As a 14 year old student in school in England I was required to attend working classes in “Domestic Science" for one year whilst the girls were required to take metalwork and woodwork for a year.
Yes! Yes! Yes! As a primary care physician with a focus on prevention I believe to truly address the chronic disease epidemic and promote health rather than focus on sickness we would be well served to help empower people with the knowledge and skills to be their own steward of health. From current food systems that flood the market with cheap ultra-processed foods creating food swamps and illness to the lack of nutrition, let alone culinary education in schools, creates a system of poor health that becomes difficult to overcome even with best efforts. (and then we exclusively blame the patient for obesity, diabetes or chronic pain) Add to that, medical schools also only provide an average of 24 hours of nutrition education even though physicians go to med school and residency for a minimum of 7 years!!! How can we expect to be a healthy nation when our health care providers don't know how to help patients apply nutrition principles to every day life such as how to choose foods and cook them? And, by the time patients enter our 'sick care system' (because our focus on treating sick people rather than helping people maintain health) they already have illness and habits that are difficult to change. Agree 100%, if we put this focus on healthy food and skills to prepare it in elementary school, our children would grow up with the nourishment to not only help them excel in school but also develop the healthy eating habits and skillset to maintain health as they become adults. Fortunately, we are gaining momentum thanks to the voices of people outside of healthcare like great Chefs such as Jose Andres and even congress working together like Senators Booker and Cornyn along with medical schools such as Touro College Osteopathic Medicine in Ca, that are implementing Culinary Medicine Programs like the Health Meets Food curriculum developed by Tim Harlan, MD, now at George Washington U., also where, with Jose Andres, they just opened the global Food Institute ( https://culinarymedicine.org/ and https://globalfoodinstitute.gwu.edu/) Or, the ever-expanding multi-professional Teaching Kitchen Collaborative led by David Eisenberg, MD at Harvard (https://teachingkitchens.org/). And incredible projects such as "Recipe4Health" championed by Dr. Steven Chen in Alameda County, Ca (https://recipe4health.acgov.org/). For the first time in 50 years even our federal govt. has begun to reassess the importance of nutrition! (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/24/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-launches-the-white-house-challenge-to-end-hunger-and-build-healthy-communities-announces-new-public-private-sector-actions-to-continue-momentum-from-hist/). I bring these examples (and there are many more 'sprouting' up every day!) not to advertise or brag, but bring excitement, hope and ideally momentum to these initiatives to address these issues. It's amazing to me that it takes a Chef to get the actual health profession to think about nutrition....but that might just be one of the secret ingredients we need. Thank You, Chef Andres, for speaking about this very important issue!
Thank you, Dr. Stevenson, for that enlightening overview of what's happening in the legislative and educational fields. I had no idea! (I should have read your post before I wrote my own!) I agree with you that it takes a "name" to get more traction on a topic sometimes. As to what physicians know about nutrition ... nothing annoyed me more than a new primary care doctor handing me a 'diet sheet' that explained what I should and shouldn't eat ... all summarized on one page. As if that explained it all. If nothing else, I learned (for me) that my success hinged on my motivation, and behavioral modification. I went to Weight Watchers at least 3 times when I was younger, belonged to a "TOPS" group for 10 years, that basically followed the American Dietetic Association's pyramid food plan, and learned a great deal from my mother who had had 3 heart attacks from age 48 to 60 and made it her life's mission to learn all she could about nutrition and health. She lived to age 90 without ever having had any surgery other than a few stents put in, so I'd say she was successful . I even did some sessions with a psychologist on behavioral modification and subliminal suggestions. So, a 1-page diet sheet was really not very helpful. With the overwhelming amount of information available on the internet now, it is much easier to learn about nutrition and health if one so desires. The hard part is sifting through the garbage and for-profit-only scams.
The parents of children need to be educated as well as the children. I cringe every time I see a young child age 5-12 who already has a weight problem, because I know how difficult the road is gonig to be for them in the years to oome. Society has shifted for the better regarding weight, but there is still a LONG way to go. Education is the key!!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. If I have permission, I will share this with my students…. It is exactly what I tell them (and also my argument to administrators when I argue for space for culinary nutrition education in our curriculum)… it is clear that printing a hand out and handing it to a patient isn’t working. If we prescribed a medicine that didn’t work we would be sure to adjust the dosage, switch meds, etc., yet what do we do when a ‘diet change’ isn’t working for a patient??? we talk about being ‘patient centered’ and you all are telling us how it feels to be given a hand out and told ‘eat better’…., it’s time we actually listen and have ability to do something about it. So glad to hear your mother’s success story…..and yours as well. It really does take hard work and behavioral changes (in a system that makes money off people making the unhealthy choices) so kuddos to you😀😀😀. Yes, there is a very long way to go but hopefully we are finally at least looking in the right direction. Best to you!
