This article will be of interest to teachers, parents, governors and industrialists. It summarises the position of food in the National Curriculum (England), dispels some of the popular myths surrounding food education in schools, and argues the importance of a practical food education for all young people.

What is happening in schools?
One of the things that characterises articles about food education (other than cheesy puns) is misinformation, particularly about what is, or is not, happening in schools. So, what actually is the position currently and has anything shifted recently?

Food technology is part of the statutory curriculum at KS1 (5-7 years) and KS2 (7-11years) and has been since the introduction of National Curriculum, following the Education Reform Act in 1988. Previous attempts at curriculum reform have failed to make food a statutory part of (D&T) at KS3 (11-14 years) despite well-supported arguments about the need to improve the nation's understanding about nutrition, food safety and hygiene. So it has continued to be optional.

Such decisions were justified on the grounds that to make it compulsory might have resource implications for a minority of schools that did not teach food at KS3. In fact, the great majority of schools (estimated by the (then) DfE at about 85%) do elect to make this provision within their KS3 D&T programmes - seeing this as the best place in the curriculum for it and because traditionally this has been home to the practical subjects. It is predominantly within D&T that the specialist food teacher is at work, helping students to apply their knowledge and skills in practice.

Whilst few would disagree that young people should be educated about food, there is considerably more debate as to the best way of doing so. Two major changes in society have made a difference here. Firstly, food education is no longer confined to girls, in preparation for their assumed role as homemakers and caretakers. All citizens can benefit from food education, since in today's society no-one can assume that someone else will take responsibility for their daily needs. Secondly, the domestic context is no longer the only relevant one. A great deal happens to food before it reaches our homes, which impacts on its quality and safety, and technological advances have resulted in there being many more food options available to us than in the past. This means there is plenty to be educated about including how to cook, but also going beyond that!!

About turn
In 2008 the government introduced the Entitlement (or Licence) to Cook which meant that secondary schools were obliged to make provision for students to access an entitlement to learn basic cooking skills through dedicated lessons in food preparation techniques, diet and nutrition, hygiene and safety and wise food shopping. This encouraged those schools (approx 15%) who did not already teach food to start doing so. This national programme was designed to address the standards, skills and knowledge that support food teachers, ensuring that teachers and related professionals are confident in their subject knowledge and skills and that schools are equipped to deliver a sustainable programme.

Alongside the introduction of the Licence to Cook (L2C) programme, funding was made available to recruit and train more food teachers, provide training for Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) to specialise in food, set up food rooms where such facilities did not already exist and provide free online resources and training in teaching practical food work. See www.licencetocook.org.uk for further details.

A subsequent government decision took this change of policy to the next level by announcing that the teaching of practical cooking skills would become a compulsory part of the food technology curriculum at KS3 in September 2011. At the same time funds would be available to schools to subsidise the cost of cooking ingredients for those young people who were eligible for free school meals, thereby ensuring that no student is disadvantaged.

Launched by Alan Johnson and Ed Balls in January 2008 as part of the joint obesity strategy 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives', food technology was due to be a compulsory key stage 3 curriculum requirement for every 11-14 year old from September 2011.

The plan was that the curriculum would be delivered through food technology lessons involving practical cooking lessons and classes on diet, nutrition, hygiene and healthy food shopping. The revised National Curriculum Programmes of Study, introduced in September 2008, deliberately focus on practical cooking skills and knowledge, and less on food manufacturing processes, packaging and marketing. The plan, then, was for the curriculum that already exists to have its status changed from optional to statutory in September 2011. Ed Balls said “simple cooking is a fundamental skill that every person should master – it is at the heart of tackling obesity and will enable future generations to understand food, diet and nutrition, and put together healthy meals for their entire lives." At last, the value of developing food knowledge and cooking skills would be recognised at policy level as being important in its own right as a life skill.

This was a real cause for celebration and marked a historical change. Never before has practical food education been part of every young person's education. However, the recent change in government might mean that this development in educational policy comes under threat. The new education bill was due to be announced in the Autumn Term 2010. Press releases indicate that changes are being discussed by the Coalition government. Until then, the DCSF (now DfE)-funded food curriculum programmes, including Licence to Cook, are continuing as normal but there is no guarantee that cooking will now become compulsory in 2011.

This is not due to a lack of support for food education. It is not even about a lack of understanding about the issues of whether teaching cooking, nutrition and healthy eating is important but about what (and how much) the government feels should be made statutory for schools and how much scope schools should be allowed to be self-governing.

Does it matter?
Although this might be considered a blow to food education it could be argued that we will be no worse off than we have ever been because teaching food at KS3 has never been compulsory – we have always been fighting our corner from an optional position. Certainly some schools are less likely to consider food education to be important, or equal to other subjects, if it is optional. Optional suggests non-essential to schools. Yet, we are perhaps in a stronger position now with more schools than ever teaching food because of programmes like Licence to Cook, Food in Schools primary training (FiS) and other initiatives that have encouraged good food work in schools over recent years.

