Washington, December 23: British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver will win the 2010 TED Prize next month for his work “transforming the way we feed our children, and ourselves.
The award, which lists President Bill Clinton, Bono and Dave Eggers among its previous winners, will see the chef receive $100,000 and be granted “one wish to change the world.”
Oliver was chosen for the award in recognition of his UK school dinners campaign, the Fifteen Foundation, which trains up young chefs, and the television series Food Revolution USA, the organisers said.
It will be presented at a ceremony in January by US-based non-profit TED, which stands for “technology, entertainment and design.”
TED is also known for organising a high-brow annual conference for key thinkers in the three subject areas, where speakers have included Al Gore, Bill Gates, the founders of Google, the evangelist Billy Graham and various Nobel Prize winners.
“It’s incredibly exciting to welcome Jamie Oliver to join our line-up of change catalysts,” the prize’s organizers said in an online statement.
Since its launch in 2005, the TED prize has been given to 15 “exceptional individuals” who were recognized for having “wishes big enough to change the world.”
Past winners include scientists, artists, filmmakers, authors and mathematicians. Oliver is the first chef to be chosen.
—Agencies