Jamie Oliver: 12 Quotes From The Celebrity Chef You Won't Read in This Week's Cover Story

By Gendy Alimurung Mon., Jun. 20 2011 at 2:50 PM

A. Scattergood

Jamie Oliver

You may have noticed a giant Jamie Oliver-shaped hole in our recent cover story, "Bad Lunch," about school food in Los Angeles. Oliver's antics originally inspired the piece. But we chose instead to focus on the problems inherent within LAUSD's meal program, and on the non-celebrity chef people who are affected by and working to fix the system.

In the process of reporting the story, I actually did sit down several times to interview Oliver. He was charming and passionate and every bit the boyishly handsome devil you've come to know and love/hate.

At one point, we met at Soho House in West Hollywood, a private club on the penthouse level of a building on Sunset Blvd. Oliver had made a corner of this Eden-like space his unofficial offices while he was in LA. From there, he could see the entire city.

Here are a dozen of the best Jamie Oliver quotes you won't read in our cover story. Turn the page.

12. "I reckon I could get in to the head of food service on any Russian cities. I reckon I could get into North Korea inside a week."
--Jamie Oliver on being shut out of LA's public school cafeterias.

11. "I come here to stir the pot, to tell the truth. If I have to work hard in an interview to prove that I mean well, then good. I can't bullshit or lie."
--Jamie Oliver on being Jamie Oliver.

10. "They don't think their voice can contribute to any positive change. I want this show to inspire them to whop the ass out of change."
--Jamie Oliver on the effect he hopes his work will have on the citizens of Los Angeles.

9. "Homicide is 0.8% of deaths. Diet-related disease is over 60%. But no one fucking talks about it."
--Jamie Oliver on why the obesity epidemic isn't going to stop.

8. "I don't care about the show. I'm very philosophical about it. When it's right, it's right. When it's wrong, it's right. This is not a cooking show. Let's be honest, even when I'm doing that, I don't like planning stuff anyway. I'll buy stuff for the day and cook whatever feels right. And people don't like that. That's why I work with people who are more renegade."
--Jamie Oliver on whether or not he was stressed out at not being allowed to film in LAUSD public schools.

7. "I didn't know what I was doing from six hours to the next."
--Jamie Oliver describing his usual process.

6. "As far as I'm concerned, we just made an incredible documentary with big stunts. Why do we do big stunts? Because a lot of the information we work with is bloody boring. And I don't expect any public, let alone the Americans, to be remotely interested."
--Jamie Oliver on documentary stunt-making.

Tags:

Food Revolution, Gendy Alimurung, Jamie Oliver, LAUSD, school lunch, Soho House

We Recommend

Jan Oller

He's an arrogant cunt making a living off of opportunistically exploiting social problems...He cares about the show because he cares about the money. Having a social conscience is an afterthought... If it was about social change and helping people eat better, he could have become an activist instead of a celebrity toting a pet cause for a profit.

Ymlbs

and what are you doing about the problems in the world?

karen

I totally applaud him. He's doing the hard work. He could just rest on his laurels and do upscale projects but he's trying to make changes with the tools he has and we do need that. Every time I pass by obese kids eating processed doods and dirinking soda I appreaciate his efforts and know how desperately we need them.

eaturveggies

He may have his flaws but I don't know of anyone else of his celebrity that is willing to blow the whistle on what we are feeding our kids in school, and not only that but work really hard to make a difference. I applaud him!

Quent Bidwell

What a boringly self-important bullshitter. Somebody large should crack his mirror.

Mirrormirrioronthewall

Your mirror just did! Apparently you don't look in your own mirror, as you are too busy to find fault in others and miss the good, sad.

kathy

Good choice not including him as he really has nothing to say that could actually fix the problem - the problem is endemic to much larger political, governmental, fiscal problems than Mr. Oliver appears to be aware or concerned with...