You certainly may use my experiences. I am a 72-year-old woman, unfortunately now widowed, who still struggles with weight. One thing I neglected to mention is that failure to 'eat better' and lose weight added to my negative self-image, my guilt at not being able to succeed. All those years of bullying when I was younger and in school greatly added to my lack of self-esteem, which in turn left me feeling inadequate in so many other areas as I got older. I do believe it all stemmed from my weight issues. I was probably in my late 40's before I felt I had conquered my insecurities. It wasn't until I met my 2nd husband in 2004 that I really thrived in my own skin. (The first marriage at age 26 failed for other reasons - although my 1st mother-in-law had told her son that "she'd be ok if she lost 50 pounds." Ironically, her son didn't think so. My weight was never an issue to him, or my 2nd husband for that matter.)
I haven't mentioned in either post that I'm a type 2 diabetic, diagnosed in 1997. A lot of the nutritional information I've acquired since then has been related to diabetes. I am finally going to see an endocrinologist in a few months and hope to learn even more. One thing about diabetes is, if you take it seriously, that it really forces you to pay attention to what you eat! So, in one way or another, food has always been a major factor in my life. It certainly deserves more than a 1-page handout to learn how to master best choices! And it definitely pays to get information to kids when they're young - preschool, even - and parents need to know better nutrition when children are young toddlers. A lot of a child's metabolism is formed by the time they're 5, or so I've heard. As my weight shifted between ages 4 and 5, I tend to think that's true. (Tho I could be wrong.)
I could write forever on my experiences and opinions, but I will spare you further ramblings! Good luck with raising better awareness of nutrition especially in our schools - wish you much success! We need more champions like you!
I am old enough to have had a combination of art, home economics, shop skills and cooking in grade school - grades 5 through 8. All the guys had a blast sewing "surfer jackets," the girls welded with enthusiasm in the metal shop - and together we loved making things in the kitchen. I do not remember how many of those noble things José lists we covered, but we had so much fun working together and eating our successful results.
I cannot agree more...A basic cooking class in the 5th or 6th grades would go a long long way. Measurements - reading recipes - learning portions - and on and on...
I agree. School cafeterias need to come back to the schools. They were removed years ago. When the Federal government got involved with the educational system, many things changed, including feeding the students properly. Yes! We need to bring back the kitchen and staff and cook the food on the premises. Not at some huge commissary. The meals need to be hit and delicious. And yes, to bringing back Home economics to the classrooms. Alice Waters has a wonderful school up in the Bay Area that teaches everything about food and taking care of the resources. These programs need to be in every school. Years back, I tried to bring about change in the school programs, with just starting gardens. I came up against much opposition from the system. So I quit. Sorry I did, but I couldn’t fight the government. It’s like education, in the U.S. is an after thought. It makes me so very sad.
Last night I rewatched a "Parts Unknown" episode wherein Anthony Boudain and Daniel Bouloud visited Lyon. A part of that episode was a visit to a French elementary school lunchroom What a fascinating and eye-opening visit! Fresh pumpkin soup, a fish dish with vegetables, and fresh-baked cookies. All at a cost of approximately $1.50 per serving. And the kids ate everything with gusto, too. It sure didn't match my school cafeteria experience,
On another note, in the mid-1950's, 7th and 8th grade had something like Home-ec classes that the whole class took. One semester each of cooking, sewing, woodworking, and electricity. Really simple stuff but a lot of fun for both boys and girls, How to cook an egg, sew on a button, shape wood with simple tools, and repair a lamp, (sewing buttons came in very handy when I joined the Navy and wore trousers with 13 buttons)
That episode of Parts Unknown came to my mind as well. Those children ate absolutely delicious and nutritious 3-course meals every lunchtime at a very affordable cost. It was so great to see, and showed it could be done.
We used to have cooking and sewing in school but only girls had to take these classes. Ridiculous. Life skills like these and others like personal finance need to be middle schools at the latest.
