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Bring back compulsory cooking classes at school

Tory Maguire

by Tory Maguire

12 Apr 06:00am

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Filed under: Cooking, Food, Health, Masterchef, Obesity

99 comments

All those arguing over which version of history should be contained in the national curriculum might want to think about a subject that could mean our current generation lives long enough to achieve some level of appreciation of that history.

Not just a cooking class, a life saving class

Food is on our minds this week, with the return of MasterChef, which last year many commentators hailed as the saviour of real food in our homes. It’s not you know.

On Friday we were told obesity has overtaken smoking as the leading cause of premature death and illness in Australia. Someone who’s never been taught to boil an egg is hardly about to rush out and snap up the ingredients for a batch of Poh’s dumplings.

Until we teach kids to cook rice, make an simple stir-fry or whip up a low-cost bangers and mash, the myth will be allowed to perpetuate that it’s cheaper to feed your kids at McDonalds than to cook for them at home.

And with a whole generation of parents who weren’t taught themselves, it’s time cooking was made compulsory for all high school students, boys and girls.

Amid the multiple ads for golf clubs during the AFL broadcast on Saturday night was a stark illustration of the food wars going on in Australia.

Coles was running ads for its campaign “feed a family of four for under $10.” It might be cynical, but it’s still got to be admired.

The supermarket giant has signed up celebrity chef Curtis Stone to provide recipes for meals you can buy the ingredients for with a blue note.

The very next advertisement was for Red Rooster, with a harried (and slightly deranged looking) working Mum deciding it was better to race through the drive through on the way home and drop more than double that on something alleging to be chicken with some kind of unidentified stuffing.

Then straight away another ad for a McDonalds “family dinner box”, which for nearly $20 contains four burgers, four servings of fries and four soft drinks. The campaign for this product promises you’ll have more time to spend reading and laughing with your kids if you don’t have to wash up.

No one is stupid enough to think their children are better off eating fast food than something they’ve cooked themselves, but if you don’t know how to cook, or you think you don’t have the time, the idea can be terrifying.

The Punch spoke with Accredited Practicing Dietician Julie Gilbert, who said many parents now are completely overwhelmed by the sheer choice of food in our supermarkets.

“They are lost and confused,” Gilbert said. “They don’t know how to read food labels, they don’t know if something is really 97 per cent fat free, and they are so busy they think they don’t have time to work it out.”

“We have completely deskilled ourselves.”

Gilbert now has clients who have absolutely no idea how to prepare even the simplest of dishes, how the food groups work, or the vaguest notion of appropriate portion sizes.

She said teaching cooking at school went out of vogue because it was considered sexist and now “we’ve missed a whole generation.”

There’s a pretty simple solution to that perception of sexism. Make the boys learn too.

No doubt with MasterChef back on our screens there’ll be lots of pieces by enamoured columnists about how their six year old whipped up a braised beef cheek extravaganza after school the other day and we can all rest easy about the obesity crisis for another couple of months.

Yes the program has created a great level of interest in food, but it’s also scarred many people into thinking that if you’re going to cook at home you’d better be Matt Moran.

There’s a happy place in between gourmet and fast food and the only place left to ensure we continue to get there is our schools.

That’s something worth having an argument about.

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99 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Bec says:

      06:34am | 12/04/10

      Cooking is fun and rewarding, and something I wasn’t taught when I was growing up, and my mum was a stay-at-home mum. My fiancewas theson of a working single mother who taught him well. It was a year of daunting, excruciatingly-time consuming trial and error with some of the foulest food being made, but teaching myself how to cook and cook well has been one of the most rewarding skills I’ve ever developed.

      Reply

    • Seamus says:

      08:43am | 12/04/10

      Good on you Bec.  Lovely story.

    • JJJ says:

      07:20am | 12/04/10

      I find it amusing and sad that people are so keen to ensure our youth are taught everything at school. Where is the responsibility for parents in raising well informed, balanced, and capable people?! I completely agree that people should know how to cook and what foods are good for you, however there are only so many hours in a school day and only so many things that should be the responsibilty of compulsory schooling!

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      08:09am | 12/04/10

      I agree but Tory is simply opening up the debate. Ideally it would be easier if parents taught thier kids these skills but unfortunately most cant, and many more wont and asa society we benefit from having some healthy balance in our life.

      Personally I think bring it in. I learnt so much pointless sh*t at school I would of loved to learn something useful and tangible in my everyday life. Oh well time to catch up on y history of famous artist while I eat take away smile

    • Meg says:

      10:23am | 12/04/10

      I too agree that parents need to be involved as well but I think more children will reap the rewards of learning how to cook and being able to use that for a life time is much more important, unlike learing algebra.

    • Happy Daughter in Law says:

      10:19am | 12/04/10

      I love my mohter in law. As a single working mum over the years from when her kids were little she has taught my fiance to be a wonderful cook and he loves doing it. He also cleans and does house work.  his father on the other hand used to rely on quite a bit of pre packed frozen food but still tried. As much as my mother in law has done for her boys it comes down to them as well, my fiances brother is totally the complete opposite!!

    • eeldraw says:

      12:52pm | 12/04/10

      I believe that parents should take an active responsibility for ensuring that children are raised well informed, balanced and capable. But I’m also practical enough to realise that not all parents possess those capabilities. (and regardless of whether they should be allowed to breed or not, as was suggested in another post, they will breed)

      If you are from a home environment where there is little understanding about nutrition/health, unless someone else helps educate you, more likely than not you are going to be a part of a self-perpetuating cycle that you pass on to your children and their children and so on.

      Besides… Cooking - elements of science, maths, language, arts, health and social sciences in a practical application… sounds ideal for the classroom.

    • JJJ says:

      04:52pm | 12/04/10

      @ eeldraw… I agree that it would be MARVELLOUS to teach cooking in school, I just do not agree that it is realistic to have this as a compulsory subject for all students - teachers and students just don’t have enough hours in the school day. If you (as a student) know you know nothing about cooking or food, then take home economics as an elective, as is offered in most schools already. If PARENTS (who need to provide food for their children) are not able to educate their children in cooking, then do you HONESTLY expect schools to be able to fit this in with ALL of the other elements of life/education already expected to be taught!? It’s a nice idea, but sadly not realistic.

      I also agree with you (and others, who have suggested the same thing) that teachers could teach cooking in an integrated manner (i.e. incorportate maths, science, language etc) & this is already done in Montessori and other independent schools. However, as for “sounding ideal for the [regular] classroom” - it really is not. Cooking is messy and outside of Primary school (where many teachers do already do some cooking with their students - as much as you can without a kitchen!)... in high school, teachers who teach cooking will NOT be integrating these skills, as they would be assessing COOKING.

    • lambchop says:

      06:45pm | 12/04/10

      I loved the fact that we had to do home economics when we went to high school.
      For some it was one of the few cooked meals they had during the week.
      Almost 25 years on and I still use that cookbook, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity.

    • Matthew says:

      09:17am | 13/04/10

      Meg, Algebra is very important.  Whether you realise it or not, you use Algebra every day:  I have $10 and the apples are $2 each, i can buy x of them (ie.  x*2=10, what’s x?).  Try buying your ingredients without that.

    • Meg says:

      09:55pm | 13/04/10

      Matthew, if they cant cook, they wont need to work out the costs, a $4.95 happy meal will always be a $4.95 happy meal. The argument you have just put forward doesn’t promote algebra. Yes its algebra but if you break it down all it is, is you pumping up algebra. You can teach a 10 year old about basic division and how many fit into this and that. If you want to get fancy and add letters you are just wasting time, hence like the majority of kids in school learning algebra right now. The equation you have put forward is $10 divided by two….not algebra. The students would be much better equipped with some form of life skills education as in…...home economics, woodwork, financial planning…etc

    • Homeckie says:

      04:45pm | 26/05/10

      @ JJJ… I don’t know why you find it sad that people are so kind to ensure our youth are taught cooking skills at school.  You say that “in high school, teachers who teach cooking will NOT be integrating these skills (i.e. incorportate maths, science, language etc), as they would be assessing COOKING” - you would be labelled incorrect!  These teachers need to assess the whole capacity and therefore this is actually done across the board so that students are assessed if they can read a recipe, know the methods of (and what are) raising agents (and why it is so), be able to measure ingredients, etc. - it is called integration of subjects.  Students who wish to go into the Hospitality Industry for a career need to know the ‘how to’ and ‘what to’ etc from these (other) subjects. 
      To be able to cook a nutritious meal at home is a major breakthrough for alot of students no matter what socio-economic area they may reside.
      So having Home Economics as a compulsory subject (up to the year 10 level) in the National Curriculum would be a major ‘life saving’ subject!!  Obliterate Obesity!

    • Seamus says:

      07:20am | 12/04/10

      This would have to rate as the best suggestion of the year so far.  Probably the decade.  Here’s hoping the giants of curriculum making might take heed.

      Reply

    • K8e says:

      10:09am | 12/04/10

      We had compulsory home ec for 1-2 years in highschool along with art and drama and dance, personally all ‘pointless’ subjects and i’m sure many weill agree, but at least the basics got taught and that’s the way it should be… they’re the bludge subjects that break up the day.

      MAKE IT COMPULSORY.

    • Nic says:

      01:54pm | 12/04/10

      It was also compulsory at my high school for year 7 & 8 to do home economics. Unfortunately, the only thing I can recall us making in food tech class is pancakes and damper. I really don’t recall a lot of basic nutrition being taught. However, I must confess I come from a family where it was (and still is) meat and veg every night. Our treat food was never Macdonalds or the like, we got burgers from the local fish and chip shop so we were still pumped with salad and veg.

    • Karl says:

      10:07am | 13/04/10

      If it doesn’t affect NAPLAN results then it won’t get a look in. That’s the end of it. Sad though, consider you will eat on average 3 meals a day, every day, for the rest of your life, you would think that a basic knowledge of food and food preperation would be a worthwhile thing.

    • ShirleyAnne says:

      07:17am | 12/04/10

      Well said Tory, as a nutritionist and mum, I agree that everyone should learn how to cook, they should also be taught the benefits of good nutrition and why we need certain types of foods.  Would love to teach them while they’re young.  Perhaps they should also learn good housekeeping and good manners which are also lacking in many of our young people today.

      Reply

    • PJ says:

      07:47am | 12/04/10

      The solution is easy; A Great Big New Tax on cooking oil.
      The desired result being to price the junk food industry out of the market.

      Reply

    • Craig Lambie says:

      07:41am | 12/04/10

      Tory! I totally agree.
      I was taught to cook some basics in about year 8, 1992, and I am a boy.
      I have never looked back, and appreciate the lessons from school as well as the home cooking lessons I had every day.
      @JJJ not everyone has parents that can cook, let alone take the time to teach their kids.  As a society I think it is a basic duty for all people to know how to feed themselves, well before they know how to add up or write, so hours in the day is more about priority, and food, warmth shelter are the first in any priorities in life.
      @ShirleyAnne I agree about the housekeeping and manners too!! But definitely less of a priority unfortunately.

      Reply

    • JJJ says:

      08:07am | 12/04/10

      @ Craig. I believe that if people don’t know how to cook basic, nutritional food and don’t have time to teach their children the BASICS to survival, then these people should not be having children. That is NEGLECT, pure and simple. It should therefore not have to fall to schools to provide children with essential life skills that they would otherwise die without (or die early without). It frustrates me that people don’t take responsibility for their own offspring - so quick to blame schools. Children have already learned most life-skills before they even set foot in a classroom. STEP UP PARENTS or don’t become one.

    • Angela says:

      09:23am | 12/04/10

      I totally agree with JJJ comment if my boys leave my home unprepared its nobody but mine and my husbands fault, children are overweight for one reason parents are lazy to do the right thing, they think takeaway is the answer to everything sorry but I am not feeding my boys total rubbish, their is nothing wrong with a couple of times a year but everyday like some this is totally irresponsible and if they cannot cook then maybe like JJJ said they should not even have children at all, how hard is it to boil and egg or make an omelet. People offer to many excuses these days its all down to laziness.

