Recently announced Labour Party proposals on healthy eating had spokespeople readily using the word 'empowerment'.
Basically, they want to see much clearer indications on packaging of how much sugar and salt foodstuffs contain and a restriction on products with high sugar content.
Whilst all this is laudable, it is typically about top-down policies rather than the radical change from below desperately needed.
For all the many cookery programmes on tv ( they tend to dominate Saturday and Sunday morning schedules) obesity still reigns supreme, especially among the poorer sections of society.
There's no doubt that food culture has advanced considerably in this country over the years, yet many rely on ready and frozen meals as a staple diet, even when they have the time to cook alternatives with fresh produce.
The connection between programmes where chefs create the fanciest of fare and the reality of many people's lives hasn't been made.
It's as if these celeb chefs are superstars existing beyond the reach of the majority, whose sense of powerlessness in the kitchen is merely heightened.
Jamie Oliver's crusade on school meals has also done little to alter the actual content and, having visited his restaurant on a couple of occasions, I'm suspicious of any of his claims ( the food was notably bland!).
In places where work's plentiful I accept that time is a factor. However, in poorer areas like Merthyr there is a real opportunity for people to create their own tasty, healthy dishes.
Unlike Labour, I believe the solutions must come from below and be sustainable.
As ever, education is the key and the curriculum and ethos of schools must be revolutionised.
The first step has to be that catering services are no longer private enterprises : bring them back into the State sector immediately.
While they continue to offer the lowest common denominator and exist for profit, pupils cannot be included and taste and health are ignored.
Councils alone shouldn't have responsibility, as schools must be able to have their individual input. There must be flexibility.
Every school should have access to an allotment, where as many pupils as possible are given the opportunity of helping out.
Children need to decide what's best to grow and take part in all the necessary processes.
Such allotments would then provide food for school meals and pupils could prepare it for fellow pupils to eat on a daily basis.
( Of course, they'd only be a part of what's on offer.....but a vital one, as pupils will feel genuine empowerment).
To do this, Cookery - as opposed to Domestic Science - needs to be a fundamental part of the curriculum, from early years till sixth form.
It could even play a role in PSE (Personal and Social Education) and the new Welsh Baccalaureate, teaching diet and health in the former and emphasising the skills and responsibility involved in the latter.
In terms of cooking and serving meals, this has been done before in colleges and I know that Merthyr College once ran their own restaurant, open to the public.
Individual schools would have the power to adapt and vary these guidelines, depending on locations. They may want to open their dining halls to the needy in their communities, for instance.
Other schools might want to focus more on local products, or the importance of foraging ( and I don't mean for the magic fungi!).
Thinking of the Primary School near where I live, I can imagine them finding an abundance of wild food locally, including mint, cress and, in season, blackberries and wimberries.
We involve young people in creating murals on estates, yet we hand them food and say - 'This is what's best for you!'
Our present education system is making no impact on the cycle of poor diet and obesity.
Of course, this has to be accompanied by a movement towards proper democracy in our schools, whereby teachers and pupils run them not dictatorial Heads.
Food culture, like politics, must come from the involvement of the majority, not the hierarchical tendencies of the few.
FOODO RELIGION
'Food is the new pseudo-religion!' he argued,
' Ramsey, Oliver, Slater and Stein
all fake priests of the kitchen
anointing heads with their chilli oil
and serving up scallops for communion.
One thing's for certain
you won't get reincarnated as an aubergine
or taste a thing when you're gone,
there is no foodie hell
full of pilchards and pink blancmange,
or heaven of pizza and pasta.
These spiritual chefs are full of sauce,
they like to claim their dishes
offer epiphanies to change our lives,
while most people simply give up
and buy their ready meals.
We drool at the shrine of Nigella
lapping up her cream and foam,
or follow evangelists like the Hairy Bikers
as they take their gospel recipes on the road.'
He pointed his spatula at me,
flipping a pancake onto his head,
broke out into I Am The Eggman :
'If you've got to have a pseudo-religion
then let it be song,' he said.
