I'm a bit miffed about this Food Tech ingredients list

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

Not feeling brave enough for AIBU, and I'm sure the teacher has her reasons, but this is what DS needs to take to school next week. He's 14/Y9, do not into GCSE course yet, and food tech isn't one on his options. Also, he has food tech after lunch, and has to carry his cooking around for the rest of the day, as the fridges are full of heat the morning lessons have made. OK for scones, but for chicken?

Here is the offending ingredients list:

Thai Green Curry - 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 80g sugar snap peas, 2 small chicken breasts, 30ml Thai green curry paste. 200ml coconut milk, ½ lime, small bunch coriander.

My concerns - there's about £8 worth of stuff there, many of which (curry paste, coconut milk, coriander) come in bigger packs than required. That doesn't seem to be considerate of the CoL crisis - it's a big standard academy comp in a not-particularly affluent area.

Also - no veggie alternative ingredients offered - so half our household wouldn't eat the results anyway.

DS is not matey enough with anyone in his FFT class to suggest sharing ingredients. Expensive ingredients!

I'm delighted that the school is teaching the kids to make something other than scones and pizza, but there are so many cheaper curries to mark in an hour! They could start by making the curry paste! Or school providing (and charging for) the ingredients the kids won't need need "all" of.

(DS's previous school/DD's school charge for all FFT and RMT ingredients and materials at the start of the year, abs supply everything. I appreciate limited kitchen space doesn't always make this possible).

Because the teacher would be buying it themselves. And for all the kids that's a lot of oil.

I agree with the OP though that it's bloody ridiculous. I would have much preferred paying a tenner a term for ingredients or whatever. The bottle of Worcester sauce that leaked all over DD's bag was a particular low point

We're in a borough that begins within K, school in a village that starts with S. Morning classes (usually GCSE classes) get to use the fridges. Afternoon classes have to bring stuff in cool bags (miraculously they have PE on the same day, DS almost needs a trolley on that day!).

We can afford the ingredients, and I will meal plan to use the rest of the ingredients.
I use coconut milm a lot, but also havn't bern able to find any for 2 or 3 weeks.

This post is not just about us. The school has about 35% FSM, and I think these children get their ingredients provided. But the CoL is so high and the threshold for FSM so low, that there are a lot of people (straw poll of mums in know) who'd rather not fork out £8 one a fortnight on a meal that is unlikely to be eaten. I really don't feel that the school have "read the room" very well. "Curry" is such an opportunity to learn how to make a tasty, filling meal very cheaply!! This is surely what teenagers really need to learn? It used to be called Home Economics.!

I've been suggesting that the school provide a list for "veggie alternative" for
months! We've got as far as "vegetarians need not bring salami" for pizza. I genuinely do not believe that we are the only (partly) veggie family to darken the school's doors!

They say they don't want everyone on the class bringing different ingredients (I get that) but also not open to only going veggie recipes.

The £8 estimate came from a quick scan of the Tesco app. Ironically, smaller tins of coconut milk are twice the price of standard size ones! I live and work quite rurally. I'll go to Aldi/Lidl if I find myself passing, but it's not worth a special trip.

We have a first/middle/high school system. At middle school we paid upfront for ingredients at the start of the year, but also appreciate that many people wouldn't and the storage space required in a bigger school could be prohibitive .

Ho hum. I'll write to them again, but I thus is a hill I am prepared to die on. Learning to cook is one thing, but doing so economically is essential this days!

I'm going to go against the grain a bit.

A vegetarian/gf adaptation should always be an option for the food tech lesson.

Store cupboard ingredients such as oil, salt, pepper should also be provided by the school.

But in terms of the other ingredients, i don't really have too much of an issue with them. It's so important our kids learn how to cook healthy, varied meals to prepare them for adulthood and I would much rather spend money on ingredients for a proper meal rather than pizza and cakes. I would shop at Lidl to get the best value and then the food made at school would be dinner at home that evening so it wouldn't just be a sunk cost for a food tech lesson. If money is really tight, then speak to the school as there is usually a fund available so no child misses out.

tbh i could make it for less then £8
probably a fiver
frozen chicken for a start.

op@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads
do you never cook thai green curry that you would use the remaining thai green sauce/coconut milk

We’ve had this many a time. Sweaty food in a storage container coming home at the end of a long day.

