SALON

Friday, Feb 12, 2010 4:13 PM UTC

Jamie Oliver at TED: Bad food is killing America

Plus: WalMart vs. Whole Foods, "Top Chef Masters," and this week's other must-see food videos

By

Topics: Food Tube, Jamie Oliver, Food,

  • Jamie Oliver was one of the recipients of this year’s TED prizes, which awards $100,000 to “exceptional individuals” with a particular wish or project. Oliver’s award will help him launch his campaign against American obesity (a subject documented in his new reality show, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”). In his TED talk, which just hit the Web, he vividly outlines the dangers that obesity poses for America, explains the need for broader food education in schools, and throws a bunch of sugar on the stage. It’s a lengthy video, but for anybody interested in the debate about American children’s health, it’s a must-see.

  • Bravo released the teaser trailer this week for its second season of “Top Chef Masters” (which includes Kitchen Cabinet member Wylie Dufresne as a competitor). The gist? Expect swearing and “Star Wars” metaphors.

  • The Global Post’s Solana Pyne and Erik German visit a pilot organic farm project in Morocco to see how a first-world luxury food trend has the potential to change the economy and eating habits of the North African nation. Both consumers and farmers agree: It’s a winning strategy.

  • WalMart has recently begun making a name for itself as a purveyor of organic food with the potential to remake American eating habits. The Atlantic’s Corby Kummer visited a WalMart Supercenter to take a closer look at some of its organic produce offerings, and found little difference between the megastore’s selection and Whole Foods’.

  • On a lighter note, Eric Ripert drank himself through his appearance on Jimmy Fallon this week (to promote his new cookbook and PBS show). In his appearance, he tried to show Fallon how to make salmon — while navigating the host’s awkward jokes and slapstick attempts (clearly the challenge of making a cooking segment funny is something that very few late night hosts can pull off successfully, and Fallon is not one of them).

Thomas Rogers

Thomas Rogers is Salon's former Arts Editor. He has written for the Globe & Mail, the Village Voice and other publications. He can be reached at @thomasmaxrogers. More Thomas Rogers.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 9 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations