As Food becomes part of the National Curriculum again, it is time to celebrate and recognise the reasons why it is so important for our pupils. I have quoted from an article in Waitrose Kitchen, which sums it up nicely:
‘Food brings people together – literally. Just as families benefit from sitting down to break bread every day, so do schools.
Teaching children about food – how to grow, harvest and cook it – doesn’t just set them up with healthy eating habits, it also gives them practical insights into many traditional academic subjects.
There are also broader social benefits. The problems caused by bad diet and the loss of cooking skills are finally being recognised in government. Obesity, asthma, sleep apnoea, hypertension and type 2 diabetics cost the NHS £6bn a year. One in ten children are obese when they start primary school.
So from this month, all pupils will – in the words of the new curriculum – ‘be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating’. By the age of 14 they should be able to ‘cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet’.
If we, as a country, can succeed in making this happen, we will not only reduce the burden on the NHS, but we will create a generation of children who are healthier, achieve more and experience the great pleasure that can come from cooking’.
I am looking forward to being a key part of your food education (I hope you show off your new skills at home!)
See you in Food and Nutrition.
Mrs Walker
