To worry about the lack of cooking skills of the next generation

[jdoe8]

People seem to barely cook these days and peoples supermarket trolleys are bursting foods that are quick and easy to make. Such as mashed potato, pre chopped onion and soup. Soup is very easy to make and home made is fresher and better for you.

Crushing up some ginger nuts, mixing with butter and dipping in melted chocolate seems to count as cooking. Lots of mess when you can just eat the chocolate and ginger nuts. The same for making a brownie mix and then icing with pre made icing. That is cooking?

I think OP is just a GF passmethewine

Pff. I can cook! And I fully intend to teach my son to cook as well. I do buy premade soup though, as I find it takes a lot of time and a lot of peeling/chopping etc. But I don't buy prechopped onions or grated cheese, or any other convenience foods, unless you count chopped tomatoes in a tin. I make my own pizza, curry, pasta dish, whatever.

yes because marzipan was a staple for the average Tudor diet, you do sound out of touch.

Out of touch? With the Tudors?! Bit hard to be 'in touch' with a period of history which occurred over 400 years ago. No, marzipan wasn't a staple, because sugar was relatively new. It was only with the rise of plantations (and slavery) in our colonies in America that it became more available to the masses and even then it was primarily the middle classes who indulged. But my point remains: baking is not new. Cakes are not new. Working parents who cook are not unicorn-like, as demonstrated by the many people who came on here to disagree with your sweeping statement.

And I'd say it was a fallacy to assume that upper middle = SAHM, working class = WOHM. It's a lot easier to plug the income gap with government support when you're on a low wage being eaten up by childcare costs. Whereas if you have a lifestyle you want to support and you're earning more than it costs to put your children in childcare it becomes worthwhile to go back to work. Higher paid jobs tend to be less menial as well, and so more desirable to return to.

Not everyone wants to cook from scratch - I don't cook at all. In theory I can cook, I just cba to do it. Presumably you aren't forced to eat convenience food OP - and as pp said, children are better educated about nutrition now, so perhaps you should unclench

Soup doesn't take very long with a soup maker. It's one of the best things I've ever bought. Admittedly there is a bit of chopping of veg first but then just chuck it in.

*Out of touch? With the Tudors?! Bit hard to be 'in touch' with a period of history which occurred over 400 years ago. No, marzipan wasn't a staple, because sugar was relatively new. It was only with the rise of plantations (and slavery) in our colonies in America that it became more available to the masses and even then it was primarily the middle classes who indulged. But my point remains: baking is not new. Cakes are not new. Working parents who cook are not unicorn-like, as demonstrated by the many people who came on here to disagree with your sweeping statement.

And I'd say it was a fallacy to assume that upper middle = SAHM, working class = WOHM. It's a lot easier to plug the income gap with government support when you're on a low wage being eaten up by childcare costs. Whereas if you have a lifestyle you want to support and you're earning more than it costs to put your children in childcare it becomes worthwhile to go back to work. Higher paid jobs tend to be less menial as well, and so more desirable to return to.*

I was talking about the regularly eating at Michelin star restaurants.

Yes I agree about childcare costs and SAHM, I do know someone single that works part time in a NMW job that has far more than another family I know where both parent work full time.

If it isn't due to shit food what is the cause of the obesity and diabetes problem? I dont think its down to exersise as there have been study's that show children today to a tiny bit more exercise than ones in the 70s. Going to school when I did you maybe had one overweight child in a class. Now at least half are overweight, where I am.

And given the increase in nutritional education, and on the basis that you aren't being forced to eat it, what exactly bothers you, OP?

As a side note, I'm always amused by the faux shock on here that anyone could possibly do things differently - it makes people look rather thick narrow minded if they can't imagine things aren't done the same way by everyone

children are better educated about nutrition now, so perhaps you should unclench grin

Children have never been so unhealthy. It's not rare for a primary school child to get t2 diabetes.

I wonder whether the obesity epidemic is made worse by the fact that DC always seem to be given snacks - even healthy ones add up

You are assuming that people are fat because they don't know about healthy eating. Generally they do know, they just choose not to really give a shit - I am one of those people

Jobs have become less physical. More people are sedentary during the day. Schools are losing their playing fields to development and urbanisation. It's considered less safe for children to 'play out' now. And food is cheaper altogether so eating out (which, at whatever level you do it, is likely to be less healthy) and larger portions are more commonplace.

Considering the shit we were fed by schools in the 80s, I think it's likely that there are bigger factors in play than just to say that people can't cook and as such are eating more junk.

I wonder whether the obesity epidemic is made worse by the fact that DC always seem to be given snacks - even healthy ones add up

I think that could be a big cause. It was rare to snack between meals, I think it was mars that introduced snacking between meals as a thing.

