To think knowing about food and being able to cook are key life skills?

[Notcontent]

This is something I strongly believe in, but I think that notwithstanding various small-scale initiatives to teach young people and families about healthy cooking etc the lack of skills is getting worse not better.

I was listening to a Radio 4 programme the other day about child food poverty and they were talking to some young people - one of the teenage girls talked about the fact that until recently she couldn’t cook anything)no and I also had little idea of what a normal meal should be.

This seems such wide-spread problem. So many people think of food as being readymade, processed things that you unwrap and eat.

I think that there should be education about this at schools as obviously many people are not getting these skills at home. It’s so important - eating is what keeps are alive.

I don’t buy it’s a class thing tbh.

I grew up WC through and through, and have somehow ended up living a pretty MC life. If anything I’ve noticed amongst MC friends they tend to cook a bit less as they can afford to eat out or get takeout or ready meals (which are way more expensive than cooking from scratch). Growing up WC cooking was the norm as people couldn’t always afford convenience food. You had to know how to cook to get the most bang for your buck. A takeout was a rare treat.

The middle classes are not the only people who cook.

Of course. But they are often the ones on here unable to understand the experiences of those less privileged.

You'd think that the generations who spend half their life on YouTube copying how to do stuff would find it a doddle to copy how to nake a simple meal.

YouTube does visual demonstration, but it can’t watch what you’re doing, help you get it right, correct you if you’re wrong, the way humans do. The lack of that kind of feedback does make a difference to people for whom this is outside of their experience.

Inability to cook isn’t just a young person thing, It’s much more of a poverty issue and IMO also a class/education in the home issue. If

My MIL 92 and even though she raised 4 children I wouldn’t say she could cook as we think of it nowadays. She was the youngest of 17 children raised in what we would now think of as poverty in rural Ireland. Food was cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, bread, porridge,milk, various sorts of pork (boiled bacon, rashers, ham, chops, sausages and black/white pudding) and the occasional chicken. That’s what she learned to cook as a child and that’s all she can cook now. Even when she moved to London where there was more choice she didn’t have the funds or confidence to start experimenting with food. When she did eventually have some money she seized on convenience foods as a boon and luxury, sliced white bread, fishfingers, shop cakes, beans and margarine that spread straight from the tub became her staple choices for feeding her young family.

She has never used her grill for anything other than toast because she learned to cook on a range where everything was fried and that is still her comfort zone. Eventually the blandness and limited choice almost became an eating disorder, a way to exercise control (IMO) and in the 40+ years I’ve known her she has resolutely resisted trying anything unfamiliar. She has never cooked or even eaten pasta or fish or cheese or lamb or curry etc etc. Anything unfamiliar is intimidating to her. When I once inadvertently grilled her chops, she nibbled a bite or two for manners and passed the rest to her son, my DH. Now when she comes over I’ll cook a roast so she can help herself to what feels safe for her. If I do a buffet or a barbecue it will always include ham sandwiches, crisps and some steamed potatoes alongside anything more interesting.

Despite being born and reared in cosmopolitan South London 2 out of her 4 middle aged children raised on that limited bland diet still eat that way as do two young adult GC. I think part of it is because the food they ate growing up was so monotonous that food is just a chore to them , not a pleasure.

Like anything else love of eating food and preparing it starts in early childhood. If there isn’t that sound start it can be hard (although not impossible) to develop this in later life.

YouTube does visual demonstration, but it can’t watch what you’re doing, help you get it right, correct you if you’re wrong, the way humans do. The lack of that kind of feedback does make a difference to people for whom this is outside of their experience.

You get it wrong, you learn from your mistakes. It's what people have done for centuries.

And I don't buy that it's a class thing either. In fact that's an insult to all the hard working, time poor working class parents who still manage to put their kids first when it comes to health and nutrition.

I think calling it a class issue is maybe a little simplistic but there are lots of factors. Its more if you have grown up with microwave meals being normalised you wouldn't necessarily see anything wrong with it.

Do people in UK ever get tired of making everything a class issue? The class obsession here is quite unhealthy.

My son was shocked when he went to uni and found that he was unusual in knowing how to cook. He used to moan about being forced to help at home but realizes now that I was doing him a favour. I'm a single parent so have made sure that my kids can cook just in case I was ill or wasn't home at dinner time and could do with one of the kids lending a hand.

You get it wrong, you learn from your mistakes. It's what people have done for centuries.

If you’re starting from a position of very low exposure, self esteem, confidence, you may be just as likely to pack it in. Having someone over your shoulder, telling you you can doing it and showing you how is much more effective.

This is not all about class by the way, but the combination of low exposure and low confidence is much more likely among lower incomes.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Do people in UK ever get tired of making everything a class issue? The class obsession here is quite unhealthy.

I think it's more Mumsnet to be honest, which thankfully is a parallel universe to many of us.

There are plenty of working class households with very strong culinary traditions, absolutely.

