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12:22 pm
December 14, 2010
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My sister in law worked with the county extension office teaching cooking and doing home demonstration work and encountered fierce resistance to change and/or new ideas and methods. Parenting is so much more than just keeping kids safe and fed.
12:46 pm
May 5, 2010
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That resistance is not something I understand … to do more and better for one's family I would think would be a priority. Even when I tried to explain that drinking high sugar was spiking and crashing her blood sugar, setting up an ugly repetitive cycle that was a big part of her health issues, all this young lady wished for was a pill to make the problem go away so she could keep "what worked for her". No wonder so much of our health system is fixed on repair instead of prevention. Unfortunately too many people will not wake up to the need to change bad habits until a health issue nearly kills them. I wonder if its simply a hangup on having to admit they might be "wrong" in daily living? … kindve reminds me of the gal who blogged the inversion canning method with stubborn attitude. I still don't get the resistance.
1:18 pm
December 14, 2010
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One of the great dangers of aquiring knowledge is discovering how much you don't know. Some people are very much afraid to learn that they could spend a lifetime or two studying and still have a lot to learn.
3:30 pm
May 5, 2010
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LOL! can't say I ever found that more knowledge was frightening as much as humbling as I grew older, knowing there's not a chance I'll have a grip on Everything. But I can see where new information might make someone "feel small" which may be the resistance of human nature to information that runs contrary to what they believed was right. Belief and tradition are deep habits.
10:23 pm
February 22, 2010
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Some people just don't like to be told what to do… or how to do it {sigh}. I've been there but am trying to do better.
Some people only want their "comfort" foods…or foods they grew up with.
Some people just don't like to cook.
Some people have texture issues ( what the food feels like in the mouth and/or touching with hands).
Some people have very sensitive taste buds and find certain flavors overwhelming.
Some people are so busy that shopping, planning and cooking just doesn't happen.
Some people just won't try anything new.
Some people think they are too poor to eat healthy.
Some people have never been taught.
Some people are just lazy.
11:06 am
September 12, 2011
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To me it does not make sense to discuss what is wrong. We are our "brother's keeper" and that means more than just supplying them with WIC coupons. They need to be taught.
I have taught many classes in our church group on basic cooking. Too many young people do not want to cook unless it is a Rachel Ray recipe or something "trendy" like that. I have taught breadmaking, tortillas, beans etc. which can be extremely healthy and satisfying. They are also frugal meals. You can take a small amount of meat and make it into a tasty gravy served over rice or bread. Gardening skills are wonderful also but so many people don't even have a balcony or patio to grow even a few pots of veggies.
if we really want to help, contact your local community extension office and see if they have the facilities and need for some free classes on healthy and frugal cooking. IMHO these type of classes should be mandatory for those who get the WIC benefits. Yes, I know that not all people will have the time or energy after a hard days work to do the cooking…but they will KNOW how to do it.
12:06 pm
May 5, 2010
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I think quite a few of us heartily agree with you, mamacarpenter … the WIC should provide instruction with the couponed diet considering the sparseness of cooking skills. However, I also agree with Ross in the sharing of his sister's experience that there is surprising resistance to new or different information. I find those lovely Victory Garden or Canning booklets at antique fairs all the time that were put out by the government to help stretch rationed foods during WWII … education was important then but doesn't seem to be a concern now as government became top heavy. Your great idea of teaching through extension offices (I've looked into this already but ran into accreditation issues and they CHARGE for classes) looks most sensible but it boils down to the old adage, "You can drag a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".
I wonder if a doctor wrote on a presciption pad, "Exercise every day 1 hour or 3x 20 mins" or "Take cooking classes", would an individual take a life shift more seriously? I know I've struggled with suggestions to make my senior mother's daily living easier and they're brushed off until the same words came from the mouth of Dr. Oz … then the clouds opened and angels sang!
I've been trying to promote a community garden locally but am finding the city government reticent to the suggestion despite unused land (so, who's paying for the water??) … figured a garden could be followed by canning group or co-op. Not giving up yet but solutions cannot be ferreted without bouncing about the problem.
12:22 pm
February 22, 2010
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Ruthmarie
the clouds opened and angels sing! So funny but so true. My mom is the exact same way.
And I saw on Pinterest …"you can lead a human to knowledge but you can't make him think."