    • Patrick says:

      10:01am | 12/04/10

      But what about if you’re a good parent and show your kid how to make all sorts of foods, only to watch them go spend every cent on junk food and hit the 150 kilo mark with ease?

      My brother’s one of them. Angela’s almost right,  but it’s not just the parents’ fault, it’s kids these days just being too lazy to eat healthily and exercise. Although I only did start eating vegetables regularly again when I nearly passed out at tennis one day. Damn getting old sucks.

    • Ish says:

      10:55am | 12/04/10

      Sorry Patrick but I disagree. If parents put lots of vegies on the table from a young age and keep them there kids will learn, they may refuse but keep them on the plate, encourage your kids and lead by example. Also, parents need to get active and get their kids involved. Go for a walk, kick a ball around the backyard, go to the park. It’s really not hard.

    • TiredMum says:

      11:08am | 12/04/10

      Angela Your not alone, I come home tired from work then have to prepare meals ect, I should put more effort into teaching my boys cooking, we don’t eat alot of takeaway, I just can’t afford it and its probably for the best that we can’t. Once a month we get Thai takeout. Its just easier for me to cook the meals alone and have the boys set the table. My husband burns toast, hes hopeless. I often think if anything happens to me they will starve. I will defiantly out more effort in to teaching the males in my household the basics. My problem is not enough hours in the day.

    • marley says:

      11:36am | 12/04/10

      Tired Mom - even the most inept can peel carrots, wash lettuce, and chop tomatoes. In other words, basic prep.  Have them start with that - takes some of the weight of your shoulders - and teaches them that potatoes do not come in McDonald’s packages.

    • OldGirl says:

      08:03am | 12/04/10

      I am old so forgive me if I sound old fashioned, and cookery should be a basic thing that is taught in schools to both sexes.  In life there is no subject that will be used more than cookery. When I went to school (just after Noah sailed that fake ark) Girls did cookery and boys did metal work,but times have changed and many men are not getting married as young and not only that women should expect a meal cooked for them occasionally or all the time if they are lucky. Too many today depend on takeaway and as a result I am amazed by the overweight people I see on a daily basis. Teaching children cookery will make stronger and healthier adults.

      Reply

    • N says:

      11:49am | 12/04/10

      I agree, Old Girl, but when I learnt the basics of cooking at school early 90’s, boys were allowed too and the ones who chose it liked it. Most of my male friends these days like cooking and do it on a regular basis, except for the (ahem) Mummys boys. My sister, God bless her, is teaching her young sons 3 and 5, to help with kitchen chores and they enjoy making the salad (under supervision), setting the table and kneading dough for bread - it’s fun. And she is a working mother. I think the problem these days is that a lot of parents don’t encourage their kids to do chores like we were expected to do, even at quite a young age.

    • Macca says:

      08:26am | 12/04/10

      Tors for PM

      Reply

    • jed says:

      08:53am | 12/04/10

      considering all the dopes up to their eyeballs in debt, i think some money management skills might be more pressing than farting around in the kitchen.

      Reply

    • Jenny says:

      11:37am | 12/04/10

      Eating out costs a bucket load… Saving money by spending more time in the kitchen is one of the easiest ways to manage expendature!

    • AdamC says:

      01:43pm | 12/04/10

      I agee, Jed. It is amazing how ignorant and inept many people are with money. Financial literacy would be a more appropriate addition to the curriculum. Unlike in the case of cooking, where kids can easily be taught the essentials in the home, many parents do not have the knowledge base themselves to teach kids how to manage their finances.

      If you are wondering how to teach your kids to cook, though, it’s easy. Do what my parents did: make the kids cook one meal a week each.

    • Angela says:

      09:06am | 12/04/10

      I will teach my boys to cook nobody is leaving my household without basic Knowledge school cannot teach everything but History should be mandatory all of it. From Ancient to modern. It amazes me that children think that the Roman Empire was a myth lol, and this is from Year 5 students.

      Reply

    • J says:

      09:16am | 12/04/10

      Do schools still teach Home Ec?  Granted I was a bigger fan of metal working, but when I was at school we were still taught how to cook spag bol and muffins.  Maybe it’s not the heathiest food on the planet, but it was a start.

      Cooking isn’t that hard.  I’m woefully uncoordinated and have a short attention span, but can still whip up a decent nosh.  Except for rissotto.  It’s my white whale.  One day… 

      Everyone has the internet and a great place to start is taste.com.au.  I find cooking a few dishes on the weekend and popping in the freezer means dinner is 5 mins away when I get home from work.  It’s not glamorous, but at least it’s practical.

      Takeaway only as a treat.  Home cooked meals most of the time.  If kids turn their noses up at what’s on offer, no dinner and off to bed.  They’ll soon eat whatever is put in front of them once they’re hungry…

      Reply

    • Anne71 says:

      06:53pm | 12/04/10

      Keep at it J, risotto is nowhere near as difficult as some people may want you to think. I can throw together a basic risotto in around half an hour to 45 minutes. I find it helps if I make sure the rice (and always use arborio!) is well coated in the melted butter and/or olive oil before I start adding the stock. Make sure each ladleful of stock is absorbed before you add more. It’s a good idea to keep a little more stock, or at least some hot water, on hand than the recipe calls for just to be on the safe side. And avoid microwave “short-cuts” - they don’t work. Good luck!

    • bec says:

      12:02pm | 13/04/10

      It can be even easier than that, Anne. I reckon that once you’ve mastered chopping up meat and veg quickly, the actual time you spend on actively handling food can be as little as 15 mins.

      *5mins to chop up chicken and vegetables
      *2mins to sautee onions and garlic, and maybe prosciutto if you like having a bit more flavour in the rice
      *1min to coat the rice with oil in the pot
      *1min to reduce a bit of white wine
      *30sec to add your entire amount of stock and reduce the heat
      *1min30sec to occasionally stir (keep the lid on!)
      *2min to stir in the meat
      *2min to stir in the vegetables and parmesan

      Obviously you need longer to actually let the rice cook, but ultimately a lot of that time can be used to do chopping, set the table, etc. Once you’ve perfected it to a fine art, risotto is the easiest and most versatile dish you can teach yourself.

