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Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Stoate welcomes promise of compulsory cookery lessons in secondary schools
Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, has welcomed the announcement today by Schools Secretary Ed Balls that cookery lessons are to be made compulsory in secondary schools for children aged 11 to 14.
 
Dr Stoate, who is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity, has been one of the leading campaigners in Parliament for the introduction of compulsory school cookery lessons.
 
In 2002 he wrote a pamphlet on children’s health for the Fabian Society, ‘All’s well that starts well’, in which he called for cookery lessons to be made a compulsory part of secondary school curriculum along with a ban on TV advertising to children of food that is high in fat, salt and sugar.
 
Commenting on today’s announcement Dr Stoate said; “I’m delighted that the Government has decided to make cookery a compulsory part of the secondary curriculum. Too many young people in this country are entering adulthood without even the most basic of cooking skills. If we want the next generation of adults to eat healthily and keep the amount of processed food they eat to a minimum then we have to make cookery an integral part of the school curriculum.”
 
“Putting cookery on the curriculum of every secondary school won’t be cheap. It will require extra capital investment in kitchens and food preparation facilities and more money for utensils and ingredients. It will also require more cookery teachers to be trained. If it helps us to improve the nation’s diet however and reduce the incidence of obesity and diet related health problems then it will be money and time very well spent.”
 
Notes
 
In ‘All’s well that starts well’ Dr Stoate wrote; “The best way for children to learn about food is for them to touch it, smell it and above all taste it. Unless children are given a grounding in cooking and have some understanding about what it is they are eating and the effect it will have on them, they will not have the skills or knowledge to carry on eating properly when they leave school.”
 
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© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
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