why not teach kids to cook instead we teach kidsa bad diet of food technology

[zippitippitoes]

....... I so much agree with this article

but we shouldnt waste valubable teaching time becuase of some over arching philanthropic ideal where the school becomes the moral playground for those people in society who think that they can create a more idylic society by parenting through schools.

the same goes for PSHE.

its not hard to cook. you follow the instructions from the book

Yes but custardo and batters, where is the value in teaching children about how a processed food factory works? And in assuming (as the curriculum appears to) that all food is processed? And in teaching children how to design a pizza box?

Apparently a large proportion of the UK think putting something in a microwave is cooking! I don't think cooking is hard, absolutely not and I like it but it's a bit sad if lots of people don't even know what various foods are let alone how to cook it. That report she talks about "consumers in their early twenties were reluctant to use greengrocers, butchers or farmers' markets because - surprise, surprise - 'they express anxiety about entering environments that do not have pre-packed produce available'?" - how depressing is that?

I just think preparing food and understanding what food does (i.e. growth and repair/helps with immunity/keeping you well) should be important. It would be lovely if all children were taught this stuff at hmoe but so many aren't and I do think being able to look after oneself is a skill worth teaching.

i absolutley agree that there needs to be education re: diet, nutrition and indeed cooking - perhaps on a budget, or healthy meals. provide sugestions for alternatives - i mean i never heard of pesto until a year ago.

and i think the parents should be educated the parents should then educate the children.

you could educate parents at pregnancy classes.

i absolutley agree that there needs to be education re: diet, nutrition and indeed cooking - perhaps on a budget, or healthy meals. provide sugestions for alternatives - i mean i never heard of pesto until a year ago.

and i think the parents should be educated the parents should then educate the children.

you could educate parents at pregnancy classes.

Haven't read the article (just about to) but it seems to me from what you are all saying that Food Technology is very much geared towards a career in the food industry rather than learning to cook. Sadly it's all about academic acheivement and career focus rather than teaching kids life skills that they no longer learn at home.

I work in the food industry and do pointless surveys, nutritional comparisons and a whole bunch of other stuff for a living. I'd much rather be at home cooking .

Cheesy,what else do you do in your job?

The staff on the (parenting) organisation I am on the board of relate some truly astonishing stuff (all without naming individuals of course.)

One told me of a father (without a learning disability may I add) who thought that strawberries were sweets (he figured that they were made in a mould) and had never even seen blackberries growing,despite this being a rural location.

They taught him how to make eggy bread and she described his hands shaking as he cracked the aggs (first time ever) and the tears of joy in his eyes when he managed.

even if you feel that we do need a food industry that concentrates on processing food and making up weird food products then surely at school level the learning should be the basics of what food is in its unadulterated form

there is plenty of chemistry in egg recipes without having to discuss the manufacturing process of commercial production

teenagers don't need encouraging to believe that food comes in a box...opening the fridge or the cupboard and saying why haven't we got anything to eat when there are vegetables, pulses, flour, butter, eggs etc etc in the house

Yes Zippi.
Cookery incorporates physics,chemistry,maths,communication as well as a zillion other things.

One of the most gratifying things I did for years was work on a children's summer camp in the States where we had our own farm ,fishpond and mill.

To see all these spoilt suburban kids laerning how to milk a cow,dig for potatoes,catch a fish and mill their own corn was a wonderful experience for all concerned.

Moondog - I write the information that goes on product labels . I also produce product specifications that are the official documents between ourselves and the customer detailing recipe, allergy info, nutrition info, processing info, product safety info etc etc. I attend taste panels, comparing different types of products and making comments on flavour etc of different variations of the same product.

Zippi - despite what I do for a living I agree entirely with everything you say. My dd is 2.0 and a bit little yet for cooking, but as soon as she is old enough and shows an interest I will teach her, the same way my Mum taught me. I think it is a crying shame that Domestic Science as I knew it is no longer taught in schools, not only because it taught us a valuable life skill but because I don't think that all schooling should be about passing exams and learning things by rote from books.

I haven't read the thread but I read the article yesterday. Joanna Blythman is a seriously smart lady , her book shopped, an expose of the large supermarket chains is a marvellous book, everyone should be forced to read it.

Cheesy,what do you taste then?
What is your background (academic?)

Blythman also did great article in this w/ends Observer about the people who make Innocent smoothies,who seem like top chaps.

