Chefs: good guys, bad guys?

I do not have any admiration for Gordon Ramsay. He is, in my opinion, a rude, arrogant man. I think that one of the main reasons for my dislike is because he hates vegetarians, and often brags about his dislike for them. He recently said “If my daughter ever grew up and married a vegetarian, I’d never forgive her.” Despite my dislike for the man, I bought his meaty cookbook for my brother and (nearly) sister-in-law last Christmas, as they used to like him. Perhaps they too now dislike him, because he has no time for them, his loyal fans who queue up for hours to see him. Recently, Gordan has gone down even further in my estimation. On one of his TV shows (The F Word) he turned a room of 'vegetarians' into carnivores in a publicity stunt, and then proceded to hunt, kill and eat an endangered puffin. Very smart.

Jamie Oliver, on the other hand, is completely different. I do not agree with everything he does, but he has many good causes, and I love his attitude. He really seems to want to do good for this country. Last night, I watched the start of his new series, Jamie's Minsitry of Food, in which he teaches poor families (who seem to use all of their benefits to feed their children expensive take-aways) to cook. His 'pass it on' theory of friends sharing recipes with each other is admirable (if idealistic). The idea is that he teaches two people to cook a few meals, and then for those two people to teach two more people to cook those meals, and then for them to 'pass it on' to two more, and so on. I also support Jamie's school dinners campaign; getting children to have healthier school lunches, by serving healthier food in school canteens and banning junk food.

My verdict: Gordon Ramsay - thumbs down :-( Jamie Oliver - thumbs up :-)