Bring Back Home Economics!

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-09-02 11:28am

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/02/opinion/02GROS.html

Banished by feminists, Becky Home-ecky was left to wander backwater school districts. For a while it seemed that mandating male participation might salvage the discipline while satisfying political correctness. By the late 1970's one-third of male high school graduates had some home-ec training, whereas they comprised a mere 3.5 percent of home-ec students in 1962. Since then, "home economics has moved from the mainstream to the margins of American high school," according to the United States Department of Education, with even female participation — near universal in the 1950's — plummeting by 67 percent.

What has happened since? Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders stepped in as the new mascots of American food culture, while the number of meals consumed outside the home has doubled — from a quarter in 1970 to nearly half today. As a result, market economics has increasingly determined ingredients, nutrient content and portion size. Agricultural surpluses and technological breakthroughs supplied the cheap sweeteners and hydrogenated oils necessary for food to survive indefinitely on store shelves or under fast-food heat lamps.

Unsurprisingly, the caloric density of such foods soared relative to those consumed at home. Good value no longer meant taste, presentation and proper nutrition — but merely more-for-less. Thus, the serving of McDonald's French fries that contained 200 calories in 1960 contains 610 today. The lure of large was not limited to fast-food, inflating everything from snack foods to cereal boxes.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-09-02 11:41am

Aside from the rant against fast food, what would bringing back home economics do to make Americans healthier?
Kids aren't interested in cooking, when there's mom and MacDonald's.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-09-02 11:51am

Warspite wrote:Aside from the rant against fast food, what would bringing back home economics do to make Americans healthier?
Kids aren't interested in cooking, when there's mom and MacDonald's.

The future moms and dads are the ones that this lady is talking about. The idea is that teaching students about how to cook, especially on a budget, will help to reduce the dependency on McDonald's and other unhealthy options.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-09-02 11:55am

I dunno...especially in this day and age. The microwave is convient, delivery not too bad and honestly enough fast food in many places to overcome what not.

I took Home Ec in high school(hey it was next to speech and Drama the best place to meet girls) and honestly it only taught me how to sew and cook very basically. Prepartion was something I eventually learned from fine eating establishments(seriously)

And I learned cooking because it was needed on more then one occasion(no microwave...you learn how to boil water and cook pretty quickly when mom and da leave for the evening and figure you can cook Mac and Cheese for yourself).

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-09-02 11:55am

Home Ec is important because it at least tries to teach kids the basics of how to cook and do your taxes and stuff. I had it in middle school, but while it was offered in high school, it wasn't a popular elective. Which I think is probably a bad thing, since everyone should know that stuff.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 12:08pm

If you bring it back, you could just make it mandatory. But instead of spending so much time on cooking, just teach the basics, and throw in other stuff, like basic skills for managing money and other stuff you need to know about running a household.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-09-02 12:14pm

Alex Moon wrote:The future moms and dads are the ones that this lady is talking about. The idea is that teaching students about how to cook, especially on a budget, will help to reduce the dependency on McDonald's and other unhealthy options.

Like Ghost Rider said, inadequate in this day and age, sometimes, you arrive from work so tired that you'll end up worshiping the microwave, and with the abundance of cooking books, even ones thinking about budgets, well... Anyway, if in these classes they pass beyond the kitchen, then yes, it is important, there is a lot more to do around the house than just cook.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-09-02 12:21pm

Bah. McDonalds is not the only fast food in existence, you can get a relatively cheap fast meal with an apropriated dose of calories in many places. It's just a matter of good taste. Also, the fat society problem lies not on fast food, but on excessive fast food (I get nauseous seeing people eating three times as much as me in McDonalds) and the lack of will to exercise, starting by leaving the car at home. It's ironic, though, since the more you exercise the more you can and must eat without getting fat, and I have friends who see me assaulting the icecream shop and promptly ask if I'm insane and want to die.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-09-02 12:21pm

neoolong wrote:If you bring it back, you could just make it mandatory. But instead of spending so much time on cooking, just teach the basics, and throw in other stuff, like basic skills for managing money and other stuff you need to know about running a household.

