Jamie Oliver Is Horrified by the Kids' Brown Bag Lunches

Friday night was the finale of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution six-episode run on ABC. And ugh, it got beaten nearly two-to-one by some murder episode of Dateline NBC. So in this clip, after being away from Huntington, West Virginia for three months, the programs he had installed started to run off the rails, what with "Processed Food Friday" to get rid of leftover frozen foods and the parents packing some insanely unhealthy meals.

Children were complaining about the "squash and stuff" the cafeterias were serving, so parents were making them brown bag lunches, loaded with junk food. Jamie Oliver is terrified by what he finds the brown bag lunches, which the kids are allowed to eat even if they don't meet any nutritional standards. Says Oliver:

That is not a lunch. Potato chips, potato chips, and candy. If she had that lunch every school day of her life, that's child abuse. At the moment we've got parents betraying this energy and love and care and effort going into the fresh food.... by giving their precious little kids lunch boxes completely barren of any decent nutrition.

As the finale of the season, the episode felt... rushed? Rascal Flatts and a Boot Camp and a check from the local hospital were all positive directions, but it seemed like at every step, either government regulations, mid-level bureaucrats, or oblivious parents got in the way. You can only be impressed that Jamie Oliver can keep fighting the good fight after seeing that insane lunch of candy and potato chips and not completely lose his mind. In some cases the desire for change is there for change, and there's a momentum that Jamie Oliver building, and he just can't be stopped. No matter what, Jamie Oliver will save the world.

Video: Brown Bag Lunches