Cooking Should Be a Prerequisite in School

The skill of cooking seems to be fading. Schools are teaching it less, while people are going out for food and ordering takeout more frequently. It’s quickly becoming a lost art.
But it isn’t just an art. It’s a fundamental life skill.

The goal of our schools is to prepare our children for the road ahead. What better way to prepare them for life than to teach them how to cook for themselves? To put one of the most important powers in life directly into their hands?
Cooking is the single strongest ability I have in my arsenal to not only eat better food, but to also save me buckets of cash. Seriously, if you knew how much restaurants were charging for food in comparison to how much it’d cost you to make the very same thing at home, you’d head straight to the nearest cooking class. Along with that, everything I make is much healthier, because I can choose healthier options.
Allow me to show you.

Every day I come to work, I bring with me a soup and a salad to eat. It’s not particularly difficult to make either, but a little meal prep sets you up for the week.
I could get a salad from a restaurant or store, and pay about $5 on the low end. If I bought one 5 workdays a week, that’s $25.
Or……
I could make them my damn self.
Without boring you with details, I spend less than $10 to buy everything I need to make my salads for an entire week. I change it up with the different things I put on it because the ability to cook and having experience has given me the creativity to do so. I’m not always eating the same boring salad. Tell me, would you rather pay $25 a week, or $10?
Here’s an Italian salad I made for myself today.

As for soup, on the lowest end, a can of soup from the store is gonna cost you $2. You could also order from a restaurant or buy fresh from the store for $3-$4. If I bought one of these every workday for 2 weeks, at bare minimum it’d cost me $20.
Or…….
Again, I can make it my damn self.
Once every 2 weeks, I make a big pot of soup. Not boring you with details, that pot of soup will again cost less than $10. If stored correctly, this will last me 2 weeks or longer depending if I decide to freeze some for later. So tell me what you’d rather pay. Would you rather cough up $20, or $10?
Here’s the Chicken Curry soup I made this week.

There. I just saved you $40 in 2 weeks. That’s $80 a month. I’m sure you can think of a better way to spend $80 than constantly coughing it up to someone else to make your food. And with more experience, you’ll make food better than you can buy. I’m not going to pay $30 for a steak at a restaurant when I can do it better myself at home for half that.

Is it more work? Yes. But honestly not that much when you consider all you’re saving and how much better you’re eating.
I can do this because I was taught in school, by my parents, and by my experience working in kitchens for several years. I take pride in my work, but this isn’t an art or a hobby. It’s a fundamental life skill that everyone once knew, but is somehow getting lost.

It needs to be a prerequisite in school.
Full stop.