Thursday 16th May 2014 may not be the most significant day in most peoples diaries but there's one amazingly passionate and driven Essex Boy who's turned it into a life changing day for millions of kids around the world.
Today is Food Revolution Day. An event created by Jamie Oliver as a day of action to draw attention to the need for the children of this world to understand what real food is and how to enjoy it in a fun and educational way.
I'm a big fan of Jamie, as a chef, an entrepreneur, an action taker, a revolutionary and as a great family man, this guys got it all going on. He admits himself that he's "Marmite" but whether you love him or hate him anyone fortunate enough to spend time in his company can not ignore the fact that he is a man on a mission to literally save the lives of the younger generation of this planet.
His message was first brought to prominence in 2005 with his TV series School Dinners which highlighted not only the poor nutritional quality of the "food" on offer - who could ever forget the dissection of the "Turkey Twizlers?!"
But also the resistance from parents who not only complained about his ideas but also passed bags of chips through the school fences to their kids.
The sceptical ones out there would say that he's found a niche and he's milking it for his own gain and yes his restaurant business has gone from strength to strength in the last 10 years but he's got a great product and obviously has great business mentality. The biggest thing for me that comes across in everything I see him do is that he genuinely cares.
For me it's amazing to see someone trying to make a hugely positive impact on the world.
I've always been hugely impressed with anything Jamie has done, I've read his books, cooked my girlfriend some of his dishes, dined in his restaurants and just over a year ago I signed up to be one of his Food Revolution Ambassadors.
That got me a ticket to his live cookery class today at City Hall in London.
30 kids were fortunate enough to be part of his live lesson and had great fun creating Rainbow Wraps as the whole thing was beamed round the world via his internet broadcast.
I watched, I listened, I cheered along when the floor manager told me to but as I sat there I realised that this day is hugely important for the wellbeing of our young people.
Jamie spoke of the fact that poor nutrition is now the third biggest cause of death in the world. More people die of obesity related disorders than of hunger! We are literally eating ourselves into an early grave!
We have a tough battle to fight in turning kids away from fizzy drinks and sugar and in educating adults on the fact that the reason certain foods are so cheap is because they are not actually real foods but food like substances that provide no nutritional value to the body and only contribute to weight gain and disease.
It's a long road ahead but Jamie is going full throttle. A million kids in 160+ countries worldwide had the pleasure of joining his cookery class today and every one of them will go home with a positive experience from it. The kids will tell their parents all about it - but will they listen? will they take action? and will they make one or two small changes that will have a HUGE impact on the lives of their children?
I feel privileged to be part of something so inspiring, thank you and good luck Mr Oliver.
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