GD QuickRant: Healthy Kids vs. Junk Food: This is America, so Obviously Junk Food Wins

Gear Diary is reader-supported. When you buy through links posted on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. You can learn more by clicking here.

Apparently the Revolution WON’T Be Televised …

Last week I wrote about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, and while I took some issue with his cost models and plans for implementation, I agreed with his core point: our country is rapidly becoming ‘the land of the morbidly obese’, and rather than worrying about ‘long form birth certificates’ or who won celebrity whatever, we should get up off our butts and DO something about it!

So what should we do about it? Apparently the answer is that school districts will learn to shut Oliver out, and his response to the lock-out will make for bad TV, and so the ABC network will see viewership drop and yank the show … probably to replace it with some reality show that exploits teenagers since that is all the rage. Or the huge agro-businesses making profits selling schools low-cost prefab foods put loads of pressure on ABC?

According to this report from the Hollywood Reporter:

ABC has pulled the the Ryan Seacrest-produced reality series, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, from the schedule during May sweeps.

The show, which follows Oliver as he tries to change the way kids and adults eat at home and in school, will air its four remaining episodes beginning Friday, June 3 at 9 p.m.

Food Revolution has dropped in the ratings in its second season, with the premiere slipping nearly 40 percent from last year’s series debut.

As I said, I have some issues with Oliver’s math when it comes to cost models – but not with the basic idea that our kids are obese and the eating habits just keep getting worse and worse and worse. Feeding our kids junk is a HUGE industry that has no problem stomping and steamrolling whatever gets in their way – including the kids. We are truly living through the beginnings Idiocracy (even if I thought that movie was crap).

Perhaps I should be wearing a tin-foil hat for this, but I believe that with Season #2 Jamie’s Food Revolution was set up to fail. If I wasn’t on the mailing list I would have had no idea the show was returning – it came back on April 12th (not mid-season, not summer … just kinda ‘whenever’) with VERY little advertisement at a different day and time from last year.

After a second episode aired it was then pre-empted without warning (i.e. it appeared in my newspaper but not that night) two weeks in a row. In other words – it was a mess.

Yet it is clear that there is interest – thousands of people emailing in LA alone, hundreds of thousands of people across the country involved. But that interest – and the associated demands for change – will undoubtedly wane when the pressure and spotlight is off, and folks can go back to ‘the good old days’ or flavored milk and packing their kids a lunch of chips, brownies and soda.

In a week where there is so much jingoistic blood-lust over Osama Bin Laden, let us remember that the effects of our out of control food obsession kill more kids every year than terrorism EVER will, and that the money we saved in medical costs dealing with the after-effects of this health crisis could pay for whatever increased food costs. But that doesn’t matter to most people …

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

3 Comments on "GD QuickRant: Healthy Kids vs. Junk Food: This is America, so Obviously Junk Food Wins"

  1. Agreed! It’s way too easy to use junk as filler, and aside from shows like “The Biggest Loser” (which honestly hides how they get contestants to lose weight and promotes foods that the trainers don’t support), there’s not nearly enough public awareness about it.

    I was just reading yesterday that with the increase in food costs, more companies are using cellulose (wood pulp) in place of flour and oil in processed foods…eww. I know the next time I have the urge to eat a bag of chips or a cookie I’m going to be thinking about wood filler and splinters. It’s a sad state that not only do we not eat right or exercise enough, we also don’t even eat real food anymore!

Comments are closed.