Idea for parents, educators, social workers etc.

When I was a kid in school we had what was called "home economics" class. Only girls could attend even though lots of boys were interested because they wanted to learn the basics of cooking! But the girls learned cooking and sewing and others of the classic home making skills, while boys attended "mechanical education" aka "mech ed" where they learned how to handle tools, carpentry and repair skills.

Some time ago home economics underwent a fundamental revision "modernization" in American education. Some of it was obviously needed as part of updating what both boys and girls need to know, but some of it I believe you need to rethink very seriously and quickly.

The focus of modern "home ec" (I'm not going to use any of the trendy names in this blog post for simplicity's sake) has been careerist, enjoyment, and birth control oriented. I'm being a little simplistic and blunt but you know what I mean. It was kind of redesigned to appeal to white middle to upper class kids who planned to work in jobs (especially "enriching" types of career tracks) and would be very much limiting or not having children at all.

But meanwhile what seemed like a logical synchronization between "modern" needs and the home ec curriculum is now in my opinion very questionable. I read a few articles to refresh my memory and update where schools are today in home ec. I detect a HUGE consumer orientation. A grooming of consumers would not be an overstatement. It sounds all logical, to teach them to be "good consumers" and "to read labels" but that is really so bourgeoisie and middle class if you think about it. What kids need to learn is how to make good choices of lifestyle, how to relearn some basic skills, and how to manage their nutrition in ways other than reading a label. These curriculums fail and leave behind lower income children and those from broken and incomplete families. We wonder why so many young men (and women) batter babies. Well, babies are alien consumer goods to many young parents. Teaching them more and more birth control and calling that "home ec" is not logical. Home ec should be the place where kids get exposure to home and family skills that they once would have received in, well, the home and family! Health ed classes are not the answer for even more of what I said above; they all want to be sexual and self empowering and birth control oriented.

Here is an example, and this is why I thought about this topic to discuss. I enjoy sandwiches; I'm not a burger or taco kind of person. So I needed to stock up on sandwich meats today and I broused the section deciding what I was in the mood for this week. I really hate pre-prepared food because by necessity they are full of additives and preservatives. I am convinced that someday like a concrete thud researchers will find that in addition to the unhealthy, calorie, and other problems with fast food and much of grocery food there is a huge problem with the accumulation of food additives that seem innocent because they are used to "preserve freshness." Think about it. Whatever chemical keeps meat from going bad or vegetables from growing mold is in your body with every bite. I don't want to get into a rant about that right now, but whenever I shop I weigh whether I want to buy a dose of what I view as chemically pickled and chemically preserved food. Everything has this stuff in it. You are talking to someone who baked her own bread into her early 20's so I know what I'm talking about.

So I looked at the small packages of sandwich meat, that run from like $3 to $5 and passed them up. Instead I bought a huge package of fresh chicken quarters for $5. That's 5 pounds of chicken for the same price as a small 12 ounce package of meat and the chicken comes without preservatives. I'm going to bake or saute the chicken and then slice it up for sandwich meat. It will last me for a week of sandwiches AND it will have no preservatives or additives (except what is in that darned bread ha ha).

Now, in a day when we are in an uproar about the cost of food, the toll of diabetes, sensitivity to additives, hidden dangers of chemical and processing of food, high fat, low nutrition values, etc etc why is it that I possess what one might almost call lost knowledge? Good grief, it used to be that everyone knew how to do this and that you got a better sandwich as a result. Now I don't want to hear that no one has time to cook because literally all you have to do is put the chicken on a tray with a rack in the oven and bake it for 45 minutes or so (until the juice runs clear).

What is PC home ec teaching today? Not this! Why teach kids they are eating crap and have to read labels carefully if you don't teach them how to create for themselves a whole new self empowering choice? Kids would go back to viewing fast food as treat food and not as the daily family larder. What is more empowering than not teaching kids to be "good consumers" and "interior decorators" but teaching them how to make their own sandwich meat that is better, healthier and cheaper? You could have a whole lesson on what I just wrote here. (Parents, don't wait, you can remember how to do this and show your kids yourself.)

But educators, I urge you to think outside the box. I know that's what you thought you were doing when you "modernized" some years ago but the technology and consumer madness of the society combined with unbelievable health and nutritious crisis has run over your modern curriculums like an out of control bandwagon. Kids can read food labels until the cows come home and they are all going to have "color" "freshness" and "quality" additives, plus they come in plastic or metal containers that add questionable chemicals to the system. Home ec needs to go back to the basics with a survivor twist. Another idea is to teach growing your own vegetables in the new old home ec.

I hope someone finds this suggestion helpful and looks into it. There is a DIRE need for this in the poorer school districts!!!

(spell checker is not working, surprise, surprise so if there are any typos it is not a secret message and you don't need to play any of your songs backwards either)