Sixth formers didn't know how to peal a spud!

[Blandmum]

Got my sixth form to peel some potatoes today (surface area vs volume ratios for anyone interested ) NONE of them could do it. None of them had ever peels a sud.

How the F can you get to 16 without having peeled a spud??????

What are we doing by raising such inept kids??????

Are all of us who can't peel a spud with a knife left handed? A theme seems to be developing.

ds1 at the age of 8.5 is chief potato peeler in our house. he uses a peeler because i dont want him getting blood all over the potatos

broad and balanced national curriculum eh?

can't peel spuds - you just wait - all those 'A' grades at the end of the year

Am I the only one who can't use a peeler
I use a knife!

I'm right-handed passionflower!

I don't think I can peel a spud with a knife.

We rarely eat potatoes, when we do, they're funny little potatoes, which we eat with the peels on.

I probably could peel a potato with a peeler - not sure why I'd bother, though, the peel is the only bit with any sort of nutritional value.

I can't peel a spud with a peeler either - I have to use a knife.

Lets face it though - with the lovely Auntie Bessie and her skill with a peeler, why does anyone else need to be able to?

I can peel spuds with peeler and knife. Can also pare an orange with a knife making one long string of peel. Can also take the husk off a coconut with a machete and then take the coconut meat out of shell with a knife. [bragging emoticon]

show off. [sticking tongue out at you emoticon]

I probably couldn't at 16.

At 19 I was a nifty cook, albeit the sort of right-on wholefoody vegetarian one (come on, MN, you remember the type ) who wouldn't have dreamed of peeling one.

There's hope for them yet.

That should be MB. Sorry, am quaffing red wine after day of DP's mum's funeral.

Brown rice and dhal, right?

I was jus horrified that they had never done it before! I wasn't Mrs Beaton at that age, but I could peel a spud

Brown rice, dal, and lots of booze.

I couldn't at 16 either. Still can only do it with a peeler.

Did they know they were potatoes? Thinking of Jamie O going into primary schools and most of the kids being unable to recognise a leek, or a cabbage.

We never peeled spuds. They were always boiled in their skins and then the skins just fell off. My Mum thought it was only posh folk that peeled spuds. I'm sure they know that most of the vitamins are in the skin and are only winding you up about the Micro Chips.

Eaney, i only wish. This was said by a young lady who told me that potatos were 'disgusting' and she never ate them. What, I said, not even chips? and she said, 'We only eat micro chips'.

potatoes!

is cookery/food & textile technology/home ec (whatever fancy name they call it these days) not taught in school any more martianbishop?

It is, but I know from talking to the teachers that it has become more driven by 'design' so people are asked to 'design a new sandwitch filling' for sale or 'design a cake for a childs b'day

Now granted these have their place but 'basics are not covered as they should be.

agree MB. In later life, knowing how to cook a roast is a bit more useful than knowing how to design a unique stuffing for said roast.

/off my soapbox

omg
cookery lessons NOW!

dd1 (9) peels potatoes and carrots. She is evidently more accomplished than I thought.

These are direct quotes from the anational curriculum web site on what is taght in food tech from years 7 to 9. This is the bit that all children will do, and doesn't cover the work that children do if they choose to do food tech at GCSE

Sorry if this is long, but this is all that they do

In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Salads and soups', in which they design and make a new salad or soup that encourages people to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. They must use ingredients appropriately to meet a specific technical purpose.

In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Snacks', in which they design and make a new and appetising pasty filling for a target group of customers. To help them develop their design ideas they make prototypes and models, which they evaluate and modify before starting to make their final product.

In this unit, pupils tackle one of two design and make assignments (DMAs) on the themes:
· Layered dessert
· The right combination
These involve designing a layered chilled dessert, or a sauce combined with other ingredients to make a ready-prepared meal. They identify suitable ingredients for their food product, taking into account appearance, function, safety and reliability.
The main aim of this unit is to develop pupils' designing skills and to teach them about designing for clients. In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Develop a food product range'. They redevelop an existing food product that is either local or famous, presenting a basic design that can be varied or personalised for particular clients.

In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Pasta production', in which they develop a pasta prototype product that is suitable for batch production. They should choose an appropriate method of making the products, and manufacture them with precision, observing health and safety regulations and taking action to control identified risks

In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Specialist diets'. They design and make a meal for customers with special dietary needs, selecting the ingredients they will use according to their nutritional and working characteristics, and matching them to appropriate making processes.

In this unit, pupils tackle one of two design and make assignments (DMAs) on the themes 'Mini-enterprise' and 'Designer-makers'.

In this unit, pupils tackle a design and make assignment (DMA) on the theme 'Bread batch production', in which they present a prototype of a new bread that can be manufactured on a larger scale. They make their product in volume, reflecting similar processes to those that might be used commercially.

So nowhere are they taugh how to select food to put together a weel balanced diet (limited by budget)

They can tell you how to design a pastry snack ,b ut not to cook a meal for a family on a budget. I find this very worrying. No-wonder my sixth formers can't peel a spud! I sould have asked them to make me a layered desert!

The nation's diet is a disgrace and no-wonder if this is what they get. No wonder my cousin froths at the mouth when I mention the NC.....she wants to teach them how to cook fro them selves

Presumably they can spell 'peel' though, eh Teacher ?!