Anyone for a donkey sandwich?

[compilerbitch]

From BBC news:

"We met some 10-year-old children who could not recognise a bowl of tuna. One pupil called it a donkey," she said.

Comments

[snow-leopard.livejournal.com]

What i don't understand is why its percieved as the SCHOOL'S fault that children regularly failed to recognise common vegetables such as leeks and onions. Surely Thats teh sort of thing children should be picking up at home (assuming they are actually fed real vegetables rather than just processed food).

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

assuming they are actually fed real vegetables rather than just processed food

I think the assumption is that they're not[0]; therefore it's for schools to mitigate this lack, it being easier to teach childen than adults...

0] I can't find a cite right now, but I recall a survey that showed that $astonishing% of people never, ever, bought fresh vegetables.

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

For myself, a lot of processed and canned food gives me headaches (no idea why, probably some E number or other -- MSG is a prime candidate because it *definitely* does in excess). As a consequence, I've tended towards properly cooked (from basics) food for most of my life, and it really seems weird that people would want to go for the processed option when the real thing so often doesn't really require much more preparation time, and generally tastes *so* much better.

(I've just finished a lunch of last night's leftovers -- made-from-scratch potato korma, coconut dal and plain basmati rice. Mmmm.)

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

and generally tastes *so* much better.

Not to mention very often being much cheaper.

[snow-leopard.livejournal.com]

Ditto. too much salt sugar or chemicals and my moods are all over the place, the answer to keeping my depression on an even keel is eating healthily and not eating processed foods.

[snow-leopard.livejournal.com]

Its this Children don't know these basic things, therefore its the school's fault attitude that really bugs me. Its seems that it is generally accepted that parents have no responsibilty for their children's behaviour or lack of general knowledge.

[midnightmelody.livejournal.com]

Thanks to the Every Child Matters agenda, I think schools now get to take responsibility for a giant array of things (including teaching kids personal finance and healthy eating). It's supposed to be a sweep-up for the children who don't get that support at home, but it does almst condone that lack of responsibility. Once something is 'covered by schools' many parents will assume they don't need to help out with it.

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

Quite. I suspect that the child concerned was probably a second or even third generation processed food consumer (it's just about possible now). Scary.

[dave-t-lurker.livejournal.com]

I'd say that a child that (seriously) calls a bowl of tuna a donkey has rather more pressing educational needs than a cookery lesson.

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

Quite...

It takes both the cake *and* the biscuit.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

The "seriously" bit is what I was thinking. That there's definite cause for concern I don't doubt, but I do suspect that that particular child was trying to wind someone up.

[foibey.livejournal.com]

I've got plenty of cooking skills I put to absolutely no use if anyone wants them.

[shreena.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I'm a lifelong vegetarian and as such almost certainly wouldn't have been able to identify tuna at that age. I could identify lots of vegetables, though...

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

I'd hope that you had an idea what a donkey was, though.

[darcydodo]

I can't even imagine learning to cook at school.