According to the Texas Restaurant Association, only about 250 high schools in Texas have the option for students to take a culinary class. Culinary is a hands-on experience for high school students to learn how to cook and facts about food. After taking culinary, you learn cooking techniques, kniving skills, food safety, and other things including nutrition and food preparation. Many students complain about wanting a culinary class because it’s very beneficial to the student’s futures and how captivating it is.
McNeil should offer a culinary class because it helps student’s prepare for college and to be off on their own and for students who want to join culinary arts in college.
When student’s go off to college or they move out, they’re bound to make their own meals by themselves. Not all student’s parents teach their children how to cook at home, so being given the opportunity to learn how to cook at school will be a benefit in the future. This prevents students from constantly wasting a lot of money on fast food or microwavable options. Being a college student and wanting to learn how to cook, it can be difficult due to the stress on classes and classwork. Students often won’t be able to find the time to learn the steps of culinary outside of school. According to a New York Post article, 80% of Gen Z doesn’t know how to cook major foods, expanding culinary classes across the US will change that percent majorly.
Not being given the access to culinary skills as a high school student takes a toll on those who want to go to culinary school when they grow up. If the school were to add a culinary class, it should be considered as one of the endorsement classes. This is so students could expand on their culinary knowledge and they could see if it’s something they want to pursue for the future.
According to Worldmetrics, 70% of college students eat fast food on a regular basis. People who don’t know how to cook tend to lean on eating out because they have no other source of food. According to Medical News Today, the risks someone could get from constantly eating fast food are “obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and various cardiovascular conditions.” This is due to the amount of sugar and unhealthy fats. Consuming too much could also lead to gaining weight and being at an unhealthy weight size. Learning how to cook could prevent all of this because homemade foods do not include what fast food has.
To conclude, to benefit the majority of students more, McNeil should add a culinary class/endorsement. Students taking culinary courses will be set for the future by saving money, feeding themselves, and benefiting their knowledge of cooking. It will also help expand the future career paths to those who want to pursue a career in culinary so they could be chefs, caterers, or even start their own businesses.
