Jamie Oliver: Blog Exposing School Lunches Is 'Brilliant'

Teacher blogs her year of eating school lunch, when she can stomach it.

ByABC News via logo
March 18, 2010, 10:14 AM

March 25, 2010— -- Chef Jamie Oliver says the anonymous teacher and mom blogging about the poor quality of school lunches is just one of the "angels around America" working to improve children's nutrition and health.

"I think it's brilliant that she's expressing herself," Oliver said of "Mrs. Q," whose blog "Fed Up With School Lunch" has gained national attention. "People are intervening; they are offended."

Oliver's new show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" takes on the school cafeteria menu in what's been called the country's unhealthiest town.

"Moms and dads work really hard," he said on "Good Morning America" today. "When our kids go to school, we want it to be good."

When "Mrs. Q" forgot her lunch a few times and was forced to eat what her students eat, she says it was far from good.

"I just remember thinking this is terrible, I can't believe this," she told ABCNews.com. "A lot of the other teachers ignore it."

She vowed to eat school lunches for a year and blog the results in hopes of inspiring change at her school and others around the country.

"Let's feed all kids well," she said. "Who can argue with that?"

Her blog has been catching fire in recent weeks as she chokes down the bad stuff -- lasagna and bitter-tasting mystery veggies -- and surprises herself by enjoying meals like chili and mac and cheese.

Her number of followers has exploded from a few hundred to tens of thousands and while she's quick to point out that she's not a nutritionist, she says she knows bad food when she eats it.

One of the worst lunches she's seen was an overly processed peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I could barely eat it," she told "Good Morning America." "I was ill, I was sort of out of commission, I was basically lying on the ground."

When asked how her school's lunches compare with airline food, she said "it depends on the meal. But, I mean, sometimes airplane food can be way better than the school lunch."

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