Mamacarpenter…we've had the best luck with cooking classes from the churches around here. If it is approached as a social time…like a supper club where the food is prepped while teaching cooking skills…people are more apt to be receptive.
At one of our youth meetings I taught the kids how to fix a simple dessert…they seemed to enjoy that. however I wasn't sure if they learned anything. They must have because the dessert has showed up at church dinners a few times made by a couple of very proud girls.
1:06 pm
December 14, 2010
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I am always astonished by statements made in response to inquiry. I knew one man that bragged of not have read a book since high school because he didn't want to clutter his mind with words that he didn't need. I work in the homes of many people and often find a complete absence of books and magazines.
I approach the subject of teaching someone very carefully. I usually wait to hear;"How do/did you make this?"
Some people want to learn and some seem to think that learning something new will just make more work for them.
2:04 pm
June 2, 2010
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My daughter just finished a year with WIC in the next county. She is a registered dietician. In the year that she was there, she had one person attended the cooking classes that she was required to offer. Believe me, education was a big part of what she tried to accomplish. She met with almost no interest. Her frustration was overwhelming at times.
Imagine her shock when she found out that a mother had her 5 month old baby’s bottled filled with soda? She encountered that frequently. That was probably one of the less shocking things. She simply could not talk about some of the things that she experienced.
Cultural differences were a big part of the experience. We assume everyone thinks like we do and that’s not the case. Breast feeding is very frowned upon in some of the cultures she worked with. WIC really tries to stress the importance of nursing your child. Change is very difficult in certain settings. Someone in authority telling you what to do won’t be listened to. As moms we say we’ll do what’s best for our children but if culturally a certain lifestyle is expected or followed, nothing short of a miracle will change that.
DD is now working in a hospital setting where people are not the least bit interested in how food affects their health either but she gets to participate in really cool operations!
3:56 pm
March 30, 2009
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Has what WIC offers in their coupons changed over the years? When we were on WIC our coupons were good for things like: milk, eggs, cheese, cereals, bread, peanut butter, juice, and formula (if wanted/needed). It was also only available to us while we had children under the age of five.
A reason why offered cooking classes might not be attended is because of lack of transportation for mothers and time to attend. I know many times I had to bum a ride from friends just to get to the basic WIC meetings. It was very hard to find the time for those because of caring for children (home daycare) during the day and working from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. while dh cared for the children.
Putting soda in a baby's bottle is definitely not limited to those applying for WIC. I had one child who regularly got dropped off that had Mt. Dew in his bottle. I was so grateful that we had WIC at the time. Because before WIC I wouldn't have been able to dump his bottle and put milk in it. I would have had to replace it with water. Not necessarily a bad thing, but all the same I was very grateful to be able to offer him milk.
I know that the wonderful people here are not meaning to come across as judgmental of those of us who have been on WIC. Nor, I'm sure, in lumping us all together in a group that needs to be required in taking classes on how to cook just because we've asked for help in supplementing our basics. 
It's been my experience that there's more people who have never been on WIC or food stamps that need help in learning how to stretch a dime or how to make a meal out of simple ingredients than those of us that have needed help. Now please don't get me wrong. I know that there is abuse in these systems. There's a reason why when I worked at Wallyworld that we didn't accept formula back without a receipt, or my frustration when I saw some of the food that came through by the same people over and over that was paid by food stamps. Yet, they were in a minority compared to all the others coming through my lines who bought an abundance of pre-package junk without food stamps or WIC.
I believe that a solution lies within getting to know the families coming in for the WIC meetings and applying for help. Get to know them so it's known where the help is most needed. Yet, those meetings can be so very impersonal and degrading -- starting from the front desk. When treated with disdain, it sure is hard to listen to the people telling one how to or what they should be doing. I also believe that a solution lies in private organizations providing charity and help versus government agencies. Often times I have been shocked in some of the states I've lived in how private agencies or churches have had their hands tied by government when they've wanted to have cooking classes or meals on wheels type programs. But that topic opens a whole 'nother can of worms! 
4:30 pm
September 12, 2011
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Ruthmarie, it sounds like you gave this a lot of thought. I agree with what you have said. It is a shame that the regulations stop us from really helping. Personally, I think that churches might have a little more freedom, but then again, it might depend where you live!
