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Controversy Erupts Over Jamie Oliver Poor Shaming And Why Poor People Eat Crap Food

The controversy lead to some important realizations, at least.

Elana
  • Published in News
Controversy Erupts Over Jamie Oliver Poor Shaming And Why Poor People Eat Crap Food

Are you ready for some startling facts on poverty? Nearly half of the entire world's population is living in poverty. That's over 3 billion people! Even worse, over 1 billion of those people are children. Even crazier, 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day. One of the most intense ways poverty affects people is with food, since most people simply cannot afford food. This leads to issues like children suffering from malnutrition, to the point of death, everywhere.

Suffice it to say, there are a lot of people who might have something to say when a celebrity gets on the Internet and starts offering up some wild ideas about how to address nutrition among poor people. Take Jamie Oliver, for example.

He is a popular chef well known for his easy and relatively healthy recipes but as he's noticed the rising levels of obesity in children he decided that the perfect solution was a "sugar tax." In theory, this tax would make the foods that lead to obesity too expensive and force people to buy healthier food options instead.

But it's not just a sugar tax that Oliver wants people to talk about, he takes major issues with the ease of advertising sugary snacks and sodas to children. It's a major part of the platform and a very relevant argument. In fact, Oliver also told MPs:

This a tax for good; this is a tax for love; this is designed to protect and give to the most disadvantaged communities.

He aims to see the tax money collected used to fund sports facilities and healthy eating clubs, both of which would be intended to support disadvantaged communities. Check out the video that sparked all the controversy:

Controversy is definitely the right word because an awful lot of people have come out to speak against Oliver's wild idea about taxing sugar. Whether or not your initial reaction is to cheer Oliver on, you definitely need to check out how one woman responded to his idea on Twitter. Sharing a deeply personal story about growing up in extreme poverty, her side of the coin paints a dark picture on ideas like Oliver's.

Telegraph.uk

From a perspective...

She quickly got support, too.

And another person thinks Oliver just doesn't get "it."

Subimaginati

Because of her boldness, other people not only supported her but chimed in with their own experiences growing up in poverty.

Not to mention some general scoffing at the typical idea the typical wealthy person has regarding the solution to obesity and poverty.

We also cannot overlook the criticism of Jamie Oliver that was flooding in. People weren't too keen to hear from him, it seems!

Now it's your turn to tell us what you think! Is Jamie Oliver on to something? Or is this just another way to bring down poor people and blame them for their problems instead of offering up a real solution? Let us know!

round 8
Elana