Check out my progress on The Extinction of Home-Ec
If you’re anything like me (or any other child of the late 80s/90s), your conception of home economics class is probably limited to sit-coms—sure, I’ve watched Zach, Kelly, and the rest of the SBTB gang bake brownies, nurse an egg, and learn to sew, but I never personally learned such skills in high school.
Apparently I’m not the only one who has had such a gap in my high school education. In recent decades such home economics courses were phased out due to the fact that the information they contained was “common sense.”
The result of this educational change is easily observed in my generation—nobody knows how to cook. Even within the field of dietetics, my fellow students—who intend on making a living by preaching healthy eating—can’t cook for themselves. In our world of processed and prepared foods, it’s easy to coast through life never learning basic cooking skills. However, I think it’s important to learn such skills for the sake of your health and your wallet—prepared foods are often laden with detrimental ingredients and typically carry a hefty price tag.
Personally, I agree with this op-ed contributor—we need to revive home economics courses in American schools. The skills that go into managing a household are not always “common sense.” From balancing a budget to preparing a healthy meal, home economics courses could provide another way to help combat our nation’s health and economic crises.
Did you ever take a home-ec class in high school? Do you think they should be “revived” in high school curricula?
Here’s what I cooked up today…
I started my day off right with a batch of choco-oat bran with raspberries.
For lunch, I packed my Dilled Tofu Salad with Cucumber & Hummus. Technically, the recipe is for egg salad, but the vegan version was just as tasty. I also added a handful of sun-dried tomatoes.
Tonight was Weeknight Dinner Date for Seth and me, so I cooked up some black bean burgers. They weren’t perfect in terms of texture, but they satisfied our raging appetites! On the side, I made a broccoli slaw dressed with homemade (Greek yogurt) ranch dressing.
Alright, I’m off to do a little foam rolling. G’night!
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
I took never home ec classes in high school, buy took food and nutrition classes for acouple years instead!
I was homeschooled! So in some ways, every day was home ec class
I took all of the classes, but i’m Australian, and all of the sewing and cooking classes are still very much available. I took textiles and home economics…but then, they changed HE to a class called Food Tech. Which was just cooking. We had two 40 minute periods to cook something that takes much longer, which meant we either had undercooked food, or had no time to clean. Or both. I had a teacher that was completely insane when it came to food safety, and I quickly developed a fear of cooking at all. Everything was too hard, too dangerous, too everything! Now, I don’t cook anything. Before those classes I would come home and cook afternoon tea, now I open a packet of chips instead.
The person who read the op-ed was on NPR yesterday and it was really interesting. http://www.npr.org/2011/09/06/140220140/op-ed-for-healthier-kids-bring-back-home-ec
There’s the link. I think Home-Ec is sorta important. When I was in high school it was required in my school (so early 2000s) and I think it was really important!
BroccoliHut Reply:
September 8th, 2011 at 8:37 am
Thanks for the link!
your oat bran looks peppermint themed!
BroccoliHut Reply:
September 8th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Not a bad idea!! I might need to pick up some peppermint extract this week…
We had home ec but I don’t recall learning to do anything more than baking cookies. Most of my home ec experience was at home – my Mom made most of our meals, we ate out on very rare occasions. Now I learn about cooking from my fellow bloggers.
I do agree that kids need to have mandatory classes on budgeting, at least. Even if they don’t get cooking classes.
We didn’t have home-ec when I was in high school, but I did take 2 years of foods and nutrition (elective courses), and it really did help me in the kitchen. My mom taught me how to cook, but she doesn’t follow recipes or guidelines at all, so foods at least taught me how to follow a recipe, which is NOT common sense if you ask me!
I can’t believe you have people in your class who can’t cook for themselves!!
Really? I graduated HS in 2004 and I had 2 home economic classes where I cooked.
Your oat bran always looks gorgeous. I’ll have to try it one of these days. We definitely did not have home ec when I was in school. I graduated a few years before you (2002), just for reference. There was a “family skills” class at my middle school in which students carried around those computer babies, but it wasn’t open to a very large number of kids. Other than grilled cheese and Hamburger Helper, I didn’t learn to cook at all until college, and I didn’t hone my skills until I was living totally on my own. Now I look back and can’t believe it. I plan to make sure my future children know how to do “common sense” things for themselves. So few of my friends can really cook, and that’s a shame.
My mom would totally agree with this post! Home ec (along men who wear hats) is one of the many things she laments about the modern age. We had “Social Studies Workshop” when I was in 6th grade and learned to make skirts (which we then had to wear for graduation), but no cooking.
I took Home Ec in middle and high school and basically all we did was cook. I always looked forward to those classes because we got to eat! I also think it helped me learn the basics of cooking and baking. I still have some of those recipes and some are “family favorites” now, which is kind of funny. I do have to say that my interest and love for cooking has been greatly influenced by my family’s presence in the kitchen…my mother and grandmother are famous for their food. My dad, when he took the time to venture into the kitchen, also had his own signature dishes. I think that is where the biggest shift will occur–at home. Kids and teens need role models in the kitchen. Home Ec courses definitely couldn’t hurt though!
We have what is called “Home Arts” here that all grade 8 students have to take (or they did when I was in school). You spend half the year doing sewing and cooking, then the other half of the year doing drafting, wood working, and possible some metal work depending on the school and teacher. The whole point is to give students exposure to all “trades”, which they can then choose as electives later on. I took Foods 9 and Foods 11 as well, but really I learned to cook at home because my mom always cooked