Jamie Oliver Launching a Big-Ass Food Truck

Here's a photo of Jamie Oliver's new mega-food truck designed pro bono by architect David Rockwell's Rockwell Group. And more than just a food truck slinging tacos, it's actually a "mobile teaching kitchen." It's designed to "create an immediate, unexpected spectacle" at schools, street fairs, and farmers markets in that it can "push out laterally for events" making room for both an "expo kitchen" and eight separate cooking stations. The thing even has an inflatable white bandshell! And before you ask, yes, it has its very own Twitter account.

Also announced: Jamie Oliver partnered with the American Heart Association to open Food Revolution Kitchens with the goal "to have at least five kitchen centers within the next 18 months, with plans underway for New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Baltimore and Dallas."

TED2010 Prize Winner Jamie Oliver: One Year Later, Five Major Announcements

Oliver Unveils Food Truck, Permanent Teaching Kitchens, and Partnerships with the American ?Heart Association & The California Endowment

LONG BEACH, Mar. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- One year after announcing his wish for a strong, sustainable national movement to overcome obesity, TED2010 Prize winner Jamie Oliver returned to the TED stage and announced critical developments to meet his “twenty year vision” of fostering permanent change:
Jamie Oliver and the American Heart Association (AHA) this morning announced the formation of a partnership to open Food Revolution Kitchens – community-based centers where people can learn basic cooking skills and how to prepare affordable, nutritious meals. Their goal is to have at least five kitchen centers within the next 18 months, with plans underway for New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Baltimore and Dallas.
Also unveiled today was the flagship Food Revolution truck – the mobile kitchen classroom Jamie envisioned to spread the grassroots movement. Designed pro bono by the Rockwell Group, the truck will travel to communities to teach kids, parents and professionals about food and cooking.

The truck will be part of a three-part program with the American Heart Association and The California Endowment to bring food education to four underserved communities in Los Angeles (South LA, Boyle Heights, Long Beach and Santa Ana).

“Before I was awarded the TED Prize, my vision for helping Americans learn cooking skills and making the switch to fresh foods wasn’t much more than an idea,” said Jamie Oliver. “But the extraordinary resources and passions of the TED community have made it a real campaign that will make a lasting impact. I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished. Not only do we have a world class mobile teaching kitchen, but with the AHA and TCE partnerships, we are starting to reach communities that we never could have dreamed of. With everyone who has come together through TED, as well as the reach of the ABC show, it will definitely be an enduring campaign that makes real change over the next decade.”

A new community website and on-the-ground activist program also kicks off today: www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com. On this site, parents who want to change school food can download toolkits and participate in seminars and tutorials. People who want to learn to cook can also download recipes and videos. Mapping technology and Facebook will help people find their local allies and get active in their own communities.

“Jamie Oliver is a force to be reckoned with, and combined with the vision and dedication of the TED community, we are on our way to realizing his wish,” said Amy Novogratz, TED Prize Director. “In just one year, we have met benchmarks and exceeded expectations. Together we have built a Food Revolution truck, established critical partnerships, and launched the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation. With growing momentum and support, imagine where we will be in 2012.”

One person can make a difference, but the many people who have come together – and continue to join in Jamie Oliver’s wish – can change the world. Over the last year, members of the TED community and their friends have stood up and contributed to Jamie’s wish, including: Rockwell Group; Mike and Sukey Novogratz; IDEO; Farber Specialty Vehicles; The Groop; Group SJR; Paper Airplane; Nurun; EMG3; American Heart Association; CK&D, a cause marketing and media group; and The California Endowment.