Both my daughters have done/are doing good tech. If I was you. Leave out the chicken. That’s the biggest bulk of the money.

Could your son eat it for lunch? Mine sometimes do instead of buying lunch.

DS 'buddied up' with a couple of classmates to split costs - 1 bag of coriander between three, 6 eggs etc. Is that something you could do?

His school always provided the cupboard staples like oil, salt, pepper etc. It's ridiculous trying to transport 10ml at a time!

Coconut milk freezes well. I only use half a tin, and the small tins cost more, so I freeze the other half.

I hated taking ingredients in for home economics. I had to take it all on the 30 minute bus journey and then bring it all home again. It was a complete pain.

I agree! And where they say chicken I just send in a couple of quorn fillets.

It's hard for some schools to provide due to space. If you have 5 lessons a day- that's 24 portions of ingredients times 5 lessons. No room.
It would however make sense for some of the smaller amounts to be provided by school to cut costs for all.
Also- I would imagine that school would be fine with you making adaptations. Miss something out or swap things- it's fine!

This is surely what teenagers really need to learn? It used to be called Home Economics.! now it isn't. Now it is design and technology. They aren't just learning to cook it should be more than that.

To reduce cost suggest you tell them you can’t all eat it and you’d like a veggie alternative.
Especially as there’s no fridge at school.
Tell the school you can’t afford all this. They can’t argue with that one and can’t force this on you.

DT Technician and parent here. We insist raw chicken is put in the fridge at the start of the day and will be put back in the fridge when cool until home time. Lots of kids never collect their food and some also ditch left over ingredients - unless I stop them! Think packs of fresh strawberries / blueberries / oats etc. We also provide ingredients for kids on FSMeals if they let us know.

I’d take a veggie alternative, and maybe ditch h the coriander. Would also plan at home to use the rest of the paste for a family meal.
If your child is a recipient of free school meals it is your right to have ingredients provided - the school receive funding for this.

We have to bring in ingredients from home and it's faffy, but we do have a great range of supermarkets nearby and the school gives us a list of recipes for the whole term, so we can plan.
School also gives loads of substituent options and optional ingredients, loads of vegetarians so they would in this case probably bring in a meat substitute and could sub out veg with things we have at home. They can also put ingredients in the fridge first thing. They discuss the recipe for a couple of sessions in advance so teacher would be aware of what might be coming in on the day.
Our school, like many, is finding it really hard to recruit food tech teachers, so my DS has had no practical sessions at all this year, just theory, which has been a real disappointment.
I imagine in a few years cooking in schools will just not happen any more as it is too expensive for schools to provide ingredients and too difficult to make it fair to parents on different incomes to provide ingredients. I think this is sad.

Yes mines grit food tech and it’s about a tenner for a pasta sausage dish. I’m not buying all the ingredients , it won’t even get eaten as my kids come home and tell me how dirty the kitchens are 🤢🤢

They should be teaching them to cook things that a uni student or family on a strict budget would cook. You can make that without the lime or coriander, with thigh fillets instead, you can sub green beans, peppers, even thinly sliced carrot. These are skills they should be taught, to cook on a budget and sub with what they have.

That's not what design and technology is about though

Presumably they are learning how to cook cheap stuff at home. This is meant to be about developing a meal.

When the schools I worked in actually cooked the minor ingredients came from a school pot, parents paid a small amount at the start of the year for this purpose.

It would help if ingredients list was published well in advance.
More emphasis on sensible swaps and making do.
I’m very much an approximate/it will do cook but remember my daughter being upset if it wasn’t spot on as she didn’t want to get in trouble.
Mine used to give what she made to her friends at lunch.
Being able to pay for ingredients would be better but it needs someone to shop.

totally agree op

too expensive

plus who realistically is gonna want to eat food their kid has made at school! You don’t know if the cooking utensils have been cleaned properly. Whether it’s been coughed, sneezed on etc by other teens. No thanks.

School procures ingredients we send money to pay for them.

Many aren't learning at home though, that is very clear from the number of adults who can't cook basic meals with curry paste or similar. Knowing what you can leave out of a recipe and what you can substitute are very useful skills.

Yes bit it's not design and technology. That's food economics.

They'll probably be learning how they can make it cheaper - spicier - healthier - what textures work best - what looks nicest. And doing one of those star charts to decide which one wins. That sort of thing. It isn't about learning how to cook.