I hope you find this longish read an interesting one... it's something close to my heart. I grew up surrounded by wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen my dear Mum enjoyed cooking/baking as did my grandparents. There were times when my dear Dad took his turn at cooking too. The children were encouraged to cook try different tastes and now the grandchildren have also been given that encouragement and skill to cook simple meals ... in fact one of the Grands cooked a Chicken Pasta Bake this week and I've been told it was delicious.
Not all children are fortunate to have these skills as this article explains ...
(although aimed at the UK it may be the same in your country?)
Twenty years later, Harriott ran into him again. “He said, ‘I wrote to you,’ and I said, ‘Yes! I remember!’” Harriott recalls. “Now he’s a chef. I thought, bloody hell…”
For Harriott, it was a reminder of how small moments in the kitchen can spark something bigger. And it’s exactly the kind of spark he hopes to ignite again through a new initiative aimed at young cooks.
New research suggests that more than half of young people are not confident cooking a meal for themselves or others. According to the survey, many say they cannot prepare everyday dishes such as soup or curry, while many struggle to identify appropriate portion sizes.
In response, and with Harriott’s support, the Scouts have relaunched their chef’s badge for 10-14-year-olds to be more relevant to young people today, including a new focus on reducing food waste, food storage and meal planning.
The scheme arrives at a time when confidence in the kitchen appears to be fading.
“There are loads of kids out there – one in two! – who are a bit embarrassed, a bit frightened. They find it difficult to cook for others,” says Harriott. But cooking, he argues, is about far more than simply feeding yourself. “It’s a social skill that just brings people together.”
He’s seen that play out in his own family. “My daughter left home about a year ago, but she’s perfectly independent, perfectly able to get in the kitchen,” he says. “The biggest thrill I get is when she says, ‘I’ve got a couple of girls coming around tonight because I’m cooking them a meal.’”
But cooking’s importance extends beyond the social side of food. Experts say the ability to prepare meals from scratch also plays a key role in long-term health and diet quality.
“Basic cooking skills are fundamental for being able to follow a healthy dietary pattern as they allow you to incorporate plenty of vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and lean protein foods into a balanced diet that supports long-term health,” says Bridget Benelam, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation.
Yet despite near universal agreement about its importance, many young people are growing up without the skills previous generations learned almost by default.
Part of the explanation lies in a broader cultural shift.
For generations, cooking was simply woven into daily life. Children watched parents and grandparents prepare meals, absorbing the rhythms of chopping, seasoning and simmering almost by osmosis. Today, those informal lessons in the UK are far less common.
Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a baby and child nutritionist, says cooking skills are still vital – but they begin with something even more fundamental: a child’s relationship with food. Before a child will ever want to cook, they first have to learn a love for food
“Cooking skills are absolutely essential, but in my experience, before a child will ever want to cook, they first have to learn a love for food,” she says. “If a child hasn’t developed a real enjoyment of eating, such as a curiosity about flavours, a willingness to try things, a sense that food is something exciting rather than something to be endured – then teaching them to chop an onion may be rather missing the point.”
That relationship with food used to form naturally in households where cooking was routine. But that environment has changed in many British households.
“Kids naturally picked things up by watching parents or grandparents cook… that’s how most skills are learned, through seeing them happen again and again.”
Harriott remembers a similar upbringing.
“I was fortunate growing up to be able to get home, my mum was there, there was a meal, there was something being cooked,” he says. “We don’t have that perfect situation any more.”
A combination of longer working hours, busy family schedules, for mums and dads, and the convenience of ready meals and takeaway apps, has reshaped how many households eat.
None of this is inherently negative – convenience has its place – but it can mean fewer opportunities for children to see cooking in action.
At the same time, Stirling-Reed says, many parents feel unsure about cooking themselves. “Many parents feel anxious or unsure about cooking themselves – and that lack of confidence is also so easily passed down.
“Even very small moments such as laughing over a mealtime, stirring ingredients, washing vegetables or laying the table can build familiarity and confidence around food and eating.”
Simple meals can provide valuable opportunities for children to develop basic skills.
Harriott says even learning a few simple dishes can make a difference. “I think everyone should learn how to make a pasta dish,” he says. “I love the idea of kids doing a pork or chicken stir fry… it’s very, very basic, but it’s full of nutrition.”
If cooking skills are no longer routinely learned at home, the obvious place to teach them might be school. But here, too, provision is uneven. “Food education in England is patchy and highly variable,” says Caroline Harrison, director of the Food Education Network.
In primary schools, opportunities can be especially limited. Reporting cited by the network suggests that around 75 per cent of primary schools do not offer regular cookery lessons. By secondary school, only 48 per cent of young people aged 11 to 18 say they receive any dedicated class time for food education.
