Is the food cooked in Food Technology really healthy?
By Juline Lussiana
Is the food cooked in Food Technology really healthy?
Everyone knows about the Food Technology elective, it is in fact one of the most popular at Uni High. It is certainly very useful and fun at the same time, and so its popularity isn’t really a surprise.
Because eating and nutrition are very interesting topics, we wondered, what exactly do students cook in Food Tech?
After surveying many students, two special types of food stand out of the lot. First, desserts/bakery; things such as cake, pudding or even fruit salad. Secondly, no-meat based simple dishes, for example corn chowder.
We were also questioning what the students were learning about the food ‘theory’. What are they taught about cooking outside of practical cooking? Still, according to many students, the answer is the concept of ‘healthy food’; a right balance between all sorts of types of food and the proper amount of certain vitamins or nutrients.
This definition of healthy food given by the Food Tech department is correct according to many official websites. We wanted to compare these concepts of healthy food with what the students actually cook in food tech to see if the theory is respected in the practice. We also wondered about what the students actually believe about the food they cook.
Once again, thanks to students, we got answers to most of our questions. The answer about whether the food is healthy or not in the students' eyes is quite divided. One major part thinks that, yes, the food taught is healthy and students are taught how to make healthy food by themselves. But the other students don’t think so. Some say that it is honestly a mix between healthy and unhealthy food, but others also claim that the food made doesn’t go according to the theoretical concepts taught and that there is also way too much sugar in a lot of recipes. In numbers, about 40 % of students disagree on the fact that the food is healthy although their reasons differ. Even though not a majority, 40% is still a number way too close to it to be worthy of acknowledgement.
An also interesting finding were the answers we received about whether they found themselves eating healthier due to what they had learnt in food tech classes. This time more than 90% of students answered that they did not eat any healthier due their study of nutrition in food tech. And this time this is a large majority, . making the answer clear. They either think that the food taught is unhealthy, already eat healthily or it just doesn’t impact them. “I think the purpose of Food Tech is cooking and eating more healthy in our everyday lives even though it doesn’t really happen” ,tell us Sabine, a Year 8 Food Tech student tells u.
In conclusion we can say that the food cooked is considered healthy by a majority of students. But almost all of them agree with the fact that they do not eat healthy or healthier due to this class.
Why don’t students cook more healthily at home despite being taught how at school?? I guess the answer depends of course on every student and what moment in their life and growth they are at, but I would like to point out the reasons why the Time Area we live in affects students and eating, too. Technology is becoming more and more accessible and fun for people. Everyone can find something adapted to them, just genuinely corresponding to them in general. All students have hobbies. It can be a really serious thing or not but the important thing is that we spend a lot of time on it. Back in the days without technology or with restricted technologie at least, you couldn’t find a special interest on social media for example. So, more people could have turned to see cooking for fun before realising that they actually enjoy it. I think this doesn’t happen anymore because we always have something to do and that a big majority of students don’t see cooking as a ‘hobby’. It’s more like a ‘necessary need’, to survive and enjoy good taste. And when you think about it you don’t need to cook to obtain these two. The food they cook might be not as healthy as the receipices in Food Tech but most of it would be better but most importantly won’t make you waste time on something you don’t especially like. It is at least what I think causes students to cook and eat the way they do at home compared to in Tech class.