Cooking, canning, and cleaning, oh my!

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. [Albert Camus]

Growing up and being educated in rural New Brunswick in the 60s and 70s, my classmates and I  enjoyed the kind of education we don’t see enough of today — inclusion without all the fuss and red tape and misguided opinions about what ‘they’ can or cannot do, should or should not do, and an awareness that learning the basics of living such as cooking, canning and cleaning were valuable tools and need to be made so again. Curricula must be developed beyond the ‘accepted’ and the ‘popular’. We who live with disabilities deserve a quality, inclusive education and however that is accomodated is up to the parents, the school systems - the Department of Education, the school board, and the classroom and other teachers who will be actively involved in guiding children with special needs through the maze of academia. 

Students with challenges to intellect, dexterity or mobility can accomplish a range of tasks, including cooking, canning and cleaning, benefiting from learning the same life skills as their non-disabled peers. I know I did! Pairing a student with challenges with a classmate who is not allows for another skillset being developed — empathy and understanding.

What’s currently being offered with regard to a physical education and a food and nutrition program is not at all adequate if the cycle of unhealthy lifestyle is to be broken. A fuller program of fitness and food and nutrition classes have a domino effect— what children will learn in those classes can be put into practice at home, if teachers encourage not only the students but parents. Both disciplines incoporate the critical components of maths, science and reading, so it reasons that enhancing and expanding these life sustaining programs has potential to reap significant benefits in the long term, and not just for the students taking the classes. A win-win!

Sadly, so many graduate from high school not knowing even the basics of meal preparation and cooking, nor are they particularly well acquainted with how to prepare a grocery list and budget the weekly or monthly allotment to food shopping. Focusing on how expensive food is as reason for not eating ‘well’,  is narrow in vision. One needs to look at the bigger picture. 

What would be the first thing that comes to mind if you were asked what to ‘do’ with a 4 pound rump roast? If I were to troll the mall and ask 20 people, aged 16 to 22, as example, how many of them like pot roast with vegetables, many with living grandparents would probably say they do. Then, if I asked them if they know how to prepare a pot roast with vegetables, it’s unlikely that many would know. That’s where ‘the system’ misse the mark. There’s no follow-through with ‘real life’ application on a consistent basis.

The Department of Healthy and Inclusive Communities has a role in changing lifestyles, from the very young to the very old. Again, I’m struck by the notion that pooling people and resources would make greater inroads into the problem of ill health, unwellness and the generalised not knowing what to do with a bag full of groceries containing almost no processed food, but real food - beef, chicken, fish, fresh veggies, eggs, milk, butter, oil. You get the idea.

In this age of technology, education of the kind that is critical to living to be healthy, wealthy and wise has lost significant ground. It’s time to reclaim it! Literacy rates are abyssmal and that is not disputed; results out there for all to see, in black and white. I contend that literacy rates, among other components of formal education, will improve if children, from the time they can stand up and walk, were more engaged in ‘real life’ skills. Learning how to prepare meals using REAL food will significantly impact the quality of life for every single family in this province. Learning about meal preparation involves reading, involves math, involves co-operation. Children must eat their meals in the home, so isn’t it logical that the adults caring for them be the teachers, encouraging co-operation to prepare meals. A recipe for pancakes, often served at breakfast, doesn’t involve a lot of reading. The ingredients list is short and they’re not terribly expensive; one can get quite a few pancakes from a single recipe. Double the recipe? Do some math. Experiment with additions. I add bananas or berries to most pancake recipes. Nutritious!! 

Imagine the joy on the faces of youngsters as they make their first batch of pancakes. Pancakes aren’t just for breakfast anymore! They substitute beautifully for bread slices in sandwich making. Planting berries and vegetables creates a lifelong learning experience that no classroom can replicate and that great outdoors environment is one where those frustrated by walls and rules can flourish. On that note, I’m off to warm up a few pancakes and smear them with home made blueberry jam!

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, New Brunswick with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca via email.