For the last few weeks our family has been engrossed by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, in which the ever-energetic British chef takes on the might of the entrenched American diet in the small city of Huntington, West Virginia. Its ‘David and Goliath’ meets Super Size Me as Jamie seeks to reprogram what would seem to be the most hard-wired aspect of American life. It’s a simple story, but incredibly inspiring.

With the whiff of the Australian federal election still lingering like that of a chop left too long in the fridge, and the parliament hanging silently like an ageing steak, there are increasing cries from right, left and independent for a new way of doing things.

What many want is a return to the politician who is willing to stick her neck out. The politician who is willing to tell us what he believes in. The politician who is willing to stand up for something more than a fast approaching baby.

That politician could learn a lesson or two from Mr Oliver.

Oliver’s goal is fairly simple on the face of it. He wants to get people eating fresh food again. He recognises that in most of the western world, the idea of eating good food prepared with fresh, unprocessed ingredients has been out of vogue for at least two generations. So he’s bypassing the parents and going straight to the kids. In both the UK and the USA, Jamie has been campaigning to replace frozen and deep-fried with fresh and stir-fried in school canteens.

The resistance he meets is enormous. There are the bureaucrats and shock-jocks who think french fries are all the vegetables you need; who think eating ‘healthy’ means eating nothing but lettuce. There are the cooks who have forgotten how to prepare anything that isn’t pre-crumbed. And, predictably, there are many who argue “what right does this Pommy git have to tell us how to live our lives?” or words to that effect.

But Jamie is not deterred. He believes in what he is doing; he sees its critical importance in reducing the incidence of diabetes and preventing way too many early deaths. Jamie also understands that to win people over to your view takes energy and conviction and a thick skin; that these are the essential ingredients needed to change people’s minds. (For a taste of Oliver’s enthusiastic approach, check out his TED talk.)

Next time we have an election, I want a politician to convince of something. Not to attempt to bribe me with an appeal to self-interest, but to tell me what he or she believes in and why I should believe it too. It’s something I think a lot of us want.