55% of young people are too afraid to cook
The disparities run deeper than age. Children from households earning under £45,000 are less likely to receive food education than those from higher-income homes. Geography also plays a role: around 58 per cent of young people in London receive dedicated food education, compared with 40 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Schools often face practical barriers too. “Limited facilities, equipment and ingredients, as well as a shortage of trained food education teachers, particularly at secondary level,” Harrison explains, can make practical cookery lessons difficult to deliver.
The result is that many pupils leave school without the practical skills once taught in traditional home economics classes.
Harriott believes those skills deserve a place in the classroom. “When you think about the skill that cooking gives you in life, it’s something that should be there,” he says. “Just to be able to pass on a little bit of cooking now, early in life, to those young kids… that spongy age, where the brain is still soaking up loads of information.”
Cooking confidence can also influence what people eat for years to come.
“There are studies that show that cooking skills in young people translate into healthier habits and eating patterns later in life,” says Benelam. One study, she notes, found that better cooking skills between the ages of 18 and 23 were associated with improved diet outcomes a decade later, including higher vegetable consumption and less reliance on fast food.
The link between cooking and diet quality is particularly relevant at a time when ultra-processed foods make up a significant portion of the UK diet. While convenience foods can certainly form part of a balanced diet, experts say the ability to prepare meals from basic ingredients provides more flexibility and control over what goes onto the plate.
Cooking from scratch can also make it easier to incorporate ingredients such as vegetables, pulses and whole grains – foods widely recommended in dietary guidelines.
Against this backdrop, initiatives like the Scouts’ updated chef’s badge, designed to rebuild cooking confidence, are gaining attention.
For Stirling-Reed, the wider question is why such initiatives are necessary in the first place. She agrees with Harriott that the gap visible in today’s teenagers did not appear overnight. “My generation grew up right as cooking lessons were being stripped out of schools, and I genuinely think that’s had a huge impact on the skills we’re seeing now.”
In other words, it may not be today’s young people who forgot how to cook, but the systems around them – schools that deprioritised practical food education, households stretched for time, and a culture increasingly built around convenience.
In a moment when conversations about food increasingly revolve around ultra-processed diets and healthy longevity, the solution may start with something simpler: knowing how to cook dinner.
And if Harriott’s jacket-potato story is anything to go by, sometimes all it takes is one small spark.
Cookery lessons in schools have declined, leaving many young people without basic skills
Years ago, during Ainsley Harriott’s Ready Steady Cook heyday, a viewer wrote in about a jacket potato he’d made on the show – topped with a little leek and cream cheese. The man explained he didn’t normally cook but had tried the recipe and loved it.
Twenty years later, Harriott ran into him again. “He said, ‘I wrote to you,’ and I said, ‘Yes! I remember!’” Harriott recalls. “Now he’s a chef. I thought, bloody hell…”
For Harriott, it was a reminder of how small moments in the kitchen can spark something bigger. And it’s exactly the kind of spark he hopes to ignite again through a new initiative aimed at young cooks.
New research suggests that more than half of young people are not confident cooking a meal for themselves or others. According to the survey, many say they cannot prepare everyday dishes such as soup or curry, while many struggle to identify appropriate portion sizes.
In response, and with Harriott’s support, the Scouts have relaunched their chef’s badge for 10-14-year-olds to be more relevant to young people today, including a new focus on reducing food waste, food storage and meal planning.
The scheme arrives at a time when confidence in the kitchen appears to be fading.
“There are loads of kids out there – one in two! – who are a bit embarrassed, a bit frightened. They find it difficult to cook for others,” says Harriott. But cooking, he argues, is about far more than simply feeding yourself. “It’s a social skill that just brings people together.”
He’s seen that play out in his own family. “My daughter left home about a year ago, but she’s perfectly independent, perfectly able to get in the kitchen,” he says. “The biggest thrill I get is when she says, ‘I’ve got a couple of girls coming around tonight because I’m cooking them a meal.’”
But cooking’s importance extends beyond the social side of food. Experts say the ability to prepare meals from scratch also plays a key role in long-term health and diet quality.
“Basic cooking skills are fundamental for being able to follow a healthy dietary pattern as they allow you to incorporate plenty of vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and lean protein foods into a balanced diet that supports long-term health,” says Bridget Benelam, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation.
Harriott showing Scouts how simple cooking skills can build confidence in the kitchen
Cooking skills also matter when money is tight. “It’s also important for being able to eat healthily on a budget as basic cooking skills mean that you can prepare inexpensive meals with healthy ingredients,” she adds.
