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Children Learn To Cook at School
By Geoff Cummings
The steady rise in a number of nations` weight gains amongst their populations has heard the alarm bells ringing at what many describe as an obesity epidemic. It`s generally agreed that something must be done to put a halt to the overweight problem, otherwise the cost to health and life itself will be staggering. Preventative measures have been drawn up to make younger ones at school more aware of dietery needs which will, if taught from a very early age, help children learn about what goes into food, the best ways of cooking, healthy recipes and so on, so that they will benefit in their later lives. Research has shown a link between nutrition in early childhood and improved productivity and overall health later in life. And a study recently published in the medical journal The Lancet offers the first direct evidence that eating well as an infant and toddler stands to increase earning potential as an adult. In Canada, for instance, opening in March, Toronto's Rising Chefs Culinary Centre will introduce the art of food preparation to kids three and older. Classes will be taught by an executive chef with more than 20 years experience and a designation of certified chef de cuisine, the highest accreditation awarded in the culinary profession in Canada. The owners say that kids who learn to cook for themselves stand a better chance at avoiding obesity. Rising Chefs students who are five and older will get to cook themselves, while youngsters aged three and four will be introduced to gastronomy through measuring, mixing and other hands-on activities. North District Middle School in Varnville, South Carolina, USA, was selected from more than 60 applicants nationwide to receive the first-ever School Nutrition Foundation' Winston Industries Equipment Award. The school kitchen, serving the only middle school in Hampton School District One, will receive quality commercial kitchen equipment including Holding Cabinets, Holding Drawers and a Steamer from Winston Industries, Inc. - a leading foodservice equipment manufacturer located in Louisville, Kentucky. The award was applied for in order to update the 40-year-old kitchen equipment that often needs expensive repairs. As school nutrition programs nationwide provide healthy school breakfasts and lunches to students at a national average of less than $2.00 per balanced meal, costs to upgrade and replace kitchen equipment are often difficult to cover. For this reason, the School Nutrition Foundation' Winston Industries Equipment Award was created in 2007 to assist school nutrition programs to secure the equipment they need to continue to offer quality, nutritious meals. North District Middle School will receive the ten pieces of new kitchen equipment this spring. Plans are currently underway to offer the School Nutrition Foundation' Winston Industries Equipment Award again this summer. The School Nutrition Foundation, established in 1964, is a non-profit corporation that provides high-quality professional development, financial aid and research programs to child nutrition professionals and members of the School Nutrition Association (SNA.) The Foundation's commitment to the child nutrition community is integral to implementing positive change in school meals and, ultimately, to the health of school children. SNA is a national, non-profit professional organization representing more than 55,000 members who provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country. The association and its members are dedicated to feeding children safe and nutritious meals. In England cooking lessons are to be compulsory in England's secondary schools for children aged 11 to 14. Pupils will learn to cook for an hour a week for one term. Poorer pupils' ingredients will be subsidised. Cooking is an optional part of the design and technology curriculum, but is not currently taught in all schools. The move is part of the strategy to tackle obesity, as experts believe 1m children will be obese in a decade. The Department for Children, Schools and Families says that about 85% of secondary schools do offer cookery, (cooking), in some form. It wants those schools to make the change immediately, and the rest by 2011. But critics have expressed concern about the practicalities of the idea. Clarissa Williams of the National Association of Head Teachers said the training of food technology teachers had been neglected for so long it would be difficult to see the strategy through. Children will have to participate in a one-hour lesson each week for a whole term, in the bid to teach nutritional lessons that put a stop to obesity. Many may think this is an excellent idea, with support from TV chef Jamie Oliver and parents that relieve themselves of the pressure to cook meals that must be green, lean and tasty because now, their children can do it. Whether just one hour a week is enough though is debatable. Just as cooking needs time, so does teaching it. Practical cookery in an hour is impossible, it limits the number of dishes taught and becomes rushed, so already many believe the Government’s plans are flawed – a two-hour lesson a week would certainly be more useful if the plan intends longevity in Britain’s educational scheme. |
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This gives a whole new meaning to the words, "School lunch program"
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This intel was contributed by odls
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May, 2012
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