Mary Contini & Pru Irvine: We need to teach children to cook
The only way we can really address the poor diet and health crisis facing Scotland is to teach our children to cook, write Mary Contini and Pru Irvine
Without wishing to get into a gender debate, Scotland is apparently the “Sick Man of Europe” – again! Our life expectancy has fallen, and parts of Glasgow have the worst statistics in Europe.
This makes for shameful and uncomfortable reading. Set against the almost stratospheric rise of Scotland as a foodie destination, the huge increase in exports of Scottish food and drink, and a strong and healthy rise in food businesses, we must wonder what is going on.
On the face of it we seem to be doing all the right things. There is no doubt Scotland’s larder is an abundant resource, bursting with natural foods. Demand for Scottish fish, shellfish, beef, lamb, game and dairy produce is worldwide. Whisky and gin are obvious exports, with bars in Chinese hotels now selling more whiskies than any high-end bar in Scotland’s capital. The marketing and strategy men and women have done a sterling job. But in our quest for recognition and financial gain have we forgotten to share it with our own kin? Surely it is a nation’s duty to feed its own first.
Even our food education is improving. We’re all full of Government guidelines; full to bursting. Our children seem to know a little more about which foods are better for them, the advantage of fruit and vegetables, the need to look after our health. On the surface things should be improving. So, what is going wrong? Why do we have one in five children living in poverty, obese, undernourished and their prospects of a healthy life so diminished?
Perhaps the answer is staring us in the face. We tell our children what to eat, but we refuse to teach them how to cook it. In our quest for convenience and profit, over time and health, we have become duplicitous. We are giving and taking with the same hand. Despite all the food information out there, we are still reliant on readymeals – processed foods that are over-packaged and of poor nutritional value.
Ready meals may appear convenient, but there’s nothing life enhancing in over stocked fridges full of high calorie foods, packed with sugars and “poisoned” with trans fats. Low sugar usually means high fat. Low fat equals high sugar. The ‘healthy’ option of organic yogurt has around ten per cent more sugar than its non-organic sister. And ‘freshly squeezed’ orange juice has had all its fibre removed; it is a sugared drink. Cost effective? No! A portion of cereal can cost up to ten times a bowl of homemade porridge.
All well and good, we hear you say. We know all this stuff, but it hasn’t changed a thing. In fact, our diet and health record has got worse. We’re dying younger and fatter, killing ourselves and the NHS at the same time. What is going to be done about it and by who?
The answer is nothing. Nothing is going to be done about our disadvantage. That is until we insist on teaching our children how to cook and to take that knowledge into their homes. Every piece of fruit has a Geography, Maths, History, English, Literature, Science and Art lesson in it. It’s time we learned what to do with it.
We need to teach our children the life skills they need to look after themselves. Simple, fresh food cooked at home is a contributing factor in mental health and physical wellbeing. We need to bring back Home Economics, which in turn, includes all the curricular subjects, and teach it from an early stage, right through primary schools.
Starting this process at secondary level is too late for our children, unless they have a specific interest in food and cooking. The eating habits and understanding of the relationship between food and wellbeing, have already been embedded by the age of 11.
This summer Queen Margaret University introduced a one-year, postgrad secondary teaching qualification in Home Economics. The list of entry requirements would fill a CV on their own. But this is a postgrad course, which suggests a great deal of academic achievement in the first place. But this is a great start and should be applauded. The message is being received, at least within the upper echelons.
But we need to mindful. There is a huge parent body out there with both the will and skill to take this forward. They may not have the official, boxticking teaching qualification, but they do have the knowledge and experience to make this a reality. We have schools, community centres, pop-ups. We have all the ingredients. Let’s just do it!
Ready meals may appear convenient, but there’s nothing life enhancing in over stocked fridges full of high calorie foods, packed with sugars and “poisoned” with trans fats