    • marley says:

      09:10am | 12/04/10

      Yes, basic cooking should be taught in schools - and not just because it gives young folks an invaluable life skill.  It also reinforces the importance of basic reading (what does this recipe say?) and arithmetic (how do I halve the ingredients?) and teaches them something about biology and nutrition (what IS a carbohydrate, and why does it matter?).  Heaven knows that anything that encourages kids to work their brains and not their x-box is a good thing.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      09:26am | 12/04/10

      I concur with the position that having knowledge of how, and more importantly, what, to cook is a valuable tool for a young person to have in their transition between youth and adulthood. I disagree with the position that it should be made compulsory, however, as I feel there are a raft of other equally valuable skills a young person may stand to benefit from, the broader spectrum of which a primary and/or secondary education could never realistically aspire to cover in any meaningful depth. While I might believe a knowledge food preparation is important, the next person might prioritise financial education above cookery, so how would we discern between whose priorities are the more valid in the sense of formalising one or the other into a compulsory education framework? The only solution would seem to be offering all of them as elective subjects to choose from, a solution that is already made available in secondary schooling.

      Reply

    • Markus says:

      10:03am | 12/04/10

      Agreed that it should be included in curriculum (if not already, all schools i knew of had the option), but should not be mandatory.
      I was taught to cook while still at home, so did not bother with Home Ec at school. I took up a language instead which put always interested me and has put me in good stead since.
      Having a mandatory course would disadvantage those who already have these skills, who could have put the time to further another aspect of their education.

    • marley says:

      11:44am | 12/04/10

      Depends on the age at which we’re talking about introducing cooking .  I’d say learning the basics of the kitchen is a lot more important for an 8 or 9 year old than financial management or even another language.

      As kids get older, of course other priorities will emerge.  But don’t forget, one of the points is to teach kids enough that they understand what good nutrition really is.  And that will set them up for healthier lives than a lot of young people today (and their parents) who live on takeaway and high-fat, high-salt foods, are likely to have.

    • Ana says:

      09:20am | 12/04/10

      I’m a single working mum, but I stil manage to find the time to teach my 6 year old how to do the basics. She can make an omelette (with help turning the cooktop on), helps peel the vegetables for dinner and knows how to use the food processor and other kitchen tools. She can identify the different herbs we have growing in the garden as well as help pick out the fruit and veg at the markets, so forgive me if I dont buy into the “lack of time” complaint from many parents.

      I’m all for a balanced curriculum in schools, but I think the balance has shifted way too far and we expect schools to provide our children with even the basic, yet necessary life skills that is surely the job of a parent to pass on?

      Reply

    • Innocent says:

      09:08pm | 12/04/10

      It depends on the kid. I have a 9yo, she can’t tell the difference between beef, lamb, chicken and pork (raw or cooked), doesn’t know any of her herbs and can’t remember ANYTHING from one meal to the next. She has no clue where any of the kitchen utensils are or what they are called and we use them daily. She doesn’t watch what she is doing so I can’t get her to help chop things up, and she seems immune to pain so I can’t get her to fry or stir anything hot or she burns herself without noticing. Worse, she tests if something (like steam) is hot by putting her hand right in it.

      Meanwhile my 2 year old can identify most herbs, meats and vegetables and can fetch and return utensils from the cupboard for me if asked but of course is too young to ask to help peel and chop. If I turn my back while I’m making a salad she’ll be there stirring it for me. Very helpful, and nothing like her big sister.

    • Sara says:

      09:22am | 12/04/10

      I worked for a private boys school a few years ago, where as part of a redevelopment they were putting in a kitchen-classroom. Whilst the parents thought this was a fantastic idea, the old scholars (who had contributed most of the money for the project) were outraged. The belief that boys, particularly rich boys, shouldn’t be learning such things is still alive and well.

      Reply

    • Kate says:

      10:19am | 12/04/10

      that is truly heinous… I can’t believe that this kind of crap still goes on…

      My partner, 25 y/o male enjoys cooking more than i do, so he does the majority in our house, it’s a basic life skill and has served him (and his previous housemates!!!) well…

      I’d have thought masterchef and the popularity of male chefs would have stemmed this ridicullous notion..

      but then again, i guess it’s only the soccer and football and other sports matter…?

      :( Sad.

    • Seamus says:

      10:53am | 12/04/10

      I guess I would easily be in the same age group as the old boys and I say what a lot of silly old buggers if they still adhere to that attitude.

    • Toni says:

      09:42am | 12/04/10

      I totally agree that the basics like cooking and sewing should be taught in school. After all we all have to eat & wear clothes & mum is not always going to be there to do it for you. Nothing fancy has to be taught, just the basics & especially nutrition. Maybe if more day to day living courses were being taught in our schools then things like obesity would eventually be a thing of the past. The school ciriculum as a whole should be looked at, what suits some students doesn’t necessarily suit others. It’s pretty bad when kids of today leave school and they can’t even spell the basic english language.

      Reply

    • oh dear says:

      03:19pm | 12/04/10

      I agree with Toni, people should be taught to spell… words like ‘curriculum’ for example.

    • Anne71 says:

      07:23pm | 12/04/10

      @oh dear - You may know how to spell but you certainly don’t know anything about manners. Did your parents never tell you that it is extremely rude to publicly correct someone? @Toni - I completely agree.  Basic cooking classes are a great idea, even if it is just one term or semester. They don’t have to do anything elaborate, just learn the different skills and techniques that you need to get by in the kitchen. Yes, it may be the sort of stuff that one should learn at home, and I myself learned it from my own mother (and father!) but not everybody has or had that opportunity.Why not make sure our kids have that knowledge before they leave school and then perhaps they’ll be in a position to teach their own children one day?

    • Kim says:

      09:46am | 12/04/10

      What I find funny is I was taught cooking in school. I still have the recipes and only one of them is healthy. My son is being taught cooking in school and so far he has only learnt 3 healthy recipes in 3 years. It is not the schools responsibility. At home he has learnt to make healthy pizzas, salads and meals. He knows to reduce salt and fat intakes and to increase eating vegetable and fruit. I taught him this, not the school as it is my responsibility. It is about time parents stop playing the blame game and actually raised their children themselves.

