Andrew Muir and Jamie Oliver Announce Ministry of Food Australia Initiative

Andrew Muir, chairman of The Good Guys, and Jamie Oliver are proud to announce the launch of Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia, an engaging community-focused program that will teach basic cooking skills to non-cooks all over Australia.

The Good Guys has partnered with Jamie Oliver to build, equip and run community based Jamie’s Ministry of Food centres, both permanent and mobile, around Australia.

Australia is now one of the most obese countries in the world. Changes in family life, the rise of convenience foods, and a lack of compulsory food education in schools have resulted in huge numbers of people losing touch with one of life’s most essential skills: cooking. Jamie passionately believes that the most effective way to combat this lack of knowledge is to tackle it head on, with good information and practical cookery lessons for everyone.

“When you know how to cook, you’ve got control – over your life and your health. Cooking is one of the most important things we can ever learn in life and with the right sort of information and teaching, absolutely anybody can cook. It’s wonderful, it’s fun, and most importantly, it changes lives,” said Jamie.

 In Australia, shocking figures provided by the National Preventative Health Taskforce show that being overweight or obese affects over 60% of Australian adults and 25% of Australian children. The total financial cost in Australia of obesity alone, not including overweight people, was estimated at $8.3 billion in 2008. The most recent projections indicate that there will be 6.9 million obese Australians by 2025. That’s a staggering 73% of the population, or three-quarters of all adults and one-third of all children – this frightening statistic clearly demonstrates an urgent need for action!

In an effort to tackle this Australian health issue The Good Guys Chairman, Andrew Muir, said The Good Guys has committed significant funding and resources to set up and develop Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia. Mr Muir also announced the establishment of a new independent not-for-profit organisation called The Good Foundation, of which Jamie’s Ministry of Food will be a priority project.

“The growing list of health concerns related to poor eating habits affects all Australians for which we all need to take responsibility. We believe this initiative has the potential to improve the health and social welfare of communities right across Australia. The Good Foundation is putting up its hand,” said Andrew.

 Jamie’s food revolution will empower people, through giving them the skills to change their eating and cooking behavior, to make both short and long terms changes to their lives. Based on the success of Jamie’s Ministry of Food initiative in the UK, Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia is all about encouraging people to go back into the kitchen and cook again.

Jamie said, “This will be the first generation in which people are predicted to die younger than their parents. This is a serious global issue. It’s due to the incredible support from The Good Guys that I am able to introduce the Ministry of Food to Australia. “