Cooking Skills Die Out as Young People become 'Heat and Eat' Generation

ooking skills could die out in a generation
- Almost 60% of Britain’s 18 – 25 year olds are leaving home without the ability to cook even a simple Spaghetti Bolognese –
- National youth & parent groups pledge support for new 5by25 campaign -

18th October 2011 - New research released today, following a debate attended by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning and celebrity chef James Martin, shows that the majority of 18-25 year olds (57%) are leaving home without the ability to cook even a simple recipe such as Spaghetti Bolognese.

The national study marks the launch of a new campaign – 5by25 – which calls for young people to be given the support to master at least five simple recipe dishes by the age of 25 (the time by which most have left home).

The debate, co-hosted with leading think tank ResPublica, which has an ongoing programme of work surrounding skills and citizenship, was attended by a number of groups and bodies who pledged their support for the campaign. These included EBLEX (the sector body for beef and lamb farmers), The NUS and The Prince’s Trust.

The ‘heat and eat’ generation
Researchers discovered that whilst the majority of young people claimed they could cook, when tested on popular recipes such as Spaghetti Bolognese, curry and even the humble Yorkshire Pudding, the majority simply couldn’t. Only 6% of this age group could make all three of these recipes.

Table: Cooking skills amongst 18-25 olds, % of people who can’t cook*:

*Eblex sponsored research
The study showed that a fifth of 25 year olds hadn’t cooked any scratch meals for themselves “in the last seven days” with many saying they relied on ready meals and take-aways. Many of those interviewed believe that their parents were much more skilled at cooking when they were a similar age.

Jane Ritchie-Smith, Marketing Manager of EBLEX the organisation who sponsored the research said “Our research highlights a major learning and skills gap, with young people lacking the confidence to buy fresh food, prepare and cook simple dishes. Without these basic skills, young people lose the choice to cook and the understanding of what is in their foods. They will increasingly become the ‘heat and eat’ generation, which could mean that many of the much-loved family meals such as roast dinners, Spaghetti Bolognese die out.”

5by25: Getting the next generation to Master a Dish for life
5by25 is an umbrella campaign aimed at helping youth and parent groups co-ordinate their activities behind a single purpose – supporting young people to master at least five basic recipe dishes by the age of 25. To date the campaign is being supported by EBLEX (the sector body for beef and lamb farmers), and a range of partners including the Prince’s Trust, Goldsmiths (University of London), The National Union of Students (NUS), First News and celebrity chef James Martin. The campaign will also feature on Mumsnet.

Core to the campaign is the www.5by25.com website which contains 25 basic recipes each with a Master the Dish challenge. The campaign is looking to encourage 5 to 25 year olds to visit the site and master a dish for life.

James Martin, celebrity chef and presenter of BBC’s Saturday Kitchen said: “We have identified the 25 basic recipes that we believe are the building blocks to cooking. From these, anything is possible! We want young people to visit www.5by25.com and have a go at the Master the Dish challenge. We also want mums, dads, youth and parenting groups to encourage young people to have a go. Cooking is fun and rewarding. You just need to get started!”

In addition to the 25 recipes, www.5by25.com contains a range of support to help build general cooking skills amongst young people. These include time management, food buying and knife skills.

Jane Ritchie-Smith of EBLEX concludes: “The 5by25 campaign is a long term campaign focussed around a simple measure – can young people cook five basic recipe dishes from memory by the age of 25? Success will support more independent lives, food knowledge and healthy eating”. The 5by25 website will include a counter highlighting the number of recipe dishes mastered for life by the nation’s young people.”