Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution – Season 2 Episode 3 – Where Food Comes From

Finally after a long hiatus, a new episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution aired this evening. And there is a lot to talk about from it, especially on the topic of knowing where food comes from. The show began with Jamie once again visiting Dino at Patra's Burgers. This time Jamie has an offer for Dino. We is willing to help provide $30,000-$40,000 in new equipment as well as some free advertising via Ryan Seacrest's radio show. All Dino had to do was change the beef in his burgers to the one Jamie was using for his Revolution Burgers. With Jamie's beef we know everything about where it comes from. With Dino's beef we know nothing. Dino was not interested at first. He seemed to be scared that making a change would cost him his business. But after using Jamie's beef in one of his burgers and having his cook taste it, he decided to give it a try. Naturally the radio interview brought big business that night to Patra's. His concern is that it months down the road things will die back down and he will be just paying more money for his beef. Hopefully this won't happen and he will stick to the better beef.

The second story of this episode was Jamie's work with the high school students. He got them to cook lunch for a little over 100 students, a lunch that included mac & cheese featuring whole wheat pasta, fresh fruit, and fresh chicken. Due to union regulations, Jamie and his students could not serve more students. While the union was meant to protect jobs, in this case it is doing so at the cost of the quality of food in the school.

During the 1st season, Jamie conducted a test with elementary school students on where their food comes from. He decided to give a similar test to high school students. He was stunned by the results. Here are some things that at least one student (if not more) believed was true:

1. Butter is made from sweet corn.
2. Corn dogs grow on a plant.
3. Chocolate comes from a cocoa lake.
4. Honey is made by bears.
5. Guacamole is made from apples.
6. Cheese comes from macaroni (a cow was given as a choice)

How sad that some high school students don't even know the basics of where their food comes from. Jamie doesn't blame the school. They are a good academic school. It's our society that has failed to teach our kids about food.

Back in the first episode of the season, Jamie demonstrates what pink slime is. He comes up with another demonstration that really drives a point home with the kids. He first offers a class some sundaes with all sorts of toppings, like sprinkles, syrup, and candies - all the traditional toppings. He then shows them what some of the ingredients in those toppings are:

1) Shellac (pronounced like shelack) - This is made from the secretions of the female lac bug. It is used to make candies look shiny.
2) L-Cysteine - This is derived from duck feathers or human hair. It is used as a dough conditioner. It keeps dough nice and soft. It was in the cookie dough ice cream.

So to make his sundae more realistic, Jamie dumps female lac bugs, duck feathers, and human hair on his sundae. How disgusting! He is showing what is truly in the food that they are eating. I bet this is a lesson those kids will never forget.

I hope this episode inspires you to explore where you food comes from. I recently wrote about a website (Real Time Farms) that is on a mission to show the public where their food comes from, down to the actual land it came from.

After each new episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, I will write on topics related to the show. Like my Facebook page to be notified when the posts appear as well other exciting topics.