Episode 3- Healthy Town

Sorry if you usually read this for laughs: some proper politics this time.

As Peter Kay found this week- it is hard to get laughs out of something that is ridiculous in it’s own right.

I know some people who went to the Magna event. All of them had an ace time. All of them could cook already- but so what. I mean; showing someone how to throw a load of stuff into a wok isn’t teaching them to cook is it?

 

Tonight’s confusing hotch potch of sponsored T-Shirts was all about Healthy Towns.

This document, dated July 7th (immediately before the Magna event), concerns the joint bid by Rotherham Borough council and the PCT for Healthy Town status.

Healthy Towns is a new government initiative. They are chucking £30 million into the kitty- with up to £5 million available to each local authority selected.  The selection criteria:

Evidence that achieving a healthy weight for all is a shared local priority.

Evidence of a commitment to creating a ‘Healthy Town’.

Senior level commitment in the PCT and across the local authority (political
and officer), with a proven record of partnership working.

Clear demonstration of the links between obesity and other policy priorities.

 

Rotherham’s council’s idea:

Early thinking also suggests that we have at least two ongoing initiatives
which both demonstrate our intent and commitment and our ability to be bold and innovative. These initiatives are:

1. Rotherham Renaissance

2. Ministry of Food: the developments brought forward by Jamie Oliver’s
presence in the Borough will ensure that the healthy eating agenda is
high on the local agenda. We will need to build and build on this
momentum.

 

So- the Ministry of Food is the key part of the council’s strategy to win £5 million of funding.

After the Magna event- we are shown the opening of the Ministry shop in All Saints Square and told:

“Council leader Roger Stone, who mastered beef stir fry in the steelworks, has come to take a look”.

The impression is that he was blown away by the event and the enthusiasm for the scheme that he has witnessed.

 

Jamie says:

“At the moment, I’m paying for the Ministry of Food”-

then says he hopes to

“hand the baton to Roger and the rest of the council, who will take it over”.

 

For a start, at least £125,000 of public money has gone into the Ministry of Food- but we’ll leave that one. In the edited scene, the newly converted Roger Stone is talking about how the scheme will be a positive influence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7399449.stm

Follow the above link to see the fake opening of the centre again (it was edited to appear like the real opening on TV and the strong suggestion was it happened immediately after Magna). On the top of the page is the date- Tuesday, 13 May 2008 . The centre actually opened on Monday 23rd June- a month later. Two months later – Magna happened. Roger Stone proudly talked about the stir fry he’d cooked and said how the Pass it On scheme “hit all the buttons for us”.

 

As we know- by the time Magna happened – the success of the Ministry of Food was central to the council’s bid for £5 million.  Even though the whole idea behind the scheme is so obviously doomed to failure- the council have no choice but to stay on board and back it to the bitter end. The TV show has been edited to imply that a skeptical Roger Stone has been won over after witnessing the project in action at Magna. In reality- he was cheerleading for the scheme from the off and his delight at the Magna event was just a continuation.

To me this looks like a misrepresentation of the facts. Were the council fully aware of how the show would be edited and went along with it willingly or did they just blindly support Jamie and trust him to do the right thing?

 

As they have placed so much faith in the scheme- you would expect that they have had some input. The images of kebabs being forced down kids and references to people living on crisps and chocolate have been repeated in each episode. The portrayal of Rotherham people has been appalling. No one is allowed to be considered a normal human until Jamie saves them. The most sickening example came this week- when he got people up on stage at Aston Hall in front of their families and said:

“Tell them where you were and where you’ve gone.”

Followed by:

“I’ve changed their lives- as brilliant as that is…”

 

Jamie even wore a Tyrell Corp cap when he visited KP Nuts. Tyrell Corp are the firm that manufacture replicants in Bladerunner. Was that a coincidence, or a nod to the audience that he is a genius who creates new people from nothing?

 

I believe that the negative images of Rotherham will have pretty much cancelled out any ground gained by RIDO in attracting inward investment. Who would possibly want to do business in a town full of characters like the ones shown on TV?

 

Have the council collaborated with Jamie Oliver on this?

 

Did they know he was going to paint a negative picture of the town and go with it. By making us a byword for obesity and stupidity- they may have thought they would get the £5 million by default.

 

The other possibility is- they went along in good faith and gave Jamie Oliver unquestioning support and got stitched up.

 

Check the section in the hospital this week; bearing in mind that the PCT is in for a chunk of the £5 million if the bid succeeds. Jamie is supposedly there on private biz- when two conveniently hot chick doctors conveniently :

“drag Jamie away to show him supersize beds for Rotherham’s growing obesity problem”.

 

They and spec’s bloke then bombard us with stories of a town in peril. 3000 obese kids, 55 stone people, hoists to get out of bed- does this sound like Rotherham to you?

It does if you only know us through Jamie vision.

Jamie poses the killer question:

“Do you think that teaching kids how to cook…home cook basic food is critical in this”.

DOCTOR: “Yeah, absolutely, yeah, definitely”.

 

The Department for Works and Pensions  would disagree- citing reduction in activity levels  to be the most important factor in the rapid rise in obesity levels. They also bang on about the advertising and marketing of high-density processed and convenience foods with high sugar, salt and fat content- but they haven’t got a TV show and a scooter- so they don’t count

Was this incident stage managed and edited by the crew to support the message of the Ministry of Food?

 

Was this an example of the PCT deliberately painting a negative picture of the town in order to win funding?

 

If the council and the PCT have been stitched up in the edit suite – they should speak out about it.

If they have knowingly collaborated in doing the town down- they will get their comeuppance soon. It’s pretty clear to see that the Pass it On scheme is a dud. When it goes tits up- do you think that Jamie’s going to take the blame or pass the buck? Which side of the story will the media run with?

 

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I can sense some disquiet among my loyal readers:

If Rotherham stands to get £5 million from the government- why not keep schtum?

If they get the dosh- they have to match it from their own coffers.

I believe that everyone knows what it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle. It’s down to the individual.

What will Rotherham council spend the ring fenced £10 million quid on? My guess is drawing a few cycle lanes on maps and lots and lots of meetings. And the Ministry of Food naturally.

They may as well chuck it in the sea off Iceland.

Or spend their £5million on proper local services.