Will try to find.....

cheesyfeet

at least labelling is better than it used to be

but I do have a big gripe about products which emblazon no added sugar on them and people do think that makes them healthier..I think they should have with apsartame or with ascuflame on them

there is so much excellent subject matter that you could have in a food and nutrition syllabus

it's a crying shame that it's taught in this by numbers fashion

and there isn't a slow food orfood miles aspect to it..no appreciation of seasonal produce

and so many people now do believe that making food from scratch takes ages

why do people value so highly having a designer kitchen and a kitchen as the centre of the home and then not cook?

Or indeed,watch cookery programmes and buy glossy cookbooks?
Fetishisation of the art.

Funny you should mention that zippi - if a product has artificial sweetener AND sugar we legally have to clearly label it as such, but if it only contains sweetener we don't - madness!

We are very careful at this particular company not to label misleadingly re no added sugar/salt etc (eg no added salt in a product that traditionally wouldn't contain salt anyway). Some of our customers try to sneak things though on their labels and it's part of my job to correct it. Unfortunately we do get a bit clever with masking things with labelling, eg "no artificial colours or preservatives" on a product that is loaded with flavourings. People think thay are buying something good when they aren't. Legislation is cracking down on this sort of thing though.

All sorts of things Moondog, from baked beans to jelly to pickles. I have a biochemistry degree, went on from uni to work for a Microbiology Lab testing food. When I got sick of the crap hours I got myself a nice office job working sane hours doing this. Been doing it for 6 years now. Most people come into this sort of thing from doing a Food Technology degree or HND, and then go on to factory management or factory auditing. My dh is a food factory auditor.

just out of interest in the food industry is it a case of going as far as possible just within the guidelines

do food companies care about food or just profit

and what is the consensus in the industry about artificial sweeteners and for example food/drink aimed at children

and do manufacturers ever have any concerns that chemical additives in a cocktail added to food might be dangerous

Zippi: Most employees within the food companies do care about food, however the supermarkets very much dictate what we sell to them. Very often we develop a nice product and are told to cheapen it by taking out the real food and adding flavourings etc. Having said that, many of the supermarkets are on a drive atm to remove some of the more hideous nasties (eg MSG) from their food entirely.
Sadly we are very much driven by what the market wants. Our (immediate) customers do not have much of a concern about chemical additives, they are driven by the marketeers who say, "People want sugar free stuff that still tastes sweet", so they shove in the aspartame. IMO the only way to change this is to encourage people to buy products with no additional additives, which will drive our customers to instruct us to make our products this way. There is a blooming industry of health food manufacturers who care much more about this sort of thing than your standard food manufacturers.

SueW - part of my job is to produce info sheets on our products (we supply to schools, NHS etc) which give all the info you need on product contents. We do supply these sheets to various educational authorities. I would look into this if I were you, it might be a big help.

Ooh cheesyfeet, how interesting! Do go onto the fruit shoots thread and give us your view, I'd be very interested to hear it

SueW, well exactly, if schools were providing proper food they wouldn't be opening packets and tins, they'd be starting with fresh fruit, veg, meat, fish and store cupboard ingredients and providing decent unprocessed food - there wouldn't be any label reading required.

Will do WWW, but not this afternoon (am supposed to be working )

zippi I have just read the article, and will comment on it later.

No sure cheesyfeet, I didn't mean NOW this minute!

pmsl www

I'm in a load of trouble anyway for excessive surfing but I JUST CAN'T STAY AWAY

(am really going this time)

Just read the article. I sincerely hope when DS (5) and DD(3) get as far as GCSE's they will not choose this subject. They hopefully will have learnt to cook at home. They are definately interested in food and cooking - admittedly they like making acakes and biscuits and decorating them, but they know what all the fruit and veg are and taste like and are quite capable of choosing sensibly.
We bought "red" cauliflower at the farmers market last week and I must say I was dubious as they aren't that keen on cauliflower as a rule - but it disappeared at an unbelievable rate.
I definately beleive they should see how food is grownand used not what the factories produce
I didn't learn to cook at school - I did "latin" instead for all the good it did me, but I can cook pretty well now even if I havne't learnt the emphasis on presentation that they seemed to have at school. They never tasted what you made - just gave you marks on how it looked so you could make soemthing inedible that looked good and assume you had learnt to cook well. Hmmm