Jamie Oliver, widely known as the Naked Chef for his 20-something sexy-single-guy TV cooking show, has taken on serious matters now that he's in his mid-30s and has a family. For the past seven or so years, he has been campaigning to teach schools - both here and in the UK - how to feed kids good food in a fight against obesity, which he says in the US costs $150 billion a year to treat. In the UK, he secured government funding for healthier menus in 2005, followed by new national guidelines for healthier school meals.

His efforts got the attention of organizers of the TED Prize, which awarded him the annual cash award of $100,000 last week to make his wish come true: "If I had a magic wand," he said at the conference, "What would I do? I'd just love to be put in front of the movers and shakers in America. That's you people out there." He goes on to say that the food most kids are eating today will shorten their lifespan by 10 years. The heart of his program is to build a "strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again, and empower people everywhere to fight obesity."

Left: Jamie Oliver at the TED Conference last week. Right: Jamie Oliver with British school kids. Photos courtesy the TED Conference (left) and The Guardian (right).

Oliver came to the attention of the TED Prize organizers through his reality show Food Revolution, which begins airing at the end of March on ABC. For the program, he went to Huntington, West Virginia, which he calls "one of the unhealthiest cities in the U.S.A." There he started a school food program based on local funding, which he found, and local farmers who were already there and ready to help.

In one clip from his TED prize speech, he is seen asking fifth graders in Huntington to identify some veggies: a russet potato, some beets, an eggplant. The kids are stumped. They've been raised on a diet of French fries, burgers and other fast food, and they don't even know what real food looks like. Amazingly, Oliver explains, the flavored and sweetened milk served at most middle schools works out to contain a wheelbarrow full of sugar over a period of five years. "We are killing our kids!" he exclaims.

Oliver's main points for fighting obesity, which he will continue to work on using the prize money, break down like this: Have a food ambassador in every supermarket to explain how to cook quick healthy meals at home. Make school lunches from fresh, healthy, local foods. Make corporations stand up and serve their employees fresh healthy food. Teach parents how to cook and how to get their kids into the kitchen with them.

IN OTHER FOOD NEWS, DESIGN AND TYPOGRAPHY FOR COOKBOOKS will be explored at the Type Directors Club when Douglas Riccardi of Memo Productions speaks next month about his cookbook work for Mario Batali and give an survey of cookbook design and typography through the years. This salon will be held at the Type Directors Club at 347 W. 36th St, #603, NYC. Email for tickets and information.