"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" Episode 2 Review: Jamie and the Show Make Progress

Before I dive into the second episode of “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” let me go back to the first one for a second…

Some of the comments on my review of the first episode kind of surprised me. Most of them hailed Jamie as Huntington’s savior and blasted the cooks and Rod Willis for giving him such a hard time. Some of them even attacked me for hailing Huntington and calling Central City Elementary cook Alice Gue my hero.

I love your comments, so please keep them coming, but let me make a few more of my own…

First of all, let me say that I fully support what Jamie is trying to do. We all need to eat healthier, so I appreciate him wanting to start with kids.

Second of all, let me remind you that this is a TV show. So there is some dramatic license here as Rod is definitely playing up the animosity.

Third, let me say that Alice is still my hero. Yes, she gave Jamie attitude, but not because she doesn’t care about the kids eating healthy. She gave Jamie attitude because he came in and stuck his nose in the air to everything she and her colleagues were doing. And she wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. Watching for a second time her and her fellow cooks confronting Jamie about his comments to a London radio station just confirmed my original assessment.

Now to episode two…

Looking at it as just a television show, I thought this episode was a huge improvement over the first one. It was paced beautifully and there was a good mix of humor and drama.

The heart of the episode was the story of the Edwards family. Sensing that they had not been using his recipes, Jamie took the family to Cabell Huntington Hospital where the doctor told 6th grader Justin that he was showing the early signs of diabetes. The family anxiously waiting for Justin’s diabetes test results was milked for dramatic effect, but it certainly drove the point home for all of us. You couldn’t help but cheer for dad Tim when he vowed the whole family would change to help Justin.

I was also completely sucked into the drama of the discussion as to whether or not the elementary school kids should have knives. I’m honestly not sure where I come down on that one, but watching the kids scarily struggle to use them I can see the school’s argument.

Jamie’s struggles were illustrated humorously—and rather disgustingly—when he tried to gross the kids out of eating chicken nuggets. But he was completely defeated when the kids still wanted to eat them. So he wisely did a similar trick with the parents and they were justifiably horrified. Jamie made other progress with the school administrators, the cooks, the kids themselves, and even Rod—but just a little bit.

However, Jamie didn’t make any progress at all with Alice, who continued to hold her ground with him. I’m a little concerned, though, about her comment that she’s there for the money but she does care about the kids. I appreciate her candor, but I’m afraid that’s going to just give her detractors more ammunition against her.

Next week, Jamie goes to Huntington High School and from the previews it appears that things are about to get really interesting…

So what did you think about the episode? You can post your comments below. I can’t wait to read them…

Photo Credit: Holly Farrell/ABC