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      09:47am | 12/04/10

      I agree with mandatory cooking classes/ While they are at it they should introduce mandatory politics as well.

      Reply

    • anonymoose says:

      09:45am | 12/04/10

      I was taught the basics of cooking and sewing along with all the boys and girls at my private high school in 1996 but I already knew my way around a kitchen by then! Parents should involve children in cooking before they even get to school.

      Reply

    • Anna says:

      10:00am | 12/04/10

      When I went to school (in this century even!) we had compulsory cooking for 6 months, then we got a choice of one of either cooking, sewing, metalwork, or woodwork. Surprisingly the classes became sex-separated, but still 30% of my class were boys. I chose to take 4 years of cooking - for two years I chose it over physics. Perhaps a bad choice as I went into Science as I am still not a very good cook. The best things I ever learnt there was not how to cook, but what not to eat.
      How many years do you think it takes to undo millions of years of human evolution and conditioning that fat and sugar is good? You can teach people how unhealthy things are all you want, but what people care most about is social stigma and while being obese is still ‘socially acceptable’ there will still be rising levels of it. And while Matt Preston is still on a cooking show showing us that you too can be overweight and socially acceptable people will still think it’s ok to be his weight or heavier.

      Reply

    • Julia says:

      10:35am | 12/04/10

      I’m going to blame feminism for this one.

      Housework and cooking were symbols of ‘domestic manacles’ used by feminists to get women’s interest. How easy it was to prey on the bored woman at home and say that she shouldn’t have to peel potatoes or wash the floor or clean the toilet?

      So through my 20s, swayed by women who were by then aging feminists who bragged about never having ironed a teatowel in their lives, I eschewed cleaning and cooking. I proudly told anyone who’d listen that I didn’t cook, I defrosted.

      Eighteen months ago, I bet my husband that we couldn’t go a month without takeaway food or eating out. We did. And we did it easily.

      So now we rarely get takeaway and we seldom eat out. Through trial and error, my husband has become the potato king and I’m the slow cook expert.

      Reply

    • Nico says:

      09:49am | 11/01/11

      @Julia, I wouldn’t go so far as to blame feminism. The ‘ageing feminists who bragged about never having ironed a teatowel…’ are generally the stereotypical, extremist types who are few and far between (unless you count the media, who generally assumes there’s one on every corner, throwing away razors and yelling at men who open doors for them!) The vast majority of feminists advocate choice, so you want to stay at home and cook, go right ahead.
      Besides, I’m a vocal feminist, as you can tell (ha ha) and i love cooking, always have. My mother was pretty much the best teacher of women’s equality and how to make a mean shortcrust pastry.

    • Shaz says:

      10:48am | 12/04/10

      I really dont understand how some people think this is too hard to teach.  I work and have 3 kids, yet they are all learning basic cooking, housework and budgeting.  We have many years to teach them, so start small.  My kids started with scrambled eggs on toast.  They help chop up ingredients to help me prepare dinner.  They also ask questions and ask for more responsibility next time we make this dish.  They are now going through recipe books and requesting ingredients from the next food shop.  They are also learning to save their money and look out for specials on items they want to purchase to get better value.  It is easy to get into the habit of incorporating this into daily routines.

      Whats the point of having kids if you are not going to help them with basic life skills?

      Reply

    • Sarcastic says:

      10:59am | 12/04/10

      All women should know how to cook. There’s nothing worse then meeting a gal and then finding out she can’t cook breakfast because she educated herself and now sits on the board of 7 different companies.

      Reply

    • Christian Real says:

      11:12am | 12/04/10

      Tory,
      At the school I attended ,cooking classes were part of the school subjects but was only for the girls.
      I self taught myself to cook over the years and even my wife tells me that I can cook better than she can.
      I do mostof the cooking at home, when I can, and I enjoy doing it.

      Reply

    • Brad Coward says:

      11:18am | 12/04/10

      Couldn’t agree more !  My mother in law taught my wife everything that she knows about the culinary arts.  I’ve always suspected that she did this on the of chance that she didn’t like the future son in law !

      Reply

    • Jane says:

      11:27am | 12/04/10

      We had cooking classes at both High Schools that i attended. they were great, fun and you got something out of it at the end. one of my classmates decided that they wanted to be a chef because of it. that said i learn’t more at home from my health concious mother than i did at school.

      Reply

    • Susan says:

      12:02pm | 12/04/10

      You know what has remained with me all these years since my compulsory cooking lessons? Remembering the teacher’s repeated admonition to butter bread to the edges; being afraid to light a gas stove and blancmange.  I’ve never had blancmange or been offered it since then.  So, few of my lessons were sensible and aiming to teach basic skills as such so that when I finally did start to cook away from home I battled with veges cooking in time for the meat and so on. I can laugh of course at all that now but those are the basic skills any compulsory class should be teaching.  Simple, nutritious fare, how to buy food and how to use left-overs. I am stunned sometimes at the food wastage I see from people who don’t really known how to use up items creatively.

      Reply

    • bella starkey says:

      12:02pm | 12/04/10

      I’m pretty sure it is.

      I had to do cooking, sewing and woodwork in years 7 and 8, which was a bit of a waste of time really because food we made at school was really disgusting, ultra healthy crap (pancakes with yoghurt), sewing lesson was taken up by people rehemming thier skirts shorter and i really have no use for the knowledge of how to make a small wooden box with my bare hands.

      Reply

    • Pixie says:

      12:25pm | 12/04/10

      Waste of time Bella???
      Making a wooden box from your own bare hands!!
      Must have been a marvelous time in your life to reflect this memory of usless information. You must be overjoyed at the prospect of teaching your new children these great feats? But I am at a loss as to what you actually eat if you don’t cook? What will your children eat?

    • Alexander says:

      11:54am | 12/04/10

      “We have deskilled ourselves”
      I think for some people the amount of stuff they need to know to do their job now is so totally overwhelming that they thought of cooking as well would be enough to drive them to drink.  We have made basic personal survival skills such a low priority in our lifestyles now that we have created an whole industry around it.  Personal Trainers and Life Coaches.
      Why are we in such a position that people are working and traveling such long hours and then needing to fill in the rest of their time, leaving nothing for looking after themselves or for contemplation?

