Jamie's Ministry Of Food

Hi guys – I'd like to ask you a favour: I need your help with a food movement I've started. On the surface it's quite simply about friends teaching friends how to cook good, honest, affordable food and just generally be a bit more streetwise about cooking. But underneath that, it's about getting a really fun and important movement started that could well change the health and future of the country. Allow me to explain a bit about the Ministry of Food and this movement called pass it on.

So what is this Ministry of Food?

During and after the First World War terrible food shortages meant many people were malnourished. So when the Second World War broke out the government knew they'd have to do something pretty clever to stop this happening again, and what they did was set up a Ministry of Food. Basically it was created for two major reasons: to make sure there was enough food to go round and also to educate the public about food and proper nutrition so they'd be healthy and fighting fit. What I find completely inspiring is that the government at that time didn't just watch and give lip-service, it pulled its finger out and did something radical. . . and I like radical! The Ministry of Food was all about going to the people, wherever they were – workplaces, factories, gentlemen's clubs or local shopping areas. And they did this by simply mobilizing thousands of women who could cook, then sending them out across the whole country to provide support and tips to the public.

Because of this, people knew how to use their food rations properly and were able to eat, and live, better.

Historians say the original Ministry of Food was a saving grace of the war.

It's such a shame it takes a bloody world war to focus people's attention on health, but we have a modern-day war on our hands now and it's over the epidemic of bad health and the rise of obesity. The question is: do we wait until it's too late or do we do something about it now? I say we do something about it now. Regardless of recessions and credit crunches, we all need to know how to cook simple, nutritious, economical, tasty and hearty food from scratch. And once we've got this knowledge, we should pass it on through friends, family and the workplace to keep that cycle of knowledge alive.

So what's the plan?

I need you to get personally involved in pass it on by pledging to learn just one recipe from each chapter of this book. Master these in your own home first, then pass it on by teaching them to at least two people (preferably four). Make it fun by having a bit of a cooking party where you teach your friends, family and other guests some brilliant new skills in the comfort of your own home. Then, most importantly, you need to get your guests to promise that they'll pass it on to more people and then get those people to pass it on and on and on . . . it's easy.

And don't for a minute think that your single contribution won't count, because it will. Let me share a bit of my romantic dream with you... Let's say, for instance, that you teach four people how to make a recipe, then each of them teaches four more people, who each teach four more people... The cycle only needs to repeat itself eight times and we're getting on towards filling Wembley Stadium. Repeat it thirteen times and we've got more than the entire population of Britain cooking – high aspirations I admit, but why the hell not? I know for a fact that there will be hundreds of thousands of you guys who will definitely get involved in this. Just imagine the swell of fun teaching and learning that could be going around the country! It's amazing if you think about all the social and health benefits this movement could have. I know for sure that if we, the public, can show the government we really care, then a load of other stuff will start to fall into place.

This pass it on movement is essentially a modern-day version of the way people used to pass recipes down through generations when they weren't all at work. That dynamic is the best learning ground ever. As simple as it seems, pass it on could well be the most radical food movement since the war and you could be part of it. I wouldn't be asking for your help unless I thought it was absolutely necessary. And listen, this isn't me doing 'a worthy campaign' for the sake of it. Believe you me, I should probably be travelling to different countries and learning new stuff, but this is far more important at the moment!

Over the last year, I've been working in Rotherham, in the north of England. Why Rotherham? Well, mainly because I wanted to go and meet some of the Rawmarsh women (Julie Critchlow among them) who were brought to fame around the world for passing chips and burgers through the school railings when I was involved with changing school dinners. Having now met and made friends with Julie, she's absolutely adamant it wasn't burgers: it was mostly tuna fish sandwiches and salads. Don't ask me, I wasn't there! Another reason for going to Rotherham was that it is said to be the town that best reflects the rest of the country's population in terms of demographic make-up. So, in a way, I figured that if I set up my own Ministry of Food there and made it work, then it could work anywhere. I brought local cooking demonstrations to the town, along with smaller cooking classes where I asked people to teach the recipes I taught them to at least two other people. The people in my cooking classes are the ones who appear – pleased as Punch – in the chapter portraits (nice one, guys!).

While I was teaching these cooking classes, I consistently saw the most radical, inspiring and completely emotional change happening to everyone I met, all through showing them how to cook a handful of meals. This change is so fantastic to see, and can literally happen within twenty-four hours. I know it sounds soft, but it's true. And I'm not talking about easy, cuddly individuals who thought it might be quite nice to start cooking, I'm talking about people who had never, ever wanted to cook or been interested in food for years: miners, single mums, old-age pensioners and busy dads. . . you name it!

I want this Ministry of Food book to serve you well whether you're a complete beginner, a good cook who likes simplicity, or you're buying it for someone who needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into the kitchen. I also want it, alongside a load of other Ministry of Food initiatives that I'm doing, to be the catalyst for empowering millions of you to make proper home-cooked, affordable meals from scratch again. I've written the recipes in this book so they're nice and simple and anyone can follow them. I've also used copious amounts of step-by-step pictures in order to get you confident enough to understand the basics of cooking, even if you're the most reluctant cook in the world.

Why do we need to pass it on?

The reality is that we are in the midst of one of the worst food-related epidemics that this country has seen. And I can assure you it's not through lack of food this time, but because we're consuming far too much of the wrong stuff.

School dinners have been neglected for thirty years, cookery lessons at school have all but stopped, physical education has been reduced, and more and more of us are driving to work and doing office jobs. On top of that, I read that our beloved little old Britain currently consumes 50 per cent of all ready meals in the whole of Europe. All these things are major contributors to why – unfortunately – Britain happens to have the highest obesity levels in Europe. Shockingly, this will be the first generation of British children to live shorter lives than their parents: not great for a first-world country that's going to be hosting the Olympic Games in just a few years! Much-needed urgency is required to change this.

The state of British health and cooking is a subject that's been close to my heart for many years now – I live and breathe it, it bothers me, and I think about how to do my bit every day, so this is just a small rant and only the tip of the iceberg. If you've read this far, then hopefully you're feeling where I'm coming from. Good food and good eating aren't a class thing – anyone can eat good food on any budget as long as they know how to cook. So come on, guys, be part of pass it on.