I agree, OP, but I think the food problem runs a lot deeper than lack of cooking skills. I live in Paris and buy food from farmers' markets and specialist shops (butcher, baker). I buy my milk, yoghourt, cream and butter direct from the farmer who owns the cows. I buy apples, pears, apple juice and honey direct from the farmer's daughter. Etc. When I walk round Waitrose I am not inspired to cook proper meals because the raw ingredients have been factory farmed and packaged and taste horrible. I think we all need to go back to basics and to understand that food tastes good and satisfying when it has been farmed properly.

"If it isn't due to shit food what is the cause of the obesity and diabetes problem?"

It's not just shit, convenience food that makes you fat. It's too much food in general. There are loads and loads and loads of overweight MC "goody" types who cook everything from scratch

Ever looked at the fat content of the coconut milk you're pouring by the gallon into your Thai green curry, or added up the calories in a home-made lasagne?

And let's just not even go there with roast potatoes.

FOODY types.

Fuck off autocorrect.

I think the next generation is better than mine. I lived on crispy pancakes and waffles as a kid because my grandparents were skint and time poor. My 'cookery' lessons were a farce as the teacher couldn't cook!

The things the teens bring home now are amazing! And they enjoy cooking. I hated the tedium of peeling and chopping veg (it irritated my eczema no end), but because they can have pre chopped (I swear by frozen onion and frozen peppers as it seriously reduces waste) it doesn't get boring.

The main thing that stops kids cooking imo is that a lot of parents don't think it's safe. A parent of one of my DD's friend expressed concern to their teacher when she found out DD prepared a whole meal including chopping and boiling when she was 11. She thought it was too young - luckily for us DD happily takes a turn each week because she's vastly better than me!

And I'd say it was a fallacy to assume that upper middle = SAHM, working class = WOHM. It's a lot easier to plug the income gap with government support when you're on a low wage being eaten up by childcare costs

This is very much a recent thing though. Since the start of the industrial revolution, working class women have worked outside the home. I've got 150 years of family history full of working class women with paid jobs - nurses, secretaries, factory workers, self-defence teachers, teachers, dinner ladies, librarians. They've either fitted jobs around school, or shared childcare within the family or local community. Government support didn't exist.

That's absolute crap formerbabe

It's not. Food, cooking and rates of obesity are closely linked to socio economic factors.

Poorer people (in the UK) are far more likely to be obese.

How often do you hear on mn of 'kale' and 'humous' being described as 'middle class.

Oh absolutely K425 - I was completely relating that to the statement that food and lack of cooking was worse nowadays rather than in the past (and related to the SAHM/WOHM debate).

"If it isn't due to shit food what is the cause of the obesity and diabetes problem?"

Absolutely agree about this. But that is not proof that people knew how to cook good food 100 years ago. All it shows is that it is easier to eat lots of shit food now than ever before, more of a variety around, and lots of additives that encourage you to keep eating.

50 years ago, bad cooking (we might take my MIL as an example) meant a meal of Spam and Smash and tinned peas at mid-day and then nothing until the next meal. A typical breakfast might be white sliced bread and jam and a pot of tea. Hardly going to win any prices for nutritious value- but you wouldn't grow obese on it either. There was simply no incentive to keep on eating until you did become obese.

These days, there is a vast variety of snacks, ready meals, takeaways and a cultural climate that says that it is ok and normal to be eating pretty well constantly.

Me too

As to the obesity and related type 2 diabetes crisis - I personally think it is not actually because we exercise less than we used to (I am not sure we do generally, though we probably have less active jobs we exercise more in our leisure time than we used to). I am not even sure it is because we eat a lot more (though we might eat more on average than in the past ) but mostly because of the vast amount more sugar and vegetable oils we eat.

Sugar has never been as easily available, cheap and widely eaten as it is now and I think it is quite bad humans in such large quantity. I hate to say it as I love love love cake and chocolate and eat far too much of them myself but I think it is one of the main problems

This is quite interesting which seems to suggest too much sugar is a factor but so is eating vegetable oils (as opposed to other fats)

<a class="break-all" href="//hauthoritynutrition.com/12-graphs-that-show-why-people-get-fat/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hauthoritynutrition.com/12-graphs-that-show-why-people-get-fat/

try the link again

authoritynutrition.com/12-graphs-that-show-why-people-get-fat/

jdoe8 - cheese and fruit scones, muffins, small pizzas, bread. Easy cook easily transportable stufff

Frozen preprepared vegetables aren't going to teach DC how to cook really delicious meals. And learning how to chop/peel/prep vegetables properly us a really useful skill.