'Make cookery compulsory' demand

[Demi]

BBC News
London, UK
12 October, 2006


Health organisations, teachers' unions and children's charities are demanding compulsory cookery lessons in schools.

More than 50 bodies, including the British Heart Foundation, say it is a scandal that so many pupils leave school unable to cook.

They said voluntary lessons in cookery would not reach those pupils most likely to have poor eating habits.

The Department for Education and Skills said, from 2008, schools had to offer lessons to pupils who wanted them.

In a letter to Education Secretary Alan Johnson the organisations - coming together as the Children's Food Campaign - claim his predecessor Ruth Kelly had committed to making cookery a compulsory part of the curriculum in England's schools.

But the DfES said Ms Kelly had not made such an undertaking but had welcomed recommendations by the school meals review panel that all children should be taught food preparation and practical cooking skills.

A spokesman said all pupils starting secondary school from 2008 would have an "entitlement" to these lessons, meaning that schools would be obliged to offer them if requested.

'Vicious circle of ignorance'

But many high-profile organisations, such as the British Dental Health Foundation, Unison, the National Obesity Forum, the British Medical Association and Friends of the Earth, believe this does not go far enough.

Their joint letter to Mr Johnson said: "It is a national scandal that so many young people leave our schools unable to prepare a simple meal. Poor diet is a key cause of the current obesity epidemic.

"And, quite simply, those without basic cooking skills are very likely to be condemned to a shorter life because they will be left with little alternative but to buy expensive, processed food - high in fats, sugar and salt - and pass this pattern of behaviour onto their children."

It said, for 15 years, children had been leaving school with little or no practical ability to prepare and cook food.

"Many of those children will now be parents themselves and, unless they were lucky enough to have been taught these skills in the home, will have been left lacking the ability to look after themselves, let alone others in their care.

"There is an urgent need to break the vicious circle of ignorance and poor diet which is maintained by our failure to give all children this basic life skill during their school life."

A spokesman for the DfES said: "We are setting a priority on teaching children practical cooking skills.

"This is why we have asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to consider how to put a greater emphasis on teaching pupils practical cooking skills in secondary schools through its broad-ranging curriculum review.

"This is also why we recently announced that every pupils should have a cooking entitlement, ensuring that schools must offer practical cooking lessons to every pupil that wishes to learn them."

Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb, said: "It is right to offer cooking as an option in secondary schools but not to make it compulsory.

"It would be odd for citizenship and cooking to be compulsory, whilst studying a modern foreign language is not.

"Schools are there to educate our children and cannot be expected on their own to tackle every social problem."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6040438.stm

[Atrsy]

This amazes me. Here in the US, we have Consumer Science (previously called Home Economics) where all junior high (grades 6-8) students must learn basics of cooking, sewing and homemaking--including child care. These students also are required to take Tech. Ed. where they learn how to build things with wood and metal etc. My kids loved it--boys and girls alike.

[Nancy LC]

Home Ec. wasn't required when I was a young lass, and only girls took it. Fortunately my Mom taught me to cook! I can't believe the number of adults I run into nowadays that don't know how to cook and believe they can't learn the skill. It boggles the mind.

[arc]

And this is the job of the schools... why?

Hey, we can't read or do math, but we are fabulous cooks. :rolleyes: Maybe they should incorporate cooking into the science classes, kind of like Alton Brown does on Good Eats.

[Nancy LC]

And this is the job of the schools... why?
Where else will they pick up the skill? Even parents don't know how to cook these days.

I agree, cooking in science class. :)

[arc]

Where else will they pick up the skill? Even parents don't know how to cook these days.

Sorry, I don't believe it is the job of the schools to fill in for every parental inadequacy. We already spend way too much time on frivilous crap. Maybe the parents need to go to culinary school and then teach their kids at home?

[Nancy LC]

Hmmm... I suppose you could argue the same thing for reading, mathematics, and every other skill we learn in school. Why should schools teach those when parents could?

[arc]

Uh, cooking != reading, math, history, science etc. :daze:

Here's an idea.. why don't we ship our kids off to the schools when they turn 5, let them raise the kids, and then we can get them back when they turn 18. That way the parents don't have to do anything at all!!!

:rolleyes:

Getting back to the topic on hand, IMO it is pretty sad how many adults won't learn to cook. There are plenty of beginner-type cookbooks, websites, TV shows, etc that show the basics. It's just easier to go out for (or call in) something premade than to put out any kind of effort to learn.