      Reply

    • bec says:

      11:54am | 13/04/10

      The same goes for basic haberdashery and clothing repairs. People actually take their clothing to a tailor or dry cleaner to fix a hem or a missing button. Who doesn’t know how to sew on a button?!

    • Mr Pastry says:

      12:06pm | 12/04/10

      My mother brought up six boys and told us all that women, when we were older, will not be willing to do what she had done and we were all taught to cook, sew etc.  Unfortunately mother was right and my wife of 20 years has never cooked.

      Reply

    • Men do cook says:

      02:23pm | 13/04/10

      Nice to know other men do all the cooking to although I am regarded as being weak by male work colleagues for doing so.  When my wife does have a go the kids call it landfill

    • thomas vesely says:

      12:09pm | 12/04/10

      the table is the real altar of life.its a place for love,discourse,plots,togetherness,joyous inebriation,announcements.family and friends.to share food,time and stories..cook with all this in mind.unless your children are cretins they should catch on.

      Reply

    • Jen says:

      12:01pm | 12/04/10

      My mother wouldn’t let me do anything in the kitchen. She was fiercely protective of it. I had to do it the hard way; I taught myself to cook and do a pretty good job of it too. I can cook anything from tangines to souffles, and all from scratch..

      Getting kids involved in cooking is a life skill that you will use for the rest of your days. It gives you control over what is going into your body, and the ability to change it if you don’t like it..
      Check out Jamie’s school dinners as an eye opener on how little kids in the UK know about what goes into their mouths… we are definately heading the same way. I don’t like Jamie Oliver personally, but the series was definately engaging and illuminating.. particularly some of the health problems cropping up in your children due to their highly processed diets

      Discovering fresh food is an experience that many from my generation (late 20s / early 30s) are missing. Most of my friends eat from cans, the freezer or packets and can’t understand why dinner at my place tastes so good (despite having numerous food intollerances).
      Not being able to cook as an adult is a personal choice. To say, mum cooks everything for me is a joke as an adult, just because you live at home is no excuse not to help out in the kitchen or to be independent in at least some small way. Likewise to not have clue what goes into your chicken nuggets or meat pies is equally disturbing.. Maybe that why so many of us keep eating that crap!

      Yes, some things are time consuming to cook, but if you are time poor check out Donna Hay’s “No time to cook”. It is full of simple and quick meals that are extremely tasty and pretty healthy.. most are pretty cheap as she uses lots of things that you’d have sitting at the back of the fridge (eg left over curry pastes, left over herbs, half a packet of noodles etc). It’s used pretty much every week in my kitchen..

      Reply

    • Pixie says:

      12:17pm | 12/04/10

      Wow!!! what a shock to find out that cooking is no longer compulsory…It was when I grew up and was one of the best things I ever learnt….feel sorry for the kids of today -too bad their computers can’t cook!

      Reply

    • John says:

      12:42pm | 12/04/10

      It seems that looking through these comments, that cooking is still taught in high school’s for one semester as part of Home Economics.

      So the question has to be asked, are there any school’s that DON’T already teach cooking?

      Reply

    • Anita says:

      12:44pm | 12/04/10

      Back in the dark ages of the 1980s my co-ed high school had compuslory classes in Home Economics (we weren’t allowed to call it ‘cooking’), Sewing, Tech Drawing, Woodwork, Metalwork etc - for BOTH sexes. I’m fairly sure that some of the basics of cooking taught in those classes are the foundations of most of my peers’ family meals to this day. ...and I still have a fairly wonky wooden breadboard that I made in woodworking class.
      This was thought to be pretty progressive at the time. Who would’ve thought it could be removed from the syllabus all together - especially in these so called enlightened times?

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      12:56pm | 12/04/10

      Hmm I was at school in the 90s and they taught us to cook.  Not a huge amount but the basics.

      Is red rooster really that bad? Surely its better than KFC?

      Reply

    • Sophie says:

      01:22pm | 12/04/10

      Andrew - Red Rooster is pretty terrible, did you know that a 1/4 chicken from them contains over 600 calories and an insane amount of sodium and fat? Better than KFC but a KFC burger meal with the burger and the large chips contains around the same amount of calories. Bearing in mind that if you get the red rooster, you are likely to be drinking soft drink and also eating fries it really adds up!

      I agree that they should bring back cooking and home ec type things. I remember being absoloutely awful at wood and metal work at school but it gave me a huge appreciation of carpentry. I wasn’t that good at cookery classes either but was able to acheive high grades as it wasnt rocket science :D I graduated in 2003, it wasnt until 2001 that they did away with the cookery etc. Would be nice to bring it back.

      My sisters little girl is in kindy and they try to get the kids make little fruit skewers and pita breads with smiley faces that sort of thing for lunch time. This is a fantastic idea, children are so much more likely to eat healthier foods if they are able to lend a hand in the kitchen - no matter how much mess they make!!

      Reply

    • Flame says:

      01:45pm | 12/04/10

      When my son was at high school in the early 90’s, his high school had home economics, i coerced him into doing this class as a way of meeting girls. However besides the girl option, he discovered he really enjoyed this class. He learnt about nutrition, food groups, basic cleanliness etc etc plus he learnt to cook basic meals and would bring home the results quite proudly. It stirred his interest in cooking and then he was never out of the kitchen, trying out different things and now he makes one of the best roasts out.

      It was standard practice as I grew up in the 70’s that we had home economics and physical eduction classes twice a week. As there are so many families that do rely on the quick fix of take-away plus all the political correctness of keeping children wrapped in cotton wool and away from things that may hurt them..(eg: knives, hot ovens etc etc)....our children are gradually losing basic life skills that we all learnt in school. It may be old fashioned thinking but maybe that’s where we need to look to find answers for what is going on today. Basic life skills taight both in and out of school.