I really appreciate this article, and couldn’t agree more (though I also believe some of the other skills that fall under “home economics” (see the button back on instead of buying something new! or putting together and following a budget) are also valuable). I got my degree in “home economics education “, and while it wasn’t my career, I know how important it is. Both the skills, the adjacent things kids learn, and taking all of that home. I’ll be looking up the links you mention. Thanks!!!
Yes! I taught middle school and high school Home Economics, Family & Consumer Sciences for 18 years. Sadly, along the way, I closed several departments as they were "not important" to the school district, board of education, administrators. Although my classes were fun, vital, busy, and packed... and I hear today (many years later!) from former students how they use what they learned every day! Although I am now retired, I would gladly return to teach nutrition and culinary in my small town's schools, if requested.
I am of the age when Home Economics was taught, as well as Shop (perhaps better known as Industrial Arts). These classes were in junior high and if you were a girl you had to take Home Economics and if you were a boy you had to take Shop. I wanted to take Shop but because I'm a girl I was not allowed. I tried to fight it to no avail so I ended up in a Home Economics class. I did't enjoy most of it (the sewing was awful) but I did like the cooking part.
With that said, I think both of these classes (updated of course) should be required but everyone should have to take both Home Economics and Shop. Both of these classes teach skills everyone can use as they move into adulthood.
My mother taught Jr Hi math for 26 years and used cooking to reach some of those that otherwise totally rejected math--halving or doubling a recipe; converting units (oz to cups), etc.
Thank you for caring! Edible schoolyards and culinary education help grow bright minds, healthy bodies and strong communities. Let’s get back to basics!
Please, please take this wonderful idea to the Secretary of Education, or whatever senator is championing life skills for our country's children. It is such a worthwhile curriculum idea, one I have been promoting for a long time. I had Home Ec in 8th-11th grades back in the '60's, when girls and boys stayed in their own home ec or shop lanes. The fact that there are younger people who can't sew a button or boil eggs just bamboozles me! We've become a throw-away society, nobody fixes anything. And as far as food goes, premade takeout, or worse ... pre-portioned packages of ingredients delivered to your door have become popular. It dismays me that the people who use these services can't either be bothered to purchase ingredients, or just don't know how to cook from scratch. It's become an attitude ... and one that should change ... starting in our schools!
As a 14 year old student in school in England I was required to attend working classes in “Domestic Science" for one year whilst the girls were required to take metalwork and woodwork for a year.
Yes! Yes! Yes! As a primary care physician with a focus on prevention I believe to truly address the chronic disease epidemic and promote health rather than focus on sickness we would be well served to help empower people with the knowledge and skills to be their own steward of health. From current food systems that flood the market with cheap ultra-processed foods creating food swamps and illness to the lack of nutrition, let alone culinary education in schools, creates a system of poor health that becomes difficult to overcome even with best efforts. (and then we exclusively blame the patient for obesity, diabetes or chronic pain) Add to that, medical schools also only provide an average of 24 hours of nutrition education even though physicians go to med school and residency for a minimum of 7 years!!! How can we expect to be a healthy nation when our health care providers don't know how to help patients apply nutrition principles to every day life such as how to choose foods and cook them? And, by the time patients enter our 'sick care system' (because our focus on treating sick people rather than helping people maintain health) they already have illness and habits that are difficult to change. Agree 100%, if we put this focus on healthy food and skills to prepare it in elementary school, our children would grow up with the nourishment to not only help them excel in school but also develop the healthy eating habits and skillset to maintain health as they become adults. Fortunately, we are gaining momentum thanks to the voices of people outside of healthcare like great Chefs such as Jose Andres and even congress working together like Senators Booker and Cornyn along with medical schools such as Touro College Osteopathic Medicine in Ca, that are implementing Culinary Medicine Programs like the Health Meets Food curriculum developed by Tim Harlan, MD, now at George Washington U., also where, with Jose Andres, they just opened the global Food Institute ( https://culinarymedicine.org/ and https://globalfoodinstitute.gwu.edu/) Or, the ever-expanding multi-professional Teaching Kitchen Collaborative led by David Eisenberg, MD at Harvard (https://teachingkitchens.org/). And incredible projects such as "Recipe4Health" championed by Dr. Steven Chen in Alameda County, Ca (https://recipe4health.acgov.org/). For the first time in 50 years even our federal govt. has begun to reassess the importance of nutrition! (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/24/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-launches-the-white-house-challenge-to-end-hunger-and-build-healthy-communities-announces-new-public-private-sector-actions-to-continue-momentum-from-hist/). I bring these examples (and there are many more 'sprouting' up every day!) not to advertise or brag, but bring excitement, hope and ideally momentum to these initiatives to address these issues. It's amazing to me that it takes a Chef to get the actual health profession to think about nutrition....but that might just be one of the secret ingredients we need. Thank You, Chef Andres, for speaking about this very important issue!