If you’re starting from a position of very low exposure, self esteem, confidence, you may be just as likely to pack it in. Having someone over your shoulder, telling you you can doing it and showing you how is much more effective.

Yeah well if that's not going to happen what are you going to do?

Get on and learn to feed the kids you chose to have, or sit around all day making excuses because there's no-one looking over your shoulder.

That's the choice in this scenario but foisting your parental responsibility onto already over stretched schools, certainly isn't the answer.

That's the choice in this scenario but foisting your parental responsibility onto already over stretched schools, certainly isn't the answer.

I was very clear upthread that I think this is an issue of de-prioritisation of something else rather than an addition. I just think we should prioritise skills for living first. The other area that I feel should be covered in schools, far ahead of most of the curriculum is personal finance.

YANBU

And if parents don't have the knowledge,skills, time or patience, what then

Knowledge is not an excuse now as has been repeatedly mentioned on this thread. Anyone with an internet connection can gain knowledge

Except having been in and out of the care system and having no internet connection (it was the 70s) and I have to say very little interest in food as most food I ate was pretty horrible as it contained meat.
Every meal was meat and I really don’t like meat so why should I learn to cook something I didn’t like.

Took me till I was in my early 20s before I realised you didn’t need to eat meat.

Nope. Not a high achieving But here.
It's not 70s anymore. The fact that the information was lacking then is simply not an excuse 50 years later.

@Oliversmumsarmy

And if parents don't have the knowledge,skills, time or patience, what then

Knowledge is not an excuse now as has been repeatedly mentioned on this thread. Anyone with an internet connection can gain knowledge

Except having been in and out of the care system and having no internet connection (it was the 70s) and I have to say very little interest in food as most food I ate was pretty horrible as it contained meat.
Every meal was meat and I really don’t like meat so why should I learn to cook something I didn’t like.

Took me till I was in my early 20s before I realised you didn’t need to eat meat.

It makes no odds to you though does it? Because you see your lack of interest in cooking as funny and you're perfectly happy to rely on your DH and your DC to cook for you, or to eat out.

All well and good now but they won't be around forever and if you find in the future you have health or weight problems, you won't be in control of what you put in your mouth, especially if you can't afford to eat out very often.

Nothing funny about that for a grown up.

Oliversmumsarmy
Then you decide to learn to cook without meat
It's not difficult
Especially if u don't like what your eating why wouldn't you make your own

People stop making stupid excuses

I didn't learn to cook because I didn't like the food I was served!!! I mean come on

I get irritated by posts on university threads here and on Facebook when posters worry about their little darlings not being able to cook for themselves at university.

Well teach them then! It's not rocket science

Then you decide to learn to cook without meat
It's not difficult
Especially if u don't like what your eating why wouldn't you make your own

Because at the time I was a child and didn’t have the money or knowledge that there was a thing called being vegetarian. I was told you had to eat meat which to me always tasted like cardboard soaked in a weak stock cube.

I have tried to cook meals but found it stressful and expensive

I do get by without other people making me meals and probably would lose weight if people didn’t cook for me.
I resort to a cheese and tomato sandwich instead of a full blown meal.

There are certain things that don’t really interest me. Cooking is one of them.
That is why we have ready meals

@Oliversmumsarmy

*Then you decide to learn to cook without meat It's not difficult Especially if u don't like what your eating why wouldn't you make your own*

Because at the time I was a child and didn’t have the money or knowledge that there was a thing called being vegetarian. I was told you had to eat meat which to me always tasted like cardboard soaked in a weak stock cube.

I have tried to cook meals but found it stressful and expensive

I do get by without other people making me meals and probably would lose weight if people didn’t cook for me.
I resort to a cheese and tomato sandwich instead of a full blown meal.

There are certain things that don’t really interest me. Cooking is one of them.
That is why we have ready meals

Buy a decent vegetarian cookery book aimed at students then.

There are loads of cookery shows on TV just now, and loads of tutorials on YouTube. What kind of example are you giving to your children?

Stop making excuses

And this is why the nation as a whole is unhealthy and obese with people like you!
You are not a child you are an adult who is older than me!
And don't dare blame other other people for you not being able to lose weight
You are the problem! If you want to lose weight and be healthy eat that way
A cheese and tomato sandwich diet is not healthy and I'm pretty sure you know this or is this also soneon8elses fault?

Oliversmumsarmy if you're not interested in your own health then fair enough.

You say your kids can cook so I suppose that's the main thing.

I think it's fair enough yo say "I don't want to". Fine. It's odd, because everybody eats, but ok.
Coming up with excuses like many on this thread though is just... Gosh. I don't even know if there is a word for it.

I am not sure if people realise that these But Olympics, lack of can do attitude and lack of self sufficiency rub off on your kids, btw.

My eldest y7 has had some food tech in school. She absolutely loved it and so I have encouraged her at home, she now not only bakes but makes some meals including a mean spag Bol! The only thing is she won't cook curries as she doesn't like them .. work in progress!