Basically, they want to see much clearer indications on packaging of how much sugar and salt foodstuffs contain and a restriction on products with high sugar content.
Whilst all this is laudable, it is typically about top-down policies rather than the radical change from below desperately needed.
For all the many cookery programmes on tv ( they tend to dominate Saturday and Sunday morning schedules) obesity still reigns supreme, especially among the poorer sections of society.
There's no doubt that food culture has advanced considerably in this country over the years, yet many rely on ready and frozen meals as a staple diet, even when they have the time to cook alternatives with fresh produce.
The connection between programmes where chefs create the fanciest of fare and the reality of many people's lives hasn't been made.
It's as if these celeb chefs are superstars existing beyond the reach of the majority, whose sense of powerlessness in the kitchen is merely heightened.
Jamie Oliver's crusade on school meals has also done little to alter the actual content and, having visited his restaurant on a couple of occasions, I'm suspicious of any of his claims ( the food was notably bland!).
In places where work's plentiful I accept that time is a factor. However, in poorer areas like Merthyr there is a real opportunity for people to create their own tasty, healthy dishes.
Unlike Labour, I believe the solutions must come from below and be sustainable.
As ever, education is the key and the curriculum and ethos of schools must be revolutionised.
The first step has to be that catering services are no longer private enterprises : bring them back into the State sector immediately.
While they continue to offer the lowest common denominator and exist for profit, pupils cannot be included and taste and health are ignored.
Councils alone shouldn't have responsibility, as schools must be able to have their individual input. There must be flexibility.
Every school should have access to an allotment, where as many pupils as possible are given the opportunity of helping out.
Children need to decide what's best to grow and take part in all the necessary processes.
Such allotments would then provide food for school meals and pupils could prepare it for fellow pupils to eat on a daily basis.
( Of course, they'd only be a part of what's on offer.....but a vital one, as pupils will feel genuine empowerment).
To do this, Cookery - as opposed to Domestic Science - needs to be a fundamental part of the curriculum, from early years till sixth form.
It could even play a role in PSE (Personal and Social Education) and the new Welsh Baccalaureate, teaching diet and health in the former and emphasising the skills and responsibility involved in the latter.
In terms of cooking and serving meals, this has been done before in colleges and I know that Merthyr College once ran their own restaurant, open to the public.
Individual schools would have the power to adapt and vary these guidelines, depending on locations. They may want to open their dining halls to the needy in their communities, for instance.
Other schools might want to focus more on local products, or the importance of foraging ( and I don't mean for the magic fungi!).
Thinking of the Primary School near where I live, I can imagine them finding an abundance of wild food locally, including mint, cress and, in season, blackberries and wimberries.
We involve young people in creating murals on estates, yet we hand them food and say - 'This is what's best for you!'
Our present education system is making no impact on the cycle of poor diet and obesity.
Of course, this has to be accompanied by a movement towards proper democracy in our schools, whereby teachers and pupils run them not dictatorial Heads.
Food culture, like politics, must come from the involvement of the majority, not the hierarchical tendencies of the few.
FOODO RELIGION
'Food is the new pseudo-religion!' he argued,
' Ramsey, Oliver, Slater and Stein
all fake priests of the kitchen
anointing heads with their chilli oil
and serving up scallops for communion.
One thing's for certain
you won't get reincarnated as an aubergine
or taste a thing when you're gone,
there is no foodie hell
full of pilchards and pink blancmange,
or heaven of pizza and pasta.
These spiritual chefs are full of sauce,
they like to claim their dishes
offer epiphanies to change our lives,
while most people simply give up
and buy their ready meals.
We drool at the shrine of Nigella
lapping up her cream and foam,
or follow evangelists like the Hairy Bikers
as they take their gospel recipes on the road.'
He pointed his spatula at me,
flipping a pancake onto his head,
broke out into I Am The Eggman :
'If you've got to have a pseudo-religion
then let it be song,' he said.
RSS Feed