoke passionately about a change, in this instance, on their food habits, I can't help feeling that changes are difficult for these people and what more for the entire community. But if it is for the good, why not? Yeah, there must be passionate desire to want to change in order for us to succeed. This occasion is no different too in our lives and society today as we face the challenges of todays' living. As I looked into this program, it is a fact that if something had not worked and is the cause of rot and decay in our society today, why can't we make a change, right? Yes, it is always difficult handling a change. Yes, it is also difficult to bear the cold brunt of changes and the awkwardness that comes with it but if we are to live and survive in our harsh realities of today, we have to adapt to changes and changes we must do. This , to me, applies to every level of our living today whether at the people running our country, our government bodies, our work, our religious establishments and even our family lives.

I don't know about you but my Thursday nights at 8.00pm seemed to be more interesting nowadays. Won't you make your Thursday nights interesting and see the show? I bet, you can learn a trick or two when it comes to nutritional food and other items of life which are featured in the show. Don't take my word for it - See it and CHANGE!

BTW, pork is still my staple food! Hahahahahaahahahahahahahhahaaaaaaa...................definitely!