Yet despite near universal agreement about its importance, many young people are growing up without the skills previous generations learned almost by default.
Part of the explanation lies in a broader cultural shift.
For generations, cooking was simply woven into daily life. Children watched parents and grandparents prepare meals, absorbing the rhythms of chopping, seasoning and simmering almost by osmosis. Today, those informal lessons in the UK are far less common.
Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a baby and child nutritionist, says cooking skills are still vital – but they begin with something even more fundamental: a child’s relationship with food. Before a child will ever want to cook, they first have to learn a love for food
“Cooking skills are absolutely essential, but in my experience, before a child will ever want to cook, they first have to learn a love for food,” she says. “If a child hasn’t developed a real enjoyment of eating, such as a curiosity about flavours, a willingness to try things, a sense that food is something exciting rather than something to be endured – then teaching them to chop an onion may be rather missing the point.”
That relationship with food used to form naturally in households where cooking was routine. But that environment has changed in many British households.
“Kids naturally picked things up by watching parents or grandparents cook… that’s how most skills are learned, through seeing them happen again and again.”
Harriott remembers a similar upbringing.
“I was fortunate growing up to be able to get home, my mum was there, there was a meal, there was something being cooked,” he says. “We don’t have that perfect situation any more.”
A combination of longer working hours, busy family schedules, for mums and dads, and the convenience of ready meals and takeaway apps, has reshaped how many households eat.
None of this is inherently negative – convenience has its place – but it can mean fewer opportunities for children to see cooking in action.
At the same time, Stirling-Reed says, many parents feel unsure about cooking themselves. “Many parents feel anxious or unsure about cooking themselves – and that lack of confidence is also so easily passed down.
“Even very small moments such as laughing over a mealtime, stirring ingredients, washing vegetables or laying the table can build familiarity and confidence around food and eating.”
Simple meals can provide valuable opportunities for children to develop basic skills.
Many children learn cooking skills first by watching and helping parents at home
“It’s not about teaching them to be a perfect cook,” Stirling-Reed adds. “It’s about creating an environment where a wide variety of food is normal, and where cooking is a part of eating.”
Harriott says even learning a few simple dishes can make a difference. “I think everyone should learn how to make a pasta dish,” he says. “I love the idea of kids doing a pork or chicken stir fry… it’s very, very basic, but it’s full of nutrition.”
If cooking skills are no longer routinely learned at home, the obvious place to teach them might be school. But here, too, provision is uneven. “Food education in England is patchy and highly variable,” says Caroline Harrison, director of the Food Education Network.
In primary schools, opportunities can be especially limited. Reporting cited by the network suggests that around 75 per cent of primary schools do not offer regular cookery lessons. By secondary school, only 48 per cent of young people aged 11 to 18 say they receive any dedicated class time for food education.
55% of young people are too afraid to cook
The disparities run deeper than age. Children from households earning under £45,000 are less likely to receive food education than those from higher-income homes. Geography also plays a role: around 58 per cent of young people in London receive dedicated food education, compared with 40 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Schools often face practical barriers too. “Limited facilities, equipment and ingredients, as well as a shortage of trained food education teachers, particularly at secondary level,” Harrison explains, can make practical cookery lessons difficult to deliver.
The result is that many pupils leave school without the practical skills once taught in traditional home economics classes.
Harriott believes those skills deserve a place in the classroom. “When you think about the skill that cooking gives you in life, it’s something that should be there,” he says. “Just to be able to pass on a little bit of cooking now, early in life, to those young kids… that spongy age, where the brain is still soaking up loads of information.”
Cooking confidence can also influence what people eat for years to come.
“There are studies that show that cooking skills in young people translate into healthier habits and eating patterns later in life,” says Benelam. One study, she notes, found that better cooking skills between the ages of 18 and 23 were associated with improved diet outcomes a decade later, including higher vegetable consumption and less reliance on fast food.
The link between cooking and diet quality is particularly relevant at a time when ultra-processed foods make up a significant portion of the UK diet. While convenience foods can certainly form part of a balanced diet, experts say the ability to prepare meals from basic ingredients provides more flexibility and control over what goes onto the plate.
Cooking from scratch can also make it easier to incorporate ingredients such as vegetables, pulses and whole grains – foods widely recommended in dietary guidelines.
Against this backdrop, initiatives like the Scouts’ updated chef’s badge, designed to rebuild cooking confidence, are gaining attention.
For Stirling-Reed, the wider question is why such initiatives are necessary in the first place. She agrees with Harriott that the gap visible in today’s teenagers did not appear overnight. “My generation grew up right as cooking lessons were being stripped out of schools, and I genuinely think that’s had a huge impact on the skills we’re seeing now.”
