Joanne's Slow Food Revolution

I've been thinking about what to do with my life. I guess I always think about that, but right now, when I'm not working a full-time job and I have lots of solitary moments, I'm giving the meaning of life a lot of consideration.

Before I started my last job, I swore that I was going to have a fresh start and stop thinking almost exclusively about music. Well, I did get somewhat of a fresh start, but it was still a music-related gig. The thing is I love music. I think about it, talk about it, lament over it. But I really do think it's time to let it go. Not in my day-to-day life, but as a subject matter for my so-called career.

So, what do I want to do? Mostly, I want to feed people. No, more specifically I want to help people feed themselves. Since I stopped eating meat in high school, I've spent a lot of time thinking about food and nutrition. During university, while working at an on-campus cafe, I added more cooking skills to the repertoire I'd learned from my mum (who taught me the invaluable lesson of how to make a nutritious meal with few ingredients and leaving nothing to waste). When I was diagnosed with Type 2 Dibetes a few years ago, I started thinking more about blood sugar and the glycemic index. I dream of having enough outdoor space to plant a garden -- or even hanging some upside-down planters. I want to keep bees.

I was really inspired by Jamie Oliver's speech that he gave at his reception for the TED prize(http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html). I've long been a fan of Jamie's no-nonsense approach to cooking, which began with the Naked Chef, which, I think, did a lot to demystify food for a lot of people. But it's Oliver's large-scale projects -- School Dinners, Food Revolution, Ministry of Food -- that are really inspiring. Yes, people without the big name work tirelessly to stop the glut(tony) of fast food and change the way people consume. But having television cameras and Oliver's energy behind these projects has brought them the wide-spread attention they deserve.

So, what does that have to do with me? Well, when I think of what I'd really like to do with my time, the answer is that I'd like to work for Jamie Oliver. He's talked about having grocery store ambassadors, which I think is brilliant: someone to decipher labels and help people make wise decisions about what to purchase. Setting up a program like that would be my dream job. Or bringing a program like Food Revolution to Parkdale. Or educating people about the perils of soda pop (which I think is as insidious as big tobacco). My list of food/nutrition-based interest is never-ending.

So, how do I get there? Any ideas?