Will you sign Jamie Oliver’s petition for food education?

Jamie Oliver isn’t just a celebrity chef — he’s also a crusader for healthy eating and he’s taking on the issue of global childhood obesity with his new campaign.

According to the World Health Organization, over 42 million children under the age of five are overweight or obese and the rate of worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. This means Jamie Oliver’s mission to bring food education to all kids has never been more important.

Yesterday Oliver announced his biggest campaign ever in the concert hall at Sydney’s Opera House: a global petition to put pressure on the governments of the G20 countries to provide all schoolchildren with food education.

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“By educating children about food in a practical, fun and engaging way, we can provide them with the knowledge and skills they so urgently need to lead healthier, happier lives,” said Oliver. “We need to make practical food education a compulsory part of every school curriculum across the world, and that’s why I’ve launched a petition calling on all G20 countries to action this. With enough support from millions of people around the world, I truly believe that we can create a movement that’s powerful enough to make governments take action.”

“I’ve been campaigning in different countries for a while now and we’ve begun to see real change in some countries with cooking lessons in schools, but now I’m taking it global,” Oliver added. “[The childhood obesity] figures are shocking and we need everyone — governments, businesses, families — to do something about it.”

Jamie Oliver’s third annual Food Revolution Day takes place on May 15 and focuses on getting kids cooking, with thousands of schools and ambassadors from 90 countries hosting educational food events.

You can sign Jamie Oliver’s petition in support of food education for every child on the Food Revolution Day website.