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JAMIE OLIVER'S FOOD REVOLUTION DAY- May 17, 2013

Getting caught up in all the busyness of life means I tend to blog “retroactively”, but I aim to change this so that I can share about certain things (such as coming events) in good time. So, with less than 2 weeks to go, I thought it apt I write a little about Food Revolution Day, the face of which is none other than Jamie Oliver.

I recently connected with Jamie’s Facebook page and caught wind of the event. So what exactly is it all about? Rather than paraphrasing, I have copied the following from the Food Revolution Day Activity Pack:

“FOOD REVOLUTION DAY 2013: IN A NUTSHELL

WHAT: Food Revolution Day is a global day of action for people everywhere to celebrate real food, where it comes from and how to cook it. It’s a day to come together to keep these cooking skills alive, improve our food knowledge and share it with others.

WHY: Learning how to cook is one of the most valuable skills you can ever learn. These skills used to be passed down from generation to generation, but now millions of people lack even the most basic skills– as a result, it’s costing millions of lives and billions of pounds to cope with the increase in diet-related diseases. We need to get back to basics and share our cooking skills and knowledge so everyone has access to good, nutritious food made from scratch.

HOW: COOK IT. SHARE IT. Getting involved is as simple as making a home-cooked dinner for family and friends, teaching someone how to cook, sharing a favourite recipe or committing to buying local, fresh ingredients. If you want to join our global day of action, visit www.foodrevolutionday.com and find an activity in your area. Whoever you are and wherever you are, it’s easy to get involved.”

Some of you may recall that I started a crafting circle last year in advance of Thanksgiving (having no clue how to host a crafting circle nor celebrate Thanksgiving as both were completely foreign to me!). Well, this year I have decided to change things up a little bit. Inspired by Food Revolution, the crafting circle has morphed into a kind of foodie club. No doubt we’ll have some crafting days too, but for now we are focusing on food. And the kick-off for the newly revamped club is our own private Food Revolution event. You might be lucky enough to live in an area where a large public event is taking place (such as the one in London, featuring a cooking demo by Jamie himself), but if you don’t, no worries! Just think of a food-related activity you’d like to do and invite your friends to join you. There are loads of ideas on the Food Revolution site, but I chose to come up with my own and then run it past my friends (who all liked the suggestions). On May 18 we will be starting with an outing to a “pick-your-own” farm outside of town where we’ll eat an early lunch together and, for an extra dose of inspiration, check out the produce in the farm shop. Then we’ll head back to my place for an afternoon of cooking activities with a “Food for Jars” theme. We’ll be making a simple lemon curd, a tomato sauce and infused olive oil, all of which we’ll split, so that everyone will be taking home their own jars full of versatile yumminess… just in time for picnic season ;).

I am taking Food Revolution Day event hosting a step further and will be involving my husband and his work team colleagues in an activity too! I will be doing a cupcake decorating mini workshop with them at my husbands office on May 17. I am slightly nervous about it, as I suggested doing it before I’d really had a chance to think about the implications/logistics (I will have a 3 month-old baby with me for one thing!). I also have yet to decide upon a theme, but I am thinking vegan cupcakes might be something a little different.

One of the things that really appeals to me about Food Revolution Day is the opportunity not only to share food-related fun and knowledge with friends and family, but also to raise money and awareness. At both of the events I am hosting I will be collecting small contributions that will go directly to my chosen cause (The Good Foundation).

“The main aim of Food Revolution Day is to raise awareness on behalf of Jamie’s charities and partners. For those who can and would like to fundraise, a £1 donation will support one of our cooking programmes to give children and adults essential cooking skills for life. Jamie Oliver’s foundations are based in the UK and the US, and work in partnership with partners in Australia working globally to bring the power of food skills to life. In a nutshell, we believe that food skills are among the most valuable things you can ever learn. Every child should learn about food, where it comes from and how it affects their bodies. And everyone should be able to learn lost or forgotten food skills whether at home, at school, at work or in the community. 100% of net funds raised through Food Revolution Day 2013 will go to food-education projects.” 