      Reply

    • Eliza says:

      02:16pm | 12/04/10

      The real story here which wasn’t highlighted, is that why isn’t cooking/home economics compulsary anymore? The truth will be found in the realignment of curriculum which has downgraded the actual skills to instead develop critical thinking skills about what is being told to us about food. So instead of being able to make a good beef stew and tasty apple crumble, a discussion is held to question how do we know if in fact these foods really are good for us.

      Reply

    • Karen says:

      02:46pm | 12/04/10

      How can any possible topic for a school curriculum be more important than what we put into our mouths every day?

      These days we have the ability to convenienly poison ourselves with toxic fats and artificial foods with gay abandon, yet we would teach ancient history rather than teach our kids how to stay healthy - I see no logic in this. Yes Parents should hold the responsibility, but this approach has already failed. We can tell this by the thousands of people dying of obesity related illness in front of our eyes.

      The comment that most concerns me is this:

      “They are lost and confused,” Gilbert said. “They don’t know how to read food labels, they don’t know if something is really 97 per cent fat free, and they are so busy they think they don’t have time to work it out.”

      Let me suggest this.. If you have to read a nutrition label to know if it’s healthy - don’t eat it. Vegetables, fruit, wholegrains and lean meats do not need nutritional labels to shout at you about their nutritional value, we all know they will not make you fat if eaten in balance.

      If you’re in the aisle trying to decide between the standard 2 minute noodles and the 97 % fat free ones - take a good hard look at yourself….. what you are holding is just a packet of empty calories.

      Look at your kid’s plate. Take off anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognise. Fill it up with something vegetable based or whole grain and you are 90% of the way there.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      03:38pm | 12/04/10

      Yeah but not at school, dear, which is where children should be getting their brains wired. I mean, even a bloody daschund knows what to eat, and if your kids don’t know what to eat, them tell them. Takes 15 minutes.

    • HeckleandJeckle says:

      03:10pm | 12/04/10

      I was delighted the other day to see a new homnid had been found, another link in human evolution, but its strikes me as odd that after being on the planet for over 2 million years we don’t seem to know what to eat. We have had fire for thousands of years and have probably been cooking ever since. Yet today we seem to have lost the skills and takeaway places thrive. Teaching children to cook either at home or in the school seems to me to be a basic life skill

      Reply

    • Melissa says:

      03:43pm | 12/04/10

      I graduated year 12 in 2005. Back in year 8, they offered all the standards home ec, sewing, metal work, wood work etc. It was compulsory to choose one subject a semester for year 8. I chose wood work and metal work, as it was the cool thing to do then. I learnt literally nothing from either of those classes.
      My mum didn’t teach me to cook either, being a single mum of 3 kids, the kitchen was her haven and her ‘alone’ time. I moved out of home not knowing how to boil an egg, heck i could barely make toast without burning it. My entire cooking repetoire consisted of 3 minute noodles.
      It was lucky that i moved out of home into my boyfriends house, who was a trained chef. He taught me the basics, and thats all i’m interested in knowing. I hate cooking.
      He cooks every night in our household, and i clean up the kitchen. Works for us. it’s interesting to see how gender roles have changes over time.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      03:46pm | 12/04/10

      Yeah I remember cooking classes at school ; we used sneak in to the cooking room to set all the oven alarms at 8.45, and they’d all go off and ‘colonel sanders’ - our Headmaster - would be lookin’ up at the sky to see what’s comin’ back down to Earth.
      Learning to cook properly takes as much time as anything else on the planet, and boys, anyway, shouldn’t be wearing an apron until there married !

      Reply

    • Julie says:

      04:18pm | 12/04/10

      I appreciate that many people think that this is a matter that should be taught by parents but the Home Ec I did at school was much more than just “cooking”. We learnt about the food groups, budgeting out how much meals cost, nutrition, etc. We also catered a christmas meal for our parents and raised money by making cookies.  This gave us an insight into what a catering or professional cooking career might be like. Some of this can’t be taught effectively at home.  I grew up in the country and went to a public school where we learnt all this. My city-boy husband who went to a private catholic school couldn’t boil an egg when I met him. He now loves to cook, having learnt off me.  This subject should definitely be compulsory in schools at some level.

      Reply

    • JJJ says:

      04:50pm | 12/04/10

      Just to ease your mind, Julie ... nutrition and health is already compulsory in NSW primary schools. All students (if the current curriculum is being taught the way it should be) are being given a sound basis for food and nutrition including food groups, what different foods do to our bodies, and what the labelling on packaging means (and how to read it). Students are also taught about advertising and the ‘tricks’ marketers use to make us buy different foods. Primary school students also study budgeting and finances. As to why your husband could not boil an egg… I suspect his mother never asked him to help in the kitchen!

    • Cratsky says:

      04:31pm | 12/04/10

      Cooking classes were the best! Fond memories of eating all the food and having to ask the teacher for more sultanas and nuts as it’d somehow spontaneously ‘disappeared’.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      09:17pm | 12/04/10

      Sultanas and nuts,hey.
      What school did you go to… night school ?

    • Sheena says:

      06:21pm | 12/04/10

      Yeh and just add to that; parenting skills, fixing stuff around the home, growing your own vegies.  The list goes on of ‘practical’ stuff that our kids will never learn because both parents have to work just to keep the roof over their kids heads these days..
      Besides, that’s more useful than what year Napolean won the Battle of Waterloo isn’t it and it would keep our kids more sane and able to budget.  Ah.. another thing I was never ‘taught’ and had to work out for myself..

      Reply

    • Bella says:

      06:41pm | 12/04/10

      yes good on you Bec, nothing better then cooking a lovely meal to enjoy with family and friends.
      Compulsive cooking at schools is a good thing.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      10:35pm | 12/04/10

      ..’.yes, stephen, and did you learn this at school ?’
      ‘Yes, well, auntie bev, i also leaqrnt ter cook stake en taties.’
      ‘And what about the gravy, dear ?
      ‘Er naw that was in year 11’.

    • SarahJaneJones says:

      07:29pm | 12/04/10

      As someone whose parents can’t cook, I never learnt. I think those that grew up with cooking would just be astounded at what I cannot do. Cooking is a nightmare for me. I don’t know how to cut vegetables, I don’t know how to tell when meat or vegetable are cooked, I don’t know how hot to set my stove or oven to the right temperature…It can all be figured out but it just makes cooking time consuming and stressful.

