Jamie Oliver is in big trouble!

The “animal-loving” chef (said with the utmost sarcasm) is getting slammed by animal rights groups for castrating a bull during an episode of his new television show Jamie’s American Road Trip.

Seriously? I mean, SERIOUSLY??!

Director of Animal Aid, Andrew Taylor, says, “The public is convinced Jamie Oliver is the real deal but hopefully this barbaric act will open their eyes to the fact he is a phony when it comes to animal welfare. He pretends he cares about animals but this makes an utter mockery of that. Castrating cattle in this way is vicious and grotesque and he’s giving credibility to an ugly trade. If he thinks this is good prime time TV he has been duped.”

Oliver’s team certainly isn’t staying quiet about the incident. His spokesperson is defending the act as a method of educating people about “parts of America they might not know about.” And reminding the public that, “Jamie is well-known for his championing of better welfare for animals and has had awards from many animal welfare groups.”

What do you think about all of this? Was it an act of cruelty, or a clever television segment? Chime in and share your thoughts!

via: uk.news.yahoo.com

According to Broadcast, Jamie Oliver Limited collaborated with ClimateCare, to select projects that included solar power installations in India, using wind power in China and providing energy-efficient stoves in Cambodia. The article also notes that it “is believed to be the world’s first carbon-neutral TV travel series.”

“My company is serious about helping to prevent the dangers of climate change and we recognise that, with everything we do, but especially with TV programmes like this one, we create a carbon footprint,” said Mr Oliver, who has also worked with the Green Party and environmental experts Best Foot Forward.

My jury’s still out on offsets and subsequent carbon-neutral claims. It’s great that these issues are getting attention but I know there’s a lot that can be done to cut down on the initial waste created rather than playing catch up ex post facto.

Jamie’s American Road Trip is debuting on Britain’s Channel 4 tonight.

The project came about after Seacrest talked about the poor quality of school lunches on his radio program in Los Angeles and received a huge response. Oliver, who has been working hard to improve kids’ lunches in the UK, had been looking to bring his campaign stateside. The stars aligned, the two met, and a new series was born.

“I couldn’t do what I do in terms of my schedule if I didn’t eat right and exercise right,” Seacrest said. “As a kid I was chubby, and I’m a firm believer that the fuel we put into our body results in a healthy lifestyle. Jamie’s going to come over here, roll up his sleeves and use the resources of each town to help condition living habits to make it a better and healthier place.”

According to Reuters, ABC has ordered six hours of the project from Ryan Seacrest Productions. While the first city has yet to be announced, it’s expected that it will be a location often featured on “fattest cities” lists. Should be interesting to see how successful Oliver is in reducing wastelines. No pun intended, but the guy’s got a huge challenge ahead of him.

Jamie Oliver isn’t content to let his new show

“Britain is only about 25% self-sufficient in bacon and 70% in pork, meaning it imports large quantities of pig meat, which farmers in the UK complain comes from animals generally raised in worse and more intensive indoor conditions, including in much of the EU. But the RSPCA’s Julia Wrathall said even in this country ‘a significant number” of the 9 million animals reared for meat each year “are living out their lives in unacceptable conditions’”.

Hopefully, Jamie’s program will result in more public support for legislation to improve the conditions of farm animals throughout the EU. Either way, it’s wonderful to see him using the power of television to educate others on where their food comes from — and how its treated. Check out the official website for the program here.

Update: Check out the great video after the jump of Jamie having someone train a pig how to sit. Just shows how intelligent these incredible creatures are!

Photo credit: PR Photos

What the Earthlings is going on?

Omnivorous celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is taking one for the team (the VEG team, that is) by hosting a new series that will reveal the “dark secrets” of pork production.

Oliver received praise last year when he attempted to educate the world on the cruel and miserable chicken industry, and hopes to increase awareness with a new 90-minute television special.

Jamie Saves Our Bacon will premiere on the UK’s Channel 4 and urge the EU to set tougher minimum welfare standards for farmers and more honest labeling about how their animals are treated.

“How many people outside of the industry know the difference between outdoor-bred and outdoor-reared, for example?” asked Oliver. “Not many.“

Here at the Razz we think raising the standards for animals is always awesome and look forward to seeing what Jamie has in store for us! To find out more about this program, visit the Channel 4 website!

We already know that Brad Pitt and Pamela Anderson have building ambitions in the area, and now comes word that UK Chef Jamie Oliver has just signed on to design kitchens, herb gardens and restaurants on a multi-million pound development in Dubai. He said: “I’ve never before been told there is no budget and just to be creative. It’s been an amazing project to be involved in. This place has so much to offer. I’m really excited to be working in Dubai.”

One thing worth mentioning is that Jamie’s project will be taking place around a massive golf course — which, being in the middle of the desert, will require an intense amount of water to sustain. Right now, the UAE currently consumes more water per person than any other country in the world with the exception of the United States and Canada. We’re not sure a golf course is the best move — but perhaps they plan on using fake grass? Alas.

