Jamie Oliver Thinks Your Mam is a Slag

Rotherham is a great place; full of warm, intelligent people. The town has a proud industrial history and a tradition of political radicalism.

You don’t hear much positive about the town these days. Our traditional industries were destroyed in the Thatcher era and the only time we make an impression on the national consciousness – it’s all bad. Rotherham has been held up as the teen pregnancy capital, the place that elects fascists and the home of our most recent star- the junkie Mum who won’t stop using.

The abiding image for most outsiders is dinner hour at Rawmarsh Comp. Mums giving hot food to their kids who weren’t allowed out. Another view- the one held by most of the media- portrayed a bunch of stupid, Northern birds force feeding chips to their no good chav scum offspring.

The media hate fest was inspired by Jamie’s School Dinners.  In the TV show, Jamie Oliver had a half arsed idea to give kids crap food that they wouldn’t eat at school. As he was a celebrity- it was compulsory for everyone to get behind this or you were officially a child abuser of Austrian proportions. The government threw their weight behind the scheme as they were terrified of not looking good for five minutes on the telly. This marriage made in Heaven was sealed with the slightly chubby Jamie and the clinically obese Charles Clarke agreeing that the little people must do as they say to stay healthy. Everyone patted each other on the back as school dinner take up went into freefall and Monster Munch butties became the packed lunch de jour.

The Jamie brand had further success by telling poor people that they shouldn’t eat the protein rich and good for you supermarket chicken. For reasons I can’t get my head round- we were told it is better to kill a creature that is having a great life than one that is miserable.

All the while- the forces of darkness have had the image of Rawmarsh Comp in their minds. The reaction it got in their metropolitan haven. The sight of those poor, wretched, misguided simpletons in their godforsaken post industrial Hell. Let’s dig it back up and make gravy guys.

“Jamie’s Ministry of Food” was born. Oliver’s press for the show states:

“Millions of people up and down the country are really busy, they’re on tight budgets, and no-one has bothered to teach them how to cook. It’s no wonder that the last thing they want to do at the end of the day is cook a meal from scratch. If we can get people in one town cooking, I want to establish a blueprint that can get people cooking across the whole country this year,”

What a great guy. Eh? “Jamie’s Ministry of Food” has set up command HQ in All Saints’ Square. This throwback to the days of persecution and scorn under the banner of missionary work has targeted Rotherham as ground zero in the fight against obesity. Don’t let the stat’s get in the way of a good story guys.

The bubbly Mockney’s words show the mindset he is attacking the problem from.

“No-one has bothered to teach them how to cook”.
“The last thing they want to do is cook a meal from scratch.”

Ignorant, lazy – that’s us is it Jamie? The message is- if he can get the scum in that Northern dump cooking- there may be hope for the rest of us. Basically, if you live in Rotherham, Jamie Oliver says your Mam is a slag.

The problems this town has are poverty, the destruction of communities and abysmal local government. Rotherham has been left behind by developments in other similar towns. The council are more than willing to do anything to distract from their failure- with celeb’ endorsements a favoured ruse. They will bend over to let Jamie enter the same way they did for Dolly Parton and her ludicrous book scheme last year.

I believe that this reality TV show will do nothing to improve the health and well being of the people of Rotherham. Further- I believe that the patronising ethos of the show will damage the reputation of the town even further. I would appeal to people not to collaborate- but realise that the urge to get on the telly is too great for some people.

I will use this blog to point out the hypocrisy and hate on which this show is built. To identify the real issues and the real villains responsible for propping them up. If they think they can get away with kicking Rotherham while it’s down- they’re going to get a nasty blow to the testicles. Not on my watch finger sucker.

You may think I’m wrong. If you do; close your eyes and visualise that lovely Fergie woman helping those poor people in Hull. Then join the fight back.

People of Rotherham Arise

No Blackmail