How I Met Jamie Oliver - Part 1

It did not dawn to me how big my role was until my husband mentioned I was sitting together with the "big guns" of food revolutionist and activist yesterday.

Yes I had to pinch myself real hard as everything was going SO FAST I was spinning virtually. I was still a daze when the Google+ team did the technical test on Friday morning and when I woke up that Sunday morning and sitting together with Robyn O'Brien, Alice Randall, Shane Valentine and Kimanh, I was like - SPEECHLESS.

I mean these are people I admired and to think Robyn O'Brien also knew about my work with the local natural remedies for Allergies under AAE (now known as NaturalAAE now) and how I'm teaching mothers here in Malaysia about REAL FOOD cooking.

oh gosh...where do I start?

Somewhere back in March, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Movement under the Jamie Oliver Foundataion had advertised in their website if anyone would like to be recruited as a local team in their country to help him stand up for real food.

The team writes :

Ambassadors are the spark of enthusiasm that can turn this into a local movement by connecting the dots of support. Food Revolution Day aims to give those who have been working tirelessly a platform to share their knowledge with the local community and open up opportunities for even more people to learn about real food through participation. 

I applied and wrote to them about "HOMEMADE - Air Tangan Ibu" which was a local support group I had founded a year ago. My aims where to inspire and educate mothers as well as to spark a bit of  enthusiasm in them, to go back to basics, start cooking from scratch and offer a healthier option to their children. In other words I am teaching mothers to understand and have the nutritional inteligence to know what really goes into their little one's digestive system.

The group was big on not giving diluted baby cereal before 6 months old which I can say is a huge problem here in Malaysia and not many parents know the dangers of intussusception. The group then continues to advocate the use of fresh ingredients to make baby food instead of the high processed ones available in the market. Besides that, we continuously teach mothers why it is important not to add extra salt or sugar or any other artifical flavors in the food as well.

In the beginning the group only consisted of 4 members who then became more than just friends - we were like family and they are my sisters who always mimic what I believe in. Everything is better if it is "homemade"

"Ambassadors are the spark of enthusiasm that can turn this into a local movement by connecting the dots of support."

This is a first part of my own journey supporting the Jamie Oliver Foundation on Food Revolution Day. Join me again tomorrow for part two of "How I met Jamie Oliver"

Farah Rahim is the co founder of the Malaysian REAL FOOD movement; a local support group called "HOMEMADE - Air Tangan Ibu". She also advocates managing asthma, allergies and eczema naturally via NaturalAAE. She's the official Malaysia's ambasador of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. When not an activist she's a Stay at Home Mom to 3 girls who loves nothing but good ol' homecooked meals. Her full blog-list is above