[arc]

Nancy, I apologize for going off on you. I am sooo incredibly frustrated and pi.. uh, torqued off about the situation at the schools right now that I could scream. The teachers spend so much time dealing with the lack of basic life skills on the part of a large percentage of kids that there isn't much time left for education. It just seems like the last thing we need is to add more to that burden on the teacher.

Off my soapbox now. This isn't really the place for it.

[Nancy LC]

Apology accepted. :)

How is it that when I was a kid we managed to learn what we needed and have Marching bands, Home EC, wood shop and all kinds of stuff like that? Is it that the kids are just unprepared to learn anything due to poor parental supervision?

[arc]

In some of my sons' classes it takes half of the class period just to get the kids calm enough to take attendance. Then the kids are so unprepared that the teaching time is taken reviewing what they have already done. Some of the kids simply do whatever they want and the teacher has next to no recourse.

Then you throw in the constant stream of programs that don't work. This year, the big thing is CREW. They have a rah-rah assembly almost every morning, supposedly to get the kids wound up to learn, but in reality getting them simply wound up and wasting time.

I seriously think that the boys could spend an solid hour a day studying at home and come out with better education. All of this at a school that scores above state average on the WASL test. :help:

[ReginaW]

How is it that when I was a kid we managed to learn what we needed and have Marching bands, Home EC, wood shop and all kinds of stuff like that? Is it that the kids are just unprepared to learn anything due to poor parental supervision?

Stepping up to soapbox....

Personally I think it's because as a society we've morphed into one that doesn't expect children to primarily learn academics at school - we talk a good story, with mandates like No Child Left Behind, but still almost 26% of students entering ninth grade drop-out before they graduate, and those who manage to graduate are still left with below-par skills, or none at all in critical subjects - 15% never take algebra; 30% never take geometry; 80% never take any advanced mathematics....45% never take chemistry and 75% never bother with physics....just 45% can read at or above the 8th grade level and just 17% understand complex math problems involving more than adding, subtracting and simple division.

These days I am really saddened when I see a teenager who is perplexed if I hand them money to pay for my items and then, opps, I do have the change - but they've already put in the dollar amount I handed them in the computer, so they can't figure out how to make the change due, hand me back my coins and the change the register tells them I am due. Even more disturbing - when you shop and the total is something REALLY simple, like 80-cents and hand over a dollar and the cashier actually has to look at the register to know it's 20-cents change!

Forget about asking how much something is on sale that's discounted by percent - they're LOST....thank God I can do that in my head myself....even when the register is wrong, they insist it's right....until I whip out the pen and paper and SHOW THEM, step by step how to figure out the sale price, show them the register was wrong to get them to do a price over-ride to the correct sale price! Do you know how often I've watched one of these kids call a manager to ask if I'm right?

Very frustrating - but I don't blame these kids....they're only working with what we're teaching them and expecting them to know.

I'm not that old (yet) but things definitely have changed in education - I don't know how or why, but maybe if we get back to the basics first and let parents, family and community worry about the emotional well-being, feel good about yourself, have confidence, socialization skills the educators think are oh so important and seem so focused on; get schools to stop teaching to the test to raise scores and get back to teaching kids the core skills they absolutely need to succeed and advance in their education, maybe just maybe things will change. I dunno.

When I was in school we had home ec (boys and girls both took it), shop (boys and girls both took it), typing, psychology, and a host of other extras - all classes we could add once we had our core basics on the schedule - english, math, science, history, foreign language and gym - if we had time for one more thing on the class schedule.

The idea that the schools should now teach cooking too? No thanks - you know if they are mandated to it, it's just more indoctrination of kids about low-fat anyway!

[Atrsy]

Regina, what's even more fun is to go to the deli and ask for a pint or quart of something. They don't even know ounces or pounds, they only know they have small, medium and large containers and they are on the counter so you can point to the one you want. I even questioned a store manager once about this and he said, well, we have small, medium and large. Go figure!

As for teachers, they are so bogged down with reports and paperwork that they barely have time to think. My daughter teaches orchestra and string lessons and has over 200 students in three schools and she is expected to do evaluations on every student every other week and keep two different folders on each child!

As for cooking, it is a life skill that every student should know to graduate. We're not teaching gourmet cooking here--just basic measuring, mixing, cooking, baking, etc.

