Jamie Oliver gets in food fight with L.A. school officials

When Venice High renovated the school's cafeteria, the most important aspect of the lunchroom remained the same, the food, and Jamie Oliver star and creator of ABC’s “Food Revolution” could have remedied that.

Sadly, Oliver, who is bringing his Emmy winning show to Southern California, may never set foot in a LAUSD cafeteria, after getting into a “food fight” with school officials.

The Reality TV chef is here in Los Angeles setting up a restaurant and casting families to participate in his spring reality series. On Wednesday, he opened “Jamie’s Kitchen” in Westwood, where he will be offering free cooking classes.

“I can’t get my foot into a single school. Which is a bit of a shame really,” he said to the Los Angeles Times. “It just doesn’t seem in the interest of the public really. It’s not a great start for me, to be honest.”

Oliver says whether he is allowed into a district school or not, he still, plans to work with local families in their homes and with supermarkets and fast-food restaurants for episodes in his series which is scheduled to begin in the spring.

Will the LAUSD change it’s mind? Not anytime in the near future.

“Reality TV has a formula. You either have to have drama or create conflict to be successful. We’re not interested in either,” said LAUSD spokesman Robert Alaniz.

Oliver thinks the School District refused to let him feature its cafeterias because officials fear how really bad the inedible food served to the kids would look on television. He thinks his work speaks for itself and has been “honorable.” He says he came to Los Angeles with no preconceptions about the food it serves and just wants to help.

Venice High School, who even has it’s own garden, is often used as a backdrop for film location shoots that bring in money that is much needed, especially because of the State’s looming massive budget cuts.

A partnership with Oliver’s “Food Revolution” could only have helped get the conversation for the badly needed change in the lunchrooms of the LAUSD going, and helped thousands of kids on the road to obesity in the process.