Also — the organization Human Rights Watch estimates that most of the projects being constructed in the Dubai are done with some 500,000 migrant workers living in deplorable conditions. Does Oliver know who is helping to build these “unlimited budget” projects? Does Brad? Does Pamela?

Look for Jamie’s new gardens and restaurants to open in 2011.

Taking a page out of Jamie Oliver’s book, Oprah Winfrey will today at 4pm EST go behind the scenes of the poultry industry and contrast the practices there with organic, free-range chicken farming. Her almost 10 million viewers are about to receive one hell of an education!

Oprah’s investigative reporter Lisa Ling will show people how we treat the animals we eat. According to SFoodie, based on the teaser, “farmers (and farming practices, including egg production) will be put on the hot seat.”

Grist also weighs in on the huge response Oprah’s special may create saying, “The talk-show queen’s opinions move mountains; people have been wondering for years when she would train serious attention on the food system. Today’s show reportedly focuses on animal welfare, discussing California’s Prop. 2, which would improve some of the more egregious conditions faced by factory-raised chickens.”

Truly, this is fantastic news — especially since we’ve been so envious of the UK’s work in this area, while frustrated with the little education available to the mainstream public here in the U.S.

But enough babble — go watch! Now!

More news on the celebrity chef front! For the last few months Ecorazzi has kept you abreast on all the chicken reform that’s taking place in the UK. Together, celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have worked hard to spotlight the plight of food animals and change the way chickens are treated. So to say thanks a million, the RSCPA presented the chefs with an award for their efforts earlier this week.

Jamie and Hugh have both been strong supporters of the RSPCA’s Freedom Foods scheme – an initiative that guarantees animals have been raised on farms that meet the organization’s standards. They’ve also both produced television documentaries to shed light on the truth about factory farming and help improve the welfare of animals. 

Jamie and Hugh received the honors at the organization’s AGM in London earlier this week. A rep from the RSPCA said: “We are delighted to present both Hugh and Jamie with these awards in recognition of their valuable ongoing work in this area,” said Dr Marc Cooper, RSPCA senior farm animal scientist. “We look forward to carrying on our partnership with the chefs and hope that with their support, the revolution in raising chicken welfare standards throughout the UK will continue.”

Congrats and keep up the good work fellas!

thanks: looktothestars.org

For the past year or so Ecorazzi has kept you abreast on the food reform initiative that’s taking place in the UK. Celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have all been deeply involved with raising the bar on animal welfare.

A couple months ago Ecorazzi reported news that Jamie Oliver had convinced Tesco (a popular Brittish supermarket) to double their order of premium chickens, bringing the proportion of higher welfare chickens to about 30 percent of total poultry sales-an increase of 70 percent from this time last year. However, Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall doesn’t think that’s enough and claims that Tesco is serverely lagging in animal welfare issues. Wittingstall is urging Tesco to adopt the RSPCA’s higher standards on chicken or drop its claims that it fulfils the government’s aspirations on animal welfare. And this chef ain’t just whistling dixie!

Wittingstall has received official support from the PIRC, the corporate governance adviser, and will be recommending its members to vote in favor of his special resolution at Tesco’s annual meeting next week. For all you Ecorazzi readers that live abroad, you have the chance to watch Hugh tonight on Channel 4’s River Cottage Spring program as he speaks about the benefit of using free range and organic chickens.

I think it’s safe to say that whatever your dietary choice might be, everyone would agree that no animal deserves to be the subject of cruelty and torture. So if you do choose to eat meat, spend the extra buck or two and purchase the more humanely treated variety — it’s healthier, happier and all around more environmentally sound. Don’t believe me? Just ask Hugh.

via: business.timesonline.co.uk

There is a certain degree of frankness found in British media and PSAs that one would probably be shocked to experience here in the U.S. I discovered this first hand while living in New Zealand and being completely bowled over by their drunk driving commercials. Needless to say, they get to the point — and do not skimp on the horrors of such accidents.  

Anyways, the reason I’m drawing these parallels is because of a demonstration that Jamie Oliver put on a few months back as part of his efforts to reveal the brutal practices of Britain’s poultry and egg industry. 

During his cooking show Jamie’s Fowl Dinners, the famous naked chef amused guests by revealing some baby chicks as the centerpiece for their tables. After some instruction, he then asked those sitting at the table to remove the males from the females and place them in a box. As Jamie points out, since male chicks do not lay eggs, they are expendable and ultimately culled by the industry. 

In front of his now stunned guests, Oliver then shows how the chicks are killed. It’s not an easy thing to watch — but for those of us that eat meat, it begs the question then of “Why do we do it?”.

I really wish American television had such revealing programming. We could all definitely use more education on factory farming — and what exactly happens behind-the-scenes before arriving on our dinner plates.

Bravo, Jamie and the BBC.