[Angeline]

Regina, even teaching low-fat cooking would be better than nothing. At least the kids would learn that all food doesn't come ready made in a plastic container or from the nearest fast food outlet.

[TarHeel]

I was required to take algebra, chemistry, geometry, biology, etc. I still cannot tell you what change I'm supposed to receive. I could probably dissect a worm if I had to, but it hasn't turned out to be of much use to me in life. Don't even begin to talk with me about ounces....I'll just accept small, medium, and large.

The only two courses that I remember being of any use in high school were typing and Latin. Could have taken home ec or shop but never did. I learned to cook through earning Girl Scout badges and from my mother and even more, from my appetite. I've always been an avid reader from grade two, so didn't really need help with that. But then there was Miss Penny, in eleventh grade, who emphasized the rules of punctuation and spelling. Thank you, Miss Penny. You have changed my life.

But cooking? What the heck, it's pretty simple. (unless you want to bake a cake, which I've never really wanted to) But really, you stick a hunk of meat in the oven until it's done the way you like it....or you steam or boil some vegetables until they are almost fork tender....what's the big deal?

I suppose the main point in all of this is that children used to grow up in homes where one of their parents actually cooked rather than ordering take out. Is that not happening anymore in Britain? Can no one open a can of baked beans and heat it up to serve with the bangers?

I refuse to discuss the whole issue of salads. Clearly a no brainer.

Kay

[Lisa N]

If we need schools to teach kids how to follow basic directions such as "place frozen vegetables in a microwave safe dish, add 2 Tablespoons water, cover with plastic wrap turning back 1 corner to vent steam and microwave on high for 10 minutes", the education system has failed in more ways that any of us could possibly begin to imagine. It's not rocket science, people.
Don't know what a 'tablespoon' is? Ask Uncle Google.

I mean...okay, moms, grandmas, aunts and even dads, uncles or grandpas don't have the time, patience and/or skill to teach the next generation how to feed themselves (and shame on them!). There is no shortage of information for anyone who wants to find it; the internet, TV shows, heck...even instructional DVDs.

Personally, I'm teaching my own daughters how to cook and fully expect each of them to be responsible for 1 dinner meal every week in 2 years when they get to 8th grade. Who taught me to cook? My best friend and her mom taught me the basics. I figured out the rest on my own.

[Dodger]

It seems like I spent half my school years diagramming sentences. Learning how to cook would have been a better use of my time.

When I left home, I bought a cookbook and taught myself how to cook. I still can't sew a button on a shirt correctly.

[Nancy LC]

I was talking to an adult not long ago and he was totally intimidated by the cooking terms I used. Perfectly intelligent human being, but he just was overwhelmed by it all, probably not even remotely interested in learning to cook either.

[Lisa N]

The biggest excuse for getting dinner from Boston Market or Pizza Hut on the way home I hear among the women at work that I work with isn't, "I don't know how to cook" but "I don't have time to cook" or "I hate to cook".
IMO, most people today that don't cook today aren't Emerial wannabes 'if only someone would teach me', but they simply don't want to because they have other things they'd rather do with that time; many of those same women had home ec in school. They just don't want to bother with it when there are easier and faster alternatives.

[GeorgeMead]

The idea that the schools should now teach cooking too? No thanks - you know if they are mandated to it, it's just more indoctrination of kids about low-fat anyway! I am generally opposed to compulsory anything. Would it be helpful to provide students with the opportunity to learn cooking skills, absolutely! Will the schools be crippled by the necessity to remain PC? Undoubtedly.

[liddie01]

cooking does help with reading skills, and following directions, with a measurable end result.

[Absinthe62]

Looking back, I have used very little of what I was taught in school. I was reading well before I entered the education system, and to date have not needed to dissect a frog, diagram a sentence, or even recite major historical dates. Granted, the basic math does come in handy, but that's about it. So much for classical education. College did help with the critical thinking skills, but not much else.

I watched my grandmother bake, and probably picked up a thing or two by simple osmosis, plus I've always been a fan of cooking shows. Somewhere along the way I just started cooking. Some of it was a disaster, but most of it has been quite tasty.

I think kids have just lost any sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Many are used to having things given to them, so haven't a clue how to do for themselves. Unless you count stealing something. :rolleyes:

[fujiwara]

I learned to cook when I was sick and tired of eating fast food and didn't have the money to pay for steak, potatoes and salad at a restaurant twice a day.