Thank you, Dr. Stevenson, for that enlightening overview of what's happening in the legislative and educational fields. I had no idea! (I should have read your post before I wrote my own!) I agree with you that it takes a "name" to get more traction on a topic sometimes. As to what physicians know about nutrition ... nothing annoyed me more than a new primary care doctor handing me a 'diet sheet' that explained what I should and shouldn't eat ... all summarized on one page. As if that explained it all. If nothing else, I learned (for me) that my success hinged on my motivation, and behavioral modification. I went to Weight Watchers at least 3 times when I was younger, belonged to a "TOPS" group for 10 years, that basically followed the American Dietetic Association's pyramid food plan, and learned a great deal from my mother who had had 3 heart attacks from age 48 to 60 and made it her life's mission to learn all she could about nutrition and health. She lived to age 90 without ever having had any surgery other than a few stents put in, so I'd say she was successful . I even did some sessions with a psychologist on behavioral modification and subliminal suggestions. So, a 1-page diet sheet was really not very helpful. With the overwhelming amount of information available on the internet now, it is much easier to learn about nutrition and health if one so desires. The hard part is sifting through the garbage and for-profit-only scams.
The parents of children need to be educated as well as the children. I cringe every time I see a young child age 5-12 who already has a weight problem, because I know how difficult the road is gonig to be for them in the years to oome. Society has shifted for the better regarding weight, but there is still a LONG way to go. Education is the key!!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. If I have permission, I will share this with my students…. It is exactly what I tell them (and also my argument to administrators when I argue for space for culinary nutrition education in our curriculum)… it is clear that printing a hand out and handing it to a patient isn’t working. If we prescribed a medicine that didn’t work we would be sure to adjust the dosage, switch meds, etc., yet what do we do when a ‘diet change’ isn’t working for a patient??? we talk about being ‘patient centered’ and you all are telling us how it feels to be given a hand out and told ‘eat better’…., it’s time we actually listen and have ability to do something about it. So glad to hear your mother’s success story…..and yours as well. It really does take hard work and behavioral changes (in a system that makes money off people making the unhealthy choices) so kuddos to you😀😀😀. Yes, there is a very long way to go but hopefully we are finally at least looking in the right direction. Best to you!
You certainly may use my experiences. I am a 72-year-old woman, unfortunately now widowed, who still struggles with weight. One thing I neglected to mention is that failure to 'eat better' and lose weight added to my negative self-image, my guilt at not being able to succeed. All those years of bullying when I was younger and in school greatly added to my lack of self-esteem, which in turn left me feeling inadequate in so many other areas as I got older. I do believe it all stemmed from my weight issues. I was probably in my late 40's before I felt I had conquered my insecurities. It wasn't until I met my 2nd husband in 2004 that I really thrived in my own skin. (The first marriage at age 26 failed for other reasons - although my 1st mother-in-law had told her son that "she'd be ok if she lost 50 pounds." Ironically, her son didn't think so. My weight was never an issue to him, or my 2nd husband for that matter.)
I haven't mentioned in either post that I'm a type 2 diabetic, diagnosed in 1997. A lot of the nutritional information I've acquired since then has been related to diabetes. I am finally going to see an endocrinologist in a few months and hope to learn even more. One thing about diabetes is, if you take it seriously, that it really forces you to pay attention to what you eat! So, in one way or another, food has always been a major factor in my life. It certainly deserves more than a 1-page handout to learn how to master best choices! And it definitely pays to get information to kids when they're young - preschool, even - and parents need to know better nutrition when children are young toddlers. A lot of a child's metabolism is formed by the time they're 5, or so I've heard. As my weight shifted between ages 4 and 5, I tend to think that's true. (Tho I could be wrong.)
I could write forever on my experiences and opinions, but I will spare you further ramblings! Good luck with raising better awareness of nutrition especially in our schools - wish you much success! We need more champions like you!
I am old enough to have had a combination of art, home economics, shop skills and cooking in grade school - grades 5 through 8. All the guys had a blast sewing "surfer jackets," the girls welded with enthusiasm in the metal shop - and together we loved making things in the kitchen. I do not remember how many of those noble things José lists we covered, but we had so much fun working together and eating our successful results.