In other words, it may not be today’s young people who forgot how to cook, but the systems around them – schools that deprioritised practical food education, households stretched for time, and a culture increasingly built around convenience.
In a moment when conversations about food increasingly revolve around ultra-processed diets and healthy longevity, the solution may start with something simpler: knowing how to cook dinner.
And if Harriott’s jacket-potato story is anything to go by, sometimes all it takes is one small spark.
Above words and images taken from here
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Many thanks for taking time to read this post and do please share your thoughts in the comments.
All the best Jan
Excellent article ~ so important to have a good relationship with food ~ otherwise eating disorders can develop and sharing skills at home enhances a relationship a way for children to bond with family members ~ thanks ~ hugs ~ ^_^
ReplyDeletePS ~ thanks for commenting on my blog also
I think learning to cook is very important and there are so many memories that come along with it. I do remember some of the first things I learned to cook and share with my family.
ReplyDeleteOur 12 year old neighbor surprised us today by bringing over warm chocolate chip cookies she just made - we were touched to get them and she was very proud.
They took all the important living skills out of the school system to learn!
ReplyDeleteI think cooking from scratch results in a better quality end result most of the time. Convenience foods tend to be too salty or too sweet as well as too caloric.
ReplyDeleteSiempre es mejor comer comida que uno cocina. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteBoth my daughters started to learn to cook in primary school. They both cook for their families but one does it because she needs to, the other because she loves cooking/baking. And their kids can all cook, boys as well as girls. My eldest great grand also likes to help in the kitchen, mind you her dad is a chef so she has that advantage. An excellent article, I'm not sure whether cooking is still taught in our schools.
ReplyDelete...fewer and fewer people cook today!
ReplyDeleteJan, this is a fantastic post. Learning to cook is so important in our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteGood article to read and be read, Jan. Not a lot of young ones can cook these days, even down here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at school, Primary schools didn't even teach nutrition, let alone cooking classes. In High School only the girls got cooking and Home Economics while the boys had woodwork and mechanics. We didn't learn much apart from sponge cake and how to dry clean a school tie.
ReplyDeleteNow I have four grown children, all of them are good cooks and willing to try new things, and six grandchildren, two are great cooks, two are learning while the youngest two and not-quite-four but love eating and will try anything, so I can easily see them taking turns in the kitchen being taught by their dad a few years from now.
I think it's a valuable contribution, and children should help out from a young age and also watch how things are done. I always did that with my three children. They all became trained chefs.
ReplyDeleteCooking should be taught more in schools everywhere.
hugs Elke
At almost 76, I am still learning to cook due to allergies to dairy, nuts, yeast, among many other things that arrived in my old age. So now I have to make my own mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, bread (naan with baking powder), etc. I feel healthier and have lost weight as well.
ReplyDeleteYour story beautifully affirms what voices like Ainsley Harriott advocate that the simple, shared act of cooking across generations nourishes not just the body, but confidence, connection, and a lifelong relationship with food.
ReplyDeleteCooking is such an important skill to have. In this day and age of convenience food which is filled with goodness knows what, and an increase in obesity, knowing how to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients is more important than ever.
ReplyDeleteAll my children and grandchildren are good cooks, thanks to my husband, who's a dab hand in the kitchen. (I'm the sous chef!)
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with this. I grew up watching my Italian-American grandmother and mother cooking. They were both excellent cooks. When I was old enough, I was required to cook one meal a week. I always made the same thing, but I made it. I got married at 18 and suddenly had to cook all the time. It was then that I learned how much I'd absorbed without realizing it from watching my mother and Nana. I'm so grateful for this knowledge and now half a century of practice. And I was happy to pass on some ideas when I cooked in a soup kitchen and did cooking demonstrations in a food pantry. It was gratifying when people came out of the food pantry with veggies they'd always turned down before and told me that they accepted this time because now they knew what to do with it.
ReplyDeleteIt is so heartening to hear that your grandchildren are already turning out delicious meals like that chicken pasta bake. Passing down those kitchen skills is such a gift because it really does build a sense of independence and pride in a young person. It is a shame that so many schools have moved away from basic cooking because there is nothing like the smell of a home cooked meal to bring a family together.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I did enjoy my Home Ec and cooking class in school.
ReplyDeleteTake care, have a great day! Have a wonderful week ahead.
My mother hated people in her kitchen while she was cooking. The kitchen was divided by a counter and I was allowed to observe as long as I was on the kitchen table side of the counter. My mother didn't teach me to cook. She did give me two cookbooks. One was a children's cookbook which I started with. At 16 my job was to cook dinner because both my parents worked and came home late. When I was getting married, she gave me a Betty Crocker Cookbook as a shower gift.