Necessity is the mother of my cooking skills!

[pennink]

I took years of Home Ec, it wasn't until I was away and married that I let Fanny Farmer's cookbook (and some great friends in Texas) teach me how to cook.

My mom's food never appealed to me, so learning how to make much from her wouldn't have helped.

The one thing in Hom Ec that I remember and have used is when we had to plan a menu for a week, make a shopping list, then prepare one of the meals and 'invite' other students as though it was a dinner party. WOW, that was the best project and I have used those skills all my life.

[Angeline]

Anyone can learn to cook on their own. It's certainly not rocket science. Watch a cooking show, pick up a "for beginners" book, and off you go.

The thing is, you have to want it, and there lies the rub. So many kids (and adults) don't want to learn, can't be bothered or for whatever reason thinks it's too complicated.

What I would like to see is for kids to be taught simple skills that they take with them. How to read a recipe, how to devise a menu, make a shopping list and basic skills...how to chop, fry, bake etc. But more important in some ways, how to prepare simple and fast meals that do not take much more time than nuke something in the microwave. Simple 5 ingredients meals that are ready under 20 minutes or less. That is what is lacking.

If you teach the kids an alternative to ready-made food, they might go for it. It's not enough to simply teach the basic skills like know how to chop, fry, sauté, roast. You have to teach HOW to use to skills to produce something.

I know because that's how I am. I know all the techniques. I can have an intelligent discussion about pretty much anything that has to do with cooking. Mention any classic dish and I'll have heard of it, have a pretty good idea of what's in it, and have an inkling of the technique involved.

But drop me in a kitchen and ask me to come up with dinner and I'll draw a blank. It will take me an hour to think of something to do and find a recipe, and probably another half hour to dash off to the store to get the missing ingredients. I have the knowledge but I lack the ability to put them in practice quickly and easily.

That's what I think would be useful to teach. How to whip something up in a flash.

[Nancy LC]

I seemed to have gotten the ability to make up stuff without a recipe from my Mom. I know my sister can't do it, but after I've made something a few times, I don't even use a recipe.

And I can take seemingly odd things out of the fridge/pantry and throw them together. And they are always at the very least, edible. Sometimes quite darned good!

But it just takes practice and trying new things all the time. Pretty soon you know what goes together and throwing something new in isn't a big deal.

[KoKo]

It's not rocket science, people.

Of course it’s not. It’s just the same as people asking if they can eat this or can they eat that, or what’s induction (when they claim they’ve read the book). I really don’t know how the moderators have the patience to put up with it.

I was brought up knowing that food was cooked. Ordering in or eating out was a rare, very rare treat. When we did eat out, when the waitress came and asked if we wanted dessert we all looked to my Dad and if he nodded, then we knew it was a yes (he must have ordered the all inclusive special ;) ) that happened maybe once every two years. We didn’t feel deprived though, foodwise that is, there were things we might not have had that some of my other friends did and when I was a kid it bugged me. My friend whose mother was on social assistance had nicer clothes than I did, ate at restaurants and had take out a few nights a week, my family in comparison seemed to be scraping by. My clothes were either made or bought used, we never ate out or ordered in, but when my friend came she said she had never tasted real butter before. Or really ever seen someone cook a dinner. My freind and her mother (and her brother) were all overweight and you can’t blame it on poverty because they were spending more than we were on food each month. There were differences in how we spent our money, we could have eaten the way they did but my Dad was paying for the house. It was all about choices, it turned out that between her job and her alimony and assitance she had more coming in than we did, it’s all about choices. Even someone on the lowest budget can make good choices.

It might not be so much about the cooking, let’s just get people reading and then COMPREHENDING - like seriously - you’ve got an oven, you’ve g ot a hunk of meat - stick it in. You’ve got some broccoli, you’ve got a pot, cook it. Even the cheapest cuts of beef these days are perfectly edible with a minimum of cooking, and fish - the original fast food - 2 minutes a side in a hot pan and your good to go.
Definitely not rocket science.

ETA - and I've seen it from both sides because I was a single mother and one with not half as much coming in as the friend I mentioned. and really I could see no other way to get by than by cooking for myself for what a lot of my freinds spent on snacks I could feed my son and I nutritiously for a week.