“The American Heart Association has always offered information to consumers,” said American Heart Association President Ralph Sacco, MD. “But we know that to create meaningful changes toward healthy eating we will need inspirational and committed partners, like Jamie Oliver and The California Endowment. We are proud to stand with Jamie to open Food Revolution Kitchens so consumers can learn how to replace an unhealthy diet with healthy, home cooked meals.
“Low-income families across California struggle to access healthy foods in communities where cheeseburgers are plentiful yet fresh produce is either elusive or unaffordable and it’s resulting in an explosion of obesity and type 2 diabetes,” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment. “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution shines a light on this and his community-based approach brings his fresh perspective directly to the people who struggle daily with these issues.”
“We are thrilled to work with Jamie Oliver on the Food Revolution Truck to bring his initiative to underserved communities around the country,” said David Rockwell, founder and CEO of Rockwell Group. “We feel that design plays an important role in sparking children’s imagination, and sending them on the road to a better life.”
"The Groop is honored to lend our user experience and creative talent to such an important movement,” Jose Caballer, Chief Visionary and CCO of the Groop. “Helping facilitate this opportunity for Jamie is a fulfillment of our vision to only work on the biggest challenges we face in sustainability, education, financial literacy and the health of the American people. Plus we are foodies and love cooking and great food."
Jamie Oliver has committed to building this movement for the long term, to see through the change and improvements needed to fight obesity. To drive this effort forward, he has established a U.S. non-profit, the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation (JOFF), to fight obesity and promote better dietary health through food education and cooking skills. The JOFF will drive a social movement for cultural change, advocate for better food choices and integrity through the food chain, and develop educational programs to promote home cooking, in particular in schools and vulnerable communities.

Jamie Oliver Food Truck Rockwell Group Design for TED

By taking Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” on the road in the form of a mobile food truck, his movement to educate kids and families about healthy food will gain even more momentum and impact. The bold graphics on the outside of the truck will help it to serve as a brand ambassador all across the United States. The powerful black and white revolutionary logo of a hand holding a spoon accompanied by the sharp text “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” will be softened with green, blue, white and orange punches of spray-painted graffiti graphics of stars, utensils, fruits and vegetables. Riffing off of the sunburst theme in the original graphic from Jamie Oliver’s show on ABC, red and white stripes of sunrays appear on the background of the truck, adding a sense of speed and vitality to the design. The spirited, spontaneous nature of the design is a nod to Jamie Oliver’s own way of cooking.

When the truck arrives at the school, state or street fair or farmer’s market, it will create an immediate, unexpected spectacle as it expands in a variety of ways to make room for a culinary event. The sides of the truck push out laterally for events inside the truck, and a white bandshell with vibrant red stars can be inflated outside the back of the truck to house even larger events. The inside of the truck is covered with white wallpaper with a set of tiny colorful culinary graphics similar to those on the outside. Oversized versions of these stenciled symbols are pasted on the doors and cabinets, complemented by the Corian confetti surfaces. On the walls of the truck are a whiteboard magnet map that will reflect the places the truck has toured through, and a big book mounted in the corner with large whiteboard ‘pages’ that include a welcome page, an integrated monitor with a video of Jamie Oliver, a menu, ingredients, and a thank you page. When the sides of the truck are pushed out, there is room both for an expo kitchen, and 8 separate cooking stations. Each of these stations or carts are custom designed by Rockwell Group to outfit two children with a kitchen’s worth of equipment. The cart has a red powder-coated metal finish, with a butcher block counter, two stove tops, baskets underneath for pots and pans, and drawers for utensils. This way the children can work on their own, so they can see for themselves how easy it is to use simple ingredients to make healthy meals. When the children are done cooking, carts can be pushed together to form one big communal table where they can all sit down on metal stools with colorful star-patterned cushions to eat what they have cooked. Rockwell Group also designed placemats with whimsical stencils of a plate and cutlery. And after the event is over, kids can clean their dishes in the line of sinks in back of the truck.

This whole set up can also be moved outside under the bandshell for larger expositions.

These levels of flexibility will enable more personal, multi-dimensional, interactive experiences for the public. And when the truck itself arrives, it will provide a fully immersive and theatrical way for kids and adults to interact with the temporary kitchens, and learn about Jamie Oliver’s new, fresh ingredients, recipes, and more.

· All Jamie Oliver Coverage on Eater [-E-]