I cannot agree more...A basic cooking class in the 5th or 6th grades would go a long long way. Measurements - reading recipes - learning portions - and on and on...
Every kid should be able to fry an egg :)
I agree. School cafeterias need to come back to the schools. They were removed years ago. When the Federal government got involved with the educational system, many things changed, including feeding the students properly. Yes! We need to bring back the kitchen and staff and cook the food on the premises. Not at some huge commissary. The meals need to be hit and delicious. And yes, to bringing back Home economics to the classrooms. Alice Waters has a wonderful school up in the Bay Area that teaches everything about food and taking care of the resources. These programs need to be in every school. Years back, I tried to bring about change in the school programs, with just starting gardens. I came up against much opposition from the system. So I quit. Sorry I did, but I couldn’t fight the government. It’s like education, in the U.S. is an after thought. It makes me so very sad.
Last night I rewatched a "Parts Unknown" episode wherein Anthony Boudain and Daniel Bouloud visited Lyon. A part of that episode was a visit to a French elementary school lunchroom What a fascinating and eye-opening visit! Fresh pumpkin soup, a fish dish with vegetables, and fresh-baked cookies. All at a cost of approximately $1.50 per serving. And the kids ate everything with gusto, too. It sure didn't match my school cafeteria experience,
On another note, in the mid-1950's, 7th and 8th grade had something like Home-ec classes that the whole class took. One semester each of cooking, sewing, woodworking, and electricity. Really simple stuff but a lot of fun for both boys and girls, How to cook an egg, sew on a button, shape wood with simple tools, and repair a lamp, (sewing buttons came in very handy when I joined the Navy and wore trousers with 13 buttons)
That episode of Parts Unknown came to my mind as well. Those children ate absolutely delicious and nutritious 3-course meals every lunchtime at a very affordable cost. It was so great to see, and showed it could be done.
We used to have cooking and sewing in school but only girls had to take these classes. Ridiculous. Life skills like these and others like personal finance need to be middle schools at the latest.
I really appreciate this article, and couldn’t agree more (though I also believe some of the other skills that fall under “home economics” (see the button back on instead of buying something new! or putting together and following a budget) are also valuable). I got my degree in “home economics education “, and while it wasn’t my career, I know how important it is. Both the skills, the adjacent things kids learn, and taking all of that home. I’ll be looking up the links you mention. Thanks!!!
Yes! I taught middle school and high school Home Economics, Family & Consumer Sciences for 18 years. Sadly, along the way, I closed several departments as they were "not important" to the school district, board of education, administrators. Although my classes were fun, vital, busy, and packed... and I hear today (many years later!) from former students how they use what they learned every day! Although I am now retired, I would gladly return to teach nutrition and culinary in my small town's schools, if requested.
This is a great idea! I took Home Economics in school and learned so many life skills.
I agree. Cooking is for everyone. Out Doctors don’t have enough studies in Nutrition either.
I am of the age when Home Economics was taught, as well as Shop (perhaps better known as Industrial Arts). These classes were in junior high and if you were a girl you had to take Home Economics and if you were a boy you had to take Shop. I wanted to take Shop but because I'm a girl I was not allowed. I tried to fight it to no avail so I ended up in a Home Economics class. I did't enjoy most of it (the sewing was awful) but I did like the cooking part.
With that said, I think both of these classes (updated of course) should be required but everyone should have to take both Home Economics and Shop. Both of these classes teach skills everyone can use as they move into adulthood.
My mother taught Jr Hi math for 26 years and used cooking to reach some of those that otherwise totally rejected math--halving or doubling a recipe; converting units (oz to cups), etc.
Thank you for caring! Edible schoolyards and culinary education help grow bright minds, healthy bodies and strong communities. Let’s get back to basics!
And they’re working on some math skills too. Just don’t let them know. 🤫
Please, please take this wonderful idea to the Secretary of Education, or whatever senator is championing life skills for our country's children. It is such a worthwhile curriculum idea, one I have been promoting for a long time. I had Home Ec in 8th-11th grades back in the '60's, when girls and boys stayed in their own home ec or shop lanes. The fact that there are younger people who can't sew a button or boil eggs just bamboozles me! We've become a throw-away society, nobody fixes anything. And as far as food goes, premade takeout, or worse ... pre-portioned packages of ingredients delivered to your door have become popular. It dismays me that the people who use these services can't either be bothered to purchase ingredients, or just don't know how to cook from scratch. It's become an attitude ... and one that should change ... starting in our schools!