I agree, and to her credit the author of that article argues much the same thing. Being able to budget to feed a family of four on $100 a week, or how to balance a checkbook, minor indoor repairs, etc.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-09-02 12:33pm

I took no Home ec classes beyond year 9, and apart from what we were taught in the Girl Guides. My mother's not very housekeepy (who needs to be when you can afford a cleaner?), and so I just muddle by on the bare minimum of living standards

*shrug*

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-09-02 01:09pm

neoolong wrote:If you bring it back, you could just make it mandatory. But instead of spending so much time on cooking, just teach the basics, and throw in other stuff, like basic skills for managing money and other stuff you need to know about running a household.

I thought that basic money management was included in Home Ec. It's probably different place to place though.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 01:24pm

innerbrat wrote:I took no Home ec classes beyond year 9, and apart from what we were taught in the Girl Guides. My mother's not very housekeepy (who needs to be when you can afford a cleaner?), and so I just muddle by on the bare minimum of living standards

*shrug*

And how many boys were in the Girl Guides?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 01:25pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:
neoolong wrote:If you bring it back, you could just make it mandatory. But instead of spending so much time on cooking, just teach the basics, and throw in other stuff, like basic skills for managing money and other stuff you need to know about running a household.
I thought that basic money management was included in Home Ec. It's probably different place to place though.

When we had it, I think it was just cooking.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-09-02 01:26pm

They offered home ec in my high school. Looking back I should have taken it , even if all I learned was to make cookies simple recipies. I dont know if they offer it anymore.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 01:31pm

If they still do, it's probably one of the first things to go with budget cuts and everything.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-09-02 02:44pm

All I can say is that in Danish schools, cooking is mandatory in grade school for some years - then, it becomes optional around 8th grade IIRC.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-09-02 02:57pm

Right. Because schools are SO underworked and the education students are getting now is SO extensive and thorough, we've got plenty of time and resources to add a mandtory class about shit that you should be learning at home.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-09-02 03:15pm

I'm sure a home economic course will change American culture... wait a minute thinking that is fucking stupid.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 03:21pm

RedImperator wrote:Right. Because schools are SO underworked and the education students are getting now is SO extensive and thorough, we've got plenty of time and resources to add a mandtory class about shit that you should be learning at home.

Ideally it should be taught at home. And ideally it would be nice to have the budget to pay for it on top of everything else.

But that isn't going to happen. It's nice to dream though.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2003-09-02 04:51pm

I went through my mandatory semester of home ec while I was in the Ohio school system (6th grade IIRC.) Overall, I wouldn't oppose the idea: it did teach me a few useful skills like how to follow a recipe without making charcoal for dinner and how to sew. Of course, one of the things I sewed with the machine was my finger, but that's just one more reason why I'm beyond hope.

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-02 05:55pm

RedImperator wrote:Right. Because schools are SO underworked and the education students are getting now is SO extensive and thorough, we've got plenty of time and resources to add a mandtory class about shit that you should be learning at home.

We had mandatory cooking, materials, and woodwork classes.

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-02 05:56pm

Embracer Of Darkness wrote:
RedImperator wrote:Right. Because schools are SO underworked and the education students are getting now is SO extensive and thorough, we've got plenty of time and resources to add a mandtory class about shit that you should be learning at home.
We had mandatory cooking, materials, and woodwork classes.

Damn lack of edit button, I was supposed to add "for the first and second years of high school".

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2003-09-02 06:47pm

RedImperator is right. Compared to other problems in our education system, this is a complete "Who gives a damn?" issue.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-02 07:53pm

Embracer Of Darkness wrote:
RedImperator wrote:Right. Because schools are SO underworked and the education students are getting now is SO extensive and thorough, we've got plenty of time and resources to add a mandtory class about shit that you should be learning at home.
We had mandatory cooking, materials, and woodwork classes.

We didn't have any of that. Though I don't know what you mean by materials.

We used to have metalshop and woodwork, until we ran out of money.

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-09-02 07:57pm

[raises hand] I took a home ec course in middle school. I think that the home ec courses could definitely help because they teach self-sufficency and -dependency, especially in the courses that cover learning how to sew (bacelors don't always know how to sew). And I think that it could help some people learn to budget better if they knew how to make something rather than going out to a restaurant for it.

~ver