Time to Revive Home Ec?

I overheard a conversation between what I am assuming to be a mother/daughter duo at the grocery store yesterday.  The daughter stated "Nobody likes home economics.  It consists of bland food, bad sewing and self-righteous fussiness.  That's why they don't even bother to teach it now".

Once I recovered from my shock (Home Ec was one of my favorite classes ever!) I gave some thought to what the girl had said.  To me, home economics is more than the stereotypical 1950s teacher in cat’s-eye glasses showing her female students how to make a white sauce. It is about teaching young girls and guys that producing tasty, nutritious food is profoundly important and that it takes study and practice.

I believe that Home Ec should be taught in the school systems.  Could it help our nation fight against the rampant obesity and chronic diseases of today?  I think so!

The home economics movement was founded on the belief that housework and food preparation were important subjects that should be studied scientifically. The first classes occurred in the agricultural and technical colleges that were built from the proceeds of federal land grants in the 1860s. By the early 20th century, and increasingly after the passage of federal legislation like the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act, which provided support for the training of teachers in home economics, there were classes in elementary, middle and high schools across the country.

Indeed, in the early 20th century, home economics was a very serious subject. At a time when few understood germ theory and almost no one had heard of vitamins, home economics classes offered vital information about washing hands regularly, eating fruits and vegetables, among other lessons.  Eventually, the basic tenets about health and hygiene became so thoroughly popularized that they came to be seen as common sense. And as a result, those early proponents came to look like old maids stating the obvious instead of the innovators and scientists that many of them really were. Increasingly, home economists’ eagerness to dispense advice on everything from eating to sleeping to posture galled.

Today we remember only the stereotypes about home economics, while forgetting the movement’s crucial lessons on healthy eating and cooking.  Today, too many Americans simply don’t know how to cook. Our diets, consisting of highly processed foods made cheaply outside the home thanks to subsidized corn and soy, have contributed to an enormous health crisis. More than half of all adults and more than a third of all children are overweight or obese. Chronic diseases associated with weight gain, like heart disease and diabetes, are affecting more and more Americans.

But what if the government put the tools of obesity prevention in the hands of children themselves, by teaching them how to cook?  In the midst of contracting school budgets and test-oriented curricula, the idea of reviving home economics as part of a broad offensive against obesity might sound outlandish. But I believe it is needed.