Click here to go to the Food Revolution Activity Search page to see if there’s an event taking place near you… or to sign up to host your own event. And for some ideas and more info about Food Revolution Day, click on the image below to download your free copy of the FREE Food Revolution Day Activity Pack:
 

MissMarzipan_#FRD2013

I do hope you’ll join me (and thousands of others) in taking part and having some food-related fun! 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. How exciting to be part of the big food revolution!! Hope your workshop is a hit! We loved watching Jamie Oliver’s t.v. food makeover shows here a couple years ago. Would love to hear how it all goes…

    • Thank so much, Rhonda! We are big Jamie fans here too… love what he does to promote real food, good produce and home cooking!

  4. Thanks for sharing! I hadn’t even heard of Food Revolution day. Your crafting circle / foodie club excursion sounds like so much fun! (I can’t wait for the weather to warm up more here and the farms to start opening up for picking.) The fact that you are able to pull together and participate in events like this, while having an infant and family is inspiring / nuts 😛 It makes me want to do more.

    • Haha- yes, perhaps more nuts than inspiring? 😉 But many thanks 🙂 The weather here is still chilly (there are still patches of snow around), so I doubt we’ll be picking anything ourselves, but I hope to go back there again for that purpose in summer 🙂 I hadn’t heard of Food Revolution Day until recently myself, but thought it would be worth participating and sharing about as it really struck a chord with me. All the best! 🙂

  6. Both the Food Revolution and your workshop are exciting! I was doing educational consulting shortly after my son was born and had him with me in a carrier seat. As long as I timed feeding correctly, it went well. He wasn’t running around yet. 🙂 I am sure your little Cupcake will be accommodating. 🙂 Good luck!

  7. So great that you’re doing this! I love your idea. I am a little ashamed to admit that I’m subscribed to the Food Revolution email list, but I’ve never actually participated in any events. Now I want to get involved! : )

    • Oh, I hope you will! Would be lovely to hear what you get up to… do let me know if you decide to hold an event or attend one 🙂

  9. You have some lovely activities planned. It really amazes me how cooking skills have been lost so rapidly. Older cook books have delightful instructions like ‘bake in the usual manner’ as if everyone should know what is the usual manner. Today we need detailed instructions like the ones on tin cans saying “Warning, edges may be sharp”!!!!!

    • Right? It’s worrying! I have become obsessed with River Cottage for this very reason… we (in the West) are so out of touch with where food comes from and how to prepare it 🙁 I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking that fruit comes cut up in little plastic packages or meat grows in styrofoam strays in supermarket fridges. And I hope that they’ll develop a love of all things lovingly made at home 🙂

  13. New mommy and hosting a class (as well as blogging and the zillion other things I’m sure you do)? So ambitious! I hadn’t heard of the Food Revolution either. That and the Craft/ Food Circle sound great.

    • Thank you so much! I truly only do what I feel I can manage and what works for all of us :)… Are you going to do anything for FRD? If so, do let me know 🙂 And all the best to you!

    • Thanks so much! Yep, we’re all Jamie Oliver fans here too. My toddler made up a song about Jamie tonight and was signing it at dinner!! 😀

  16. This is AWE.SOME! I love everything about this — the food revolution, the foodie circle event, raising money for great causes…all of it! I’m excited to hear more about your events as they happen and now I’m off to go check out the Food Revolution Day page myself! 🙂
    Kenley

    • Thanks so much, Kenley! Really sweet of you! And I am so happy that you like the idea of Food Revolution day too 🙂 Do let me know if you participate! x

  17. WOW! and thank you for sharing this with us, just found out about this through Kenley’s blog “green door hospitality” 🙂 and of course wow to you on your cupcake decorating mini workshop; would’ve love being there; sounds so fun! 🙂
    btw, I don’t receive any new e-mails from your posts even if I’m following you through wordpress. It’s weird! 😉

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