Jamie Oliver’s strong message to Aussie parents: ‘if you can cook, you’ve got a choice’

Superstar chef Jamie Oliver has issued a message to Australian parents and governments, while offering a simple solution to the cost of living crisis.

Superstar chef Jamie Oliver says Australians should introduce mandatory cooking into school curriculums.

Announcing his Food Hero Awards are coming to Australia, the British chef told The Daily Telegraph “Learning how to cook for yourself and leave at 16 knowing that no matter what life throws at you, you can nourish yourself and your future family is a superpower”.

“Every logical Aussie and certainly Aussie parent, I am pretty confident if you had a magic wand you would wish that every 16-year-old Aussie would leave school knowing how to cook 10 recipes to save their life. Why? Because whether they are rich or poor, they can still have the joy of nourishment … whether you’ve got money in your wallet or not, if you can cook, you’ve got choice. If you are poor and you can’t cook, chaos ensues and that ensues in many different ways, of course it is obesity and diet related disease, pressure on the health system, early mortality, lower pay, more absenteeism.”

Jamie Oliver will launch the Food Hero Awards in Australia.

Oliver continued: “Unhealthy populations is not good for Australia’s GDP. And also, life skills often get kicked to the kerb so often there’s bits in syllabus but it is normally not powered like the sciences and maths and it is not checked on.”

Oliver, 49, is himself a father of five.

He has held the Food Hero Awards for two years previously in the UK and said Australia was the obvious progression to go international with the concept.

The Daily Telegraph and taste.com.au are official partners on the awards that will celebrate the amazing individuals, community groups and schools that make sure our children are well nourished and supported.

“In a world where we can hear a lot of bad news, this is stuff that makes the hairs on the back of your neck go up, it is the stuff that makes you sincerely want to shed a tear of joy,” Oliver said.

Jamie Oliver in his latest cooking series.

“What we’ve learnt this last couple of years is we always talk about big problems and big numbers and top line, but this is really under the skin in the woods and often hundreds of people as opposed to tens of thousands.”

There are five award categories – Food For Movement, Community of School Food Champion, Food Entrepreneur of the Year, Food Educator of the Year and Food Kindness Award. Entries are open now with the ceremony to be held onboard Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas in Sydney on November 13.

Jamie Oliver’s loving tribute to Melbourne and MasterChef. Picture: Facebook

Oliver acknowledged the cost of living crisis is impacting people globally but has offered a simple solution to help.

“You can cook delicious food on really low budgets but you do have to cook,” he said.

“That’s why if you are poor and you can’t cook, you are in trouble. The most inspiring food that I’ve ever seen in my life has been from very poor communities in countries that cook.

“If you can cook, you can cook extraordinary things if you can duck and dive around the seasons, around what is being reduced in price, the rhythm of the markets and the supermarkets. Most importantly, it is surprising how many people don’t cook.”

Oliver noted it was an unprecedented time where people had too many choices.

“It is a really good life skill to cook,” he said.

“You can save money if you cook. You can guarantee nutrition if you cook. Even if you season really well, you are going to put much less salt in than something that is highly processed. What has happened in the last 35 years isn’t luck, it is just mass production. It is holding on to cooking, holding on to a sense of where food comes from and making sure you don’t get too far away from the mud.”