      Reply

    • Linda says:

      08:24pm | 12/04/10

      You know, I don’t think learning to cook in school is gonna fix the problem. I’ve had cooking for a year in school (compulsory) and, boy, was I glad when it was over cause the stuff we had to cook was HORRIBLE! On the other hand, my mum is an excellent cook, as was my nan and between the two of them they taught all of us children to cook to the point that we could easily whip up a three course dinner by the time we left home because we shared cooking duties amongst ALL the family.
      Bottomline is: If you have kids it’s YOUR responsibility to bring them up into self-sufficient and responsible grown-ups. Not everything can be done by schools.

      Reply

    • Brett L says:

      09:08pm | 12/04/10

      I’m 43 years old and only learnt how to Blanche vegetables last week, and now i love doing it! To bring back cooking classes in school would be a tremendous idea. Teach both sexes how to cook a nutritious meal. Teach the concept of healthy eating and lifestyle. How much would that save the tax payers in Cholesterol lowering drugs in the 2050’s: Heaps!
      Gillard is doing a great job with my school,  take it further bring in cooking, driver education classes, financial and budgeting class, bring these young ones some National education. And bring back the bottle of milk each morning.

      Reply

    • Ben81 says:

      12:42am | 13/04/10

      My mum taught me to cook proper meals, dad taught me how to cook lazy bachelor food out of whatever I can scrape together in the kitchen (I cook either depending on my mood), and I did home economics at high school solely for the purpose of meeting girls, which was semi-successful.

      I think most parents still have an idea what they’re doing, and there’s really no substitute for learning at home.  Maybe the epiphany for a lot of people, well it was for me anyway, is the day they be bold and discover a steak shouldn’t be a grey piece of leather, and a bit of red won’t hurt you and makes it something else entirely.

      Reply

    • Ally says:

      06:23am | 13/04/10

      I graduated from a smallish (600kids) qld state high school in 2002 and while I was there it was compulsory for every body to do a semester of home economics and also a semester of manual arts after which you would pick one to do for another year. as a younger kid we all couldn’t wait to get to the grade where we could do home ec and have food to bring home on the bus and show off what we had made. Many people actually went on to pick it as a non board subject (boys AND girls) for their senior years and got hospitatlity certificates out of it. I really hope schools that don’t have it bring it in!

      Reply

    • Al says:

      09:32am | 13/04/10

      I am just curious, when did the NSW public school system change?
      At far as I was aware, every student (boys and girls) had to do a Semester of Home Economics (cooking), Sewing (I forget the offical name now) and 2 of the ‘trade’ subjects (Woodwork, Metalwork or Technical Drawing).
      This was done during years 7 and 8, then the child (and parents) decided which elective classes they would take for their School Certificate (after having an introduction to them in years 7 and 8).
      When did this set up change? Or are there some schools which don’t follow this format?
      By the way, I went to a VERY small high school (around 500 kids all up yrs 7 to 12) in NSW.

      Reply

    • Billy says:

      09:34am | 13/04/10

      I think this is an excellent idea. Some level of education at high school for this subject for both boys and girls would make a substantial difference to not only their health but to the whole health care budget of the nation in the long run. I also think that the same concept could be applied to banking and advertising which would enable young people to make better informed decisions on spending and encourage the benefits of saving.

      Reply

    • Shady says:

      11:15am | 13/04/10

      In the 1950’s in grades 7 & 8 the boys did manual arts training and the girls did domestic science. I was fortunate at my High School in the early 1960’s with 2 free periods on a Friday in Form 6 (year 12) we boys were offered gardening or domestic science. We chose domestic science - mainly because the domestic science teachers were nowhere like our other teachers (they were much, much younger). The experience was fun and even made the pages of one of the national “woman’s magazines” The reasoning behind the experiement was as 17 - to 18 year olds we were about to leave home (no Unis, Training Colleges or Further Education Centres in regional areas and we needed the basic skils. Did not do me any harm and can still iron a shirt still cook with or without a recipe (who needs them?)  and can still sew on a button. My garding skills are non existant

      Reply

    • L of Melb says:

      11:06pm | 13/04/10

      Sure, no problem, this won’t be a waste of time for the kids who still struggle to read at all. *dripping with sarcasm* Vegetarian kids get an automatic fail. Likewise Islamic kids or any with allergies. And those with possible violent behavioural issues? Let’s give them knives!!

      Can’t wait for the wrongful death lawsuits when a class learning to make peanut brittle causes a fatality.

      Reply

    • Kay says:

      02:28pm | 14/04/10

      Dear L of Melb,  The children you mention here are those who would benefit most from a class that engages with them about food - a topic which is relevant to everyone - and through which each key learning area of the Australian curriculum can be experienced.  They can learn to read and process instructions using a recipe, they can engage in discussions about their religion whilst chowing down on some falafels made with parsley grown in their garden (for the vegetarian ones) after having discovered the nutritional values of chickpeas and the economic impact the pulse growing industry has on world economies.  Rather than bad behaviour, using your hands and minds to make food to eat creates a sense of calm amongst young people, perhaps because they end up achieving and having fun.  My charity works with kids like these all the time, delivering food education both in and out of school, with and without knives!  If you’d like to volunteer check out http://www.childrensfoodeducation.org.au

    • L of Melb says:

      07:15pm | 14/04/10

      I would like to agree with you, but my own experience of school is too fresh in my mind. The posh private school I attended already had a number of girls who brought knives in their bags every day, and I was failed a science class for refusing to participate in dissection.

      Life just isn’t that beautiful.

      Reply

    • Shayne says:

      10:33pm | 25/04/10

      Cooking at school compulsory? How ridiculous.

      Reply

    • Claire Hodges says:

      02:36pm | 05/08/11

      Learning about food, learning how to cook and learning how to cook with your heart has become increasingly rare in this demanding fast-paced world. Praise goes to those people who are willing to teach themselves to cook and pick up such a rewarding skill.

      Reply
 
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