Oprah Winfrey’s new reality show, Big Give, is getting some help from actress Jennifer Aniston. The show — which premieres March 2nd — challenges 10 people to help change the lives of complete strangers. At the end of the challenge, the contestants will be judged on their leadership, accomplishments, creativity and presentation with one “giver” being eliminated. The judges include “world-renowned “Naked Chef” and philanthropist Jamie Oliver, NFL star Tony Gonzalez, and Malaak Compton-Rock, charity founder and the wife of comedian Chris Rock.”

Aniston will join John Travolta, Jada Pinkett-Smith, tennis legend Andre Agassi, skateboarder Tony Hawk and racing star Danica Patrick in assisting the contestants with the various challenges. Judge Jaime Oliver couldn’t be more thrilled to work with her again — after meeting her and then-husband Brad Pitt at a private dinner party he helped cook for. From the article,

“‘Jennifer’s a friend of mine, she’s a beautiful, beautiful character,’ he tells OK!. ‘She was perfect to be a part of Oprah’s Big Give because that’s her personality — she’s a beautiful, giving person. It was lovely to have her involved, to have a friend be involved in the same show as me, and she comes along to one of the shows to pat the winners on the back.’”

No doubt that as with anything Oprah touches, this 8-episode series should be a big hit. Obviously, we really love the concept of helping out others in need and having Winfrey spearhead this effort is wonderful. Let’s hope there’s another season of giving in the works.

As Ecorazzi reported previously, some of the UK’s top celebrity chefs like Jaime Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, are getting involved to help spread the news about the dastardly poultry market that dominates their country.  Now, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is taking it one step further with his Chicken Out campaign.

The Chicken Out campaign attempts to educate the British consumer on the plight of the broiler chicken who is often reared without light or proper space for the sake of mass production.  In fact, there are 850 million chickens reared in the UK each year, but only a pathetic five percent are free range, and even less than that get the organic seal of approval. Whittingstall hopes to improve those numbers.

As you can imagine, The National Farming Union isn’t overly excited about Whittingstall’s attempts, saying, “Hugh’s Chicken Run could increase confusion among consumers” and that “we would prefer it if consumers were able to make an informed choice.”

I mean how to you want me to sum this one up, kiddies? I’m overwhelmed here. Of course as a person who is greatly concerned with the welfare of our planet and the rights of all animals I think Whittingstall actions are incredibly noble, but I know that not everybody shares my views.  I think (or hope) most of us can agree that when we have the choice to buy a product that’s a little cruel or very cruel, we’d always choose the former. To me, this attempt is an example of real progress, and I so respect Whittingstall for trying to change the world one plate at a time.

Chef Jaime Oliver raised more than $456,000 at a dinner last night for his Fifteen Foundation. The organization helps train unemployed young people to become chefs and work in the restaurant business. Oliver will use the money to build a training kitchen above Fifteen to help the local community, and increase the number of apprentices each year to 45. [via Bloomberg]

U2 frontman Bono is joining artist Damien Hirst in organizing a charity art auction at Sotheby’s for Valentine’s Day ‘08. Expected to go under the hammer are pieces by Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Matthew Barney, Georg Baselitz, Cecily Brown and Douglas Gordon. All of the art presented will revolve around the RED theme and benefit HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa. Sotheby’s expects the auction to raise more than $40 million dollars. [via International Herald Tribune]

Setting aside any cooking differences, the top three chefs in the UK (otherwise known as the culinary “three tenors”) have created a united front to expose cruel chicken farming practices and encourage consumers to make smart choices. Jaime Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall will all promote organic, free range meat through January on UK’s Channel 4. From the article,

“Oliver will reveal to his guests some of the “hideous” ways chicken-related dishes make their way from farm to fork through a series of “shocking demonstrations”. To show the public “what happens to chickens that are sold for less than the price of a pint of beer”, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall will set up his own intensive-rearing chicken farm near his home in Axminster, Devon. He will be shown breaking down in tears at the plight of the unnaturally large 39-day-old broiler chicks, crying: “I can’t kill another chicken.”

What about Ramsay? Well, as far as we can tell, he’ll be the host of a “Cook-Along” live special to encourage everyone to get into the kitchen at the same time. We’re sure there will be some organic promotions during this time — but it doesn’t appear as if the controversial chef will be doing nearly as much as Oliver or Whittingstall. As we’ve mentioned before, Ramsay has irked animal rights groups such as PETA for his use of certain animals in the kitchen; especially horse meat and duck liver. Let’s hope his efforts are as genuine as the others.

via the guardian