Additionally, more schools now have food facilities because they were in the process of gearing themselves up for compulsory cooking in September 2011 and had accessed their share of the £150million made available to put the facilities in place. Food, diet and health have been high on the national agenda and there has been a lot of media coverage supporting the view that this investment into the nation's future well-being should be made by raising the status of food education in schools. Having done that groundwork these schools are more likely to keep moving in that direction, even if it is not compulsory to do so. Some, of course, will stall if the mandate and funding disappears, but they are still in a minority and will be the hardest to reach/most reluctant. It could be argued that, if left to their own devices, they may decide to go ahead with their plans to establish food anyway and that this is a better reason for doing so than because they are required to do so!

Food will be in a stronger and more secure position if it is made a statutory part of the KS3 curriculum, but all is not completely lost if this does not happen.

Dispelling popular food myths
What do we want young people to know about food? Teachers, parents and government are usually in agreement on this. They want young people to have an awareness of the role and value of food in society; an understanding of food science and nutrition; a working knowledge of food safety and hygiene; awareness of consumer issues and skills in food preparation and cooking. Yet there are still myths and misconceptions at large. "Food technology doesn't involve cooking." "It's theoretical - learning about, rather than having a go." "Children don't learn about healthy eating." Celebrity chefs proclaim a national scandal that children don't learn to cook at school.

In England, where the vast majority of schools teach food within Design & Technology (D&T) at KS3, young people do learn to cook. Working with food is a compulsory part of D&T at KS1 and KS2. It is a very unusual primary school where children do not learn about and work with food, although the extent of their practical experience may be limited by teacher subject knowledge, resources and facilities. D&T is essentially a practical subject - learning through doing. At KS4, approximately a quarter of those students doing GCSE D&T opt to do so through food technology. 60% assessment is through coursework where students demonstrate what they can do with food in terms of its development, production and making. Food Technology is then clearly a vehicle for students to demonstarte what they know about, and can do with, food. In GCSE Home Economics (where this is offered as an alternative to Food Technology) there is a similar level of practical food work but the emphasis is more on the home and consumer, diet and nutrition, than on the consumer, technology and society.

The central purpose of the D&T curriculum is to develop students' awareness of the uses, applications and value of technology in the world around them and to develop knowledge, skills and practical capability. Food fits well within this model. People are presented with challenges, choices and decisions about food on a daily basis and this happens within the context of a technological world. Technology brings us more options and choices but just because something is possible does not mean it is desirable or necessary. D&T education involves considering issues and values from different perspectives and encouraging students to make informed and responsible decisions about how they make use of the world's resources - exploring appropriate ways of meeting complex human needs.

In food technology students are taught to apply their knowledge of nutrition, diet, food hygiene and safety in practical ways, as they would in life. Practical food preparation and handling skills are a key aspect of students' work when designing and making food products, dishes and meals, as is teaching consumer-related issues. Food technology still embraces the basic principles of previous incarnations of food education, but has broadened out beyond teaching simply about the domestic preparation of food for the family.

This leaves the teaching of cooking where it has always been - as one part of a balanced food education. It is just as important for today's young people to be conversant with the issues surrounding food as it is to be able to boil an egg. Food issues change but are always topical - is society obese? is organic better? is our food safe? can it be locally and sesonally sourced? why does it matter? The context in which young people learn about food and cooking is also crucial. They should develop the knowledge and skills to problem-solve, create and innovate as opposed to just being taught to cook a standard range of dishes which may or may not prove useful in the future.

There are a number of initiatives in England related to food, diet and health, some of which are delivered piecemeal and too often by non-specialist food teachers and which confuse the issue between food in the formal curriculum and as part of extra curricular activities. The latter are valuable in their own right, but cooking clubs are no substitute for curriculum entitlement (the formal curriculum).

The way forward
Food is not one discipline, and so may feature in many curriculum areas, and be studied from historical, economic, cultural and social perspectives, as well as from the scientific or technological. As preparation for life in a demanding and rapidly changing society, all young people need to become critical consumers, understanding food products that they make, buy and eat and making informed choices about food, diet, purchases and value for money.

High standards of teaching and learning in food safety, hygiene and food preparation are most likely to be achieved where carried out by specialist food teachers. Only in D&T are these related areas of knowledge and skill taught and experienced through practical contexts. This points towards food being taught within D&T whilst being extended and underpinned by teaching that arises in other curriculum areas - science and Personal, Social & Health Education in particular.

Only if coherent policies and practices are developed in schools will people become effectively prepared for the wide-ranging impact of food in their lives. If there is one priority for food education this century it would be this, and ensuring that food is a valued part of everyone's education for life.

Revised July 2010

Ali Farrell is a leading food education specialist and Director of www.foodforum.org.uk

©foodforum.org.uk 2010. All rights reserved

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