Rob Rees says…
Readers may know that Jamie Oliver is developing his ‘Ministry of Food’ project with the City of Rotherham. The ultimate goal is to set up a city that cooks and grows and values good food more. The ambition is to make it the first city that does so.
Well I think that the whole of county of Gloucestershire has already done it.
We have a ‘Get Gloucestershire Cooking’ project that has been going here for the last 2 years and I also know that there are numerous groups doing there best at inspiring people to grow their own food, support quality markets and farm shops and also ultimately to get people cooking nutritous food – fresh, frozen, tinned or dried – it all counts towards the better diet.
I think this blog needs you to share your cooking project – let us know what you like cooking. Did you know that every child has the right at secondary school from September to take part in practical cooking – at last! Go on encourage your child, nephew, niece, grandchild to take up the cooking challenge at school next year.
For those that don’t like cooking – which I think is fine – I don’t like gardening that much but have given it a go. What do you think of being told that it’s the way to make us healthier?
Indeed we ate far more calories during the 60s but our lifestyle was different then – have things changed that much and if so what do you think we should do?
Filed under: Cotswold Chef | Tagged: Cotswold Chef, Get Gloucestershire Cooking, local food, Poll |
Vision Foodhall Weblog 
I am surprised that every child now has the right to do cooking at secondary school. I didn’t get the chance to do it when I was there! I think I’ll have to mention this to my friends with kids.
So secondary school school kids will be given the chance to cook if they want to!. Why give them the choice? I wasn’t given the choice to do French, didn’t want to but actually enjoyed it. It’s been no use to me whatsoever since whereas had I learned to cook I would have been equipped with an essential life skill. It would have also saved me a fortune instead of buying ready meals.
Give free school lunches to those from low income families and put the remainder of the meals budget into food education. The kids may even enjoy it
So why has my daughter been given recipes to cook Rock cakes, Pizza, Fairy cakes, Pineapple Upside down cake in fact anything with flour, fat and sugar which I dont think she should eat or even consider eating. I’d rather she didnt have cookery lessons if this is what her school is going to teach. I hardly think this type of cookrey lesson will equip her with essential life skills! This is not a one off type of cookery lesson her brother (4 yrs older also did the exact same cooking) I felt like informing Jamie Oliver about this kind of cooking months ago myself. By the way I prefer gardening to cooking .
Rarebit – some of the recipes you list offer key cooking skills that young people infact all of us need to know – mixing , rubbing in, baking, beating , whisking and caramelsing. Cooking and eating these things can be brilliant fun and inspiring. The new license to cook activity in schools takes cooking though to another level – mainstream culture at last.
Great blog!
Hm, secondary school – no, no, no – get ’em younger!!
Young kids, in kindergarten even, can be made enthusiastic over anything!! (even healthy food!!)
Teenagers, they’re too busy being bored or preoccupied by themselves & may have too pre-formed opinions!!
We had ‘obligatory cooking’ (part of something called ‘housekeeping skills’ – though I hear there are better names for these kinds of courses!) in primary school, & I really loved learning to cook there! We made full courses, whole meals.. they were still ‘traditional’ and some were pretty unhealthy too, looking back, but they did give us some skills & encouragement to try on by ourselves!
I think the idea behind cakes and pizzas is to get kids interested, as many kids do love such food.. It would be even better to inform, educate & inspire from early on about other types of food too!!
lol I have a love & hate relationship with cooking AND gardening.. so, hoping to get inspired to do both more creatively and with less dread of ‘gosh, what am I gonna cook today?’ lol!