ReplyDeleteVery good information
ReplyDeleteI wish my mom taught me how to cook when I was a kid...couldn't cook at all until I got married. My husband had to cook first few weeks..and he couldn't cook. So that's when I thought I NEEDED to learn how to feed us properly..
ReplyDeleteInteresting, thought-provoking article, Jan. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDear Jan!
ReplyDeleteIn my country, children aren't taught how to cook. Many women choose supermarket pre-made meals and even ready-made salads that can be prepared in 10 minutes. I think the idea of teaching cooking at school is excellent.
Spring greetings:)
I agree, cooking is so important to learn. I am thankful we took time to teach our boys how to cook. Both enjoy outdoor cooking.
ReplyDeleteBoa noite Jan. Na maior parte do Brasil, não é diferente. Todos os meus irmãos, sabem cozinhar. Eu diria, que na minha família, temos duas cozinheiras, que são, literalmente imbatíveis, minha irmã Izabel e uma tia, que mora em Nova Iguaçu RJ, cidade da Baixada Fluminense, estado do Rio de Janeiro. Uma excelente noite de segunda-feira e um grande abraço do seu amigo brasileiro.
ReplyDeleteIt is such an important skill. My daughter is showing a wee bit of interest in it. :-D
ReplyDeleteI still remember my first semester living with friends in a house we rented. I had to call home to ask mom how to boil anm egg!
ReplyDeleteThere's so many people that don't know how to cook.
ReplyDeleteI echo Tom's comment.
ReplyDeleteGOOGLE TRANSLATE
ReplyDeleteJ.P. Alexander said...
Siempre es mejor comer comida que uno cocina. Te mando un beso
It's always better to eat food you've cooked yourself. Sending you a kiss.
Luiz Gomes said...
Boa noite Jan. Na maior parte do Brasil, não é diferente. Todos os meus irmãos, sabem cozinhar. Eu diria, que na minha família, temos duas cozinheiras, que são, literalmente imbatíveis, minha irmã Izabel e uma tia, que mora em Nova Iguaçu RJ, cidade da Baixada Fluminense, estado do Rio de Janeiro. Uma excelente noite de segunda-feira e um grande abraço do seu amigo brasileiro.
Good evening Jan. In most of Brazil, it's no different. All my siblings know how to cook. I would say that in my family, we have two cooks who are literally unbeatable: my sister Izabel and an aunt who lives in Nova Iguaçu, RJ, a city in the Baixada Fluminense region of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Have a wonderful Monday evening and a big hug from your Brazilian friend.
This is a very good article. I remember learning cooking when Home EC in school was for girls, but my grandmother was a superb cook and I tried to emulate her. Plus my mom never minded me playing in the kitchen. I know when I taught high school the culinary program was quite popular, and you didn't have to be a girl to take it. :) Happy start to the new week Jan.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea teaching kids to cook. My mom didn't want me in the kitchen. I learned on my own when I got married!!
ReplyDeleteCooking is a great skill to have.
ReplyDeletei read all of this and i really enjoyed it and could not agree more. here in the united states real "life Skills" are absent in schools. i do not use so much of what i learned in school. cleaning, gardening, cooking...balancing a checkbook, all skills, i believe, should be learned and home and supported by schools. i learned algebra and the such, haven't used algebra since high school. in other countries, so many useful skills are taught right in the classroom. they don't have janitors, the kids keep schools clean. so much needs to be restructured!!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to teach kids how to cook. I took a cooking/homemaking class in high school that was valuable for me.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should learn to cook and interact with what fuels ua
ReplyDeleteI think children should be taught many life skills. Gardening, budgeting and yes, absolutely how to cook . House DIY too. There surely is enough time to teach all this if only on alternate weeks. So so important to be able to nourish yourself and create a comfortable home. I offered to teach basic cooking skills at my local food bank but they said that it wasn't in their remit. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteHopefully articles like these will bring focus to the importance of teaching our children life skills in this complex world. My mother didn't teach me how to cook, but she set an example of how she used her cookbooks to teach herself. I was fortunate to grow up in a time that still offered sewing and cooking classes for the 'Future Homemakers of America' club and I took full advantage. I encouraged my children to cook (and tried to be patient with the mess they made) and now both of my sons and daughters are excellent cooks, and I get to enjoy the dinners they invite me to. My grandsons are learning, too. So important to learn to eat healthy in this day of convenience foods that are so unhealthy! x k
ReplyDelete