I also agree with Ross…you cannot make someone learn. Frankly, some people will not make the effort to learn or don't believe that homecooking can be better than a box. I don't mean to sound judgemental, really, but I know a lot of people who do not cook because it requires doing dishes afterwards. And a box of Hamburger Helper (and most of us have used that on occasion!) can be much cheaper than buying the whole kit-n-caboodle to make it from scratch. But when I see comments readers make about the freedom to decrease the salt in their diets through home cooking I can see the satisfaction they get in providing for their families. Truly, I know that the women I have taught classes to have not all gone home and become weekly breadmakers, but to me it is the knowledge that they can do it if needed. It will not be intimidating to them should the need arise.
I think that it is the same thing that brings us all to blogs like this…the desire to better ourselves and be a help to those around us. Sarah Grace was wise in her comment that we need to know and understand the individual circumstances each of us is in and work from there. I personally am very grateful to the contributors and moderators of this blog that helps me to dream about having chickens, making cheese and feeding cookies to goats. 
4:58 pm
December 14, 2010
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Cooking is a survival skill but so also is learning how to work the system to get what you need without working or cooking.
I think that we have a tendency to look at people and see ourselves.
I tend to believe that the people on this forum would continue much the same way of life even if they were to win a lottery. The biggest change would be the concern about money and where to get enough.
I know that I am living as I wish, eating as much variety as I can imagine, I have more clothes than I can wear in two weeks. I have two cars and a sailboat, my house is paid for and I like it just the way it is.
I can remember knowing only a very few ambitious, energetic, hard working people that expected a handout. Those few made the most of any help that they received and were able to get on top of their poverty.
5:00 pm
February 10, 2009
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Yes, I was lucky enough to grow up with a mother who worked full time but still cooked a lot from scratch. This meant she needed me to help her "prep" food, including assemble casseroles so we could make one for supper the next night and freeze one for a later dinner. (which I got to take out one night and put into the oven the next day after school! I learned by doing let me tell you!!!)
When I was in the Air Force, nearly every young family was eligible for WIC, our military are not well paid in the lower ranks, though at least there is good medical care. I was able to help a lot of kids that I supervised both apply for WIC and help them figure out how best to use up some of the goods they were able to get. By accident I learned to listen to their complaints about how they 'can only use so much of x, y, or z.' so I could ask to see the list (even though I was pretty well aware of what they could get) and suggest alternate ways to use things.
I learned pretty well not to judge these hard working families who could often even qualify for food stamps while serving their country, let alone getting WIC. I assure you they're not living in the lap of luxury. It was a bit helpful that in the circumstances me being a supervisor, my offers of some recipes and a few offers to come and help those who weren't used to cooking from scratch were usually pretty well accepted. Maybe you can't fix stupid, but 'young' comes with an automatic cure! Age happens!
5:39 pm
May 5, 2010
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Oh dear, a lot of the frustration of thwarted attempts to help that is leaking into this thread might easily be taken as being judgemental … your right, SarahGrace, I'm certain that such is furthest from our minds. Maybe call it a little venting of issues in search of solution. Although I haven't had much contact with individuals on WIC, I'm know there are individuals who are able to cook, not requiring classes … and I agree that it would be far easier to reach others if there was an effort to make a stronger acquaintance with name and circumstance.
Shoot, it would be downright intelligent to assist with some degree of one-on-one with sensitivity and sympathy to a family's situation. However, if you combine "buracracy" in the same sentence as "sensitive and sympathetic" then … well, shoving sarcasm behind me, let's just say it would take private groups to help bridge a bond to assist those that are without transportation and wanting to know more of what can be done to help themselves. Not sure how just yet in my backyard.
There certainly doesn't seem to be a lack of folks wanting to help, its basically determining how to work through the tangled web of restrictions from surprising directions. I don't think there's any common solution but to find one tailored to each community. BTW, mamacarpenter, the comment about the Hamburger Helper made me laugh aloud as I've encountered the same exact approach … little cooking, eat on paper plates, no need to washup! OMG. Did make a difference there, but the couple was lacking only in know-how not income.
5:49 pm
March 9, 2011
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Did you know that a lot of schools don't offer home ec anymore? That there are people who don't even know how to wash dishes because all they eat is take out food or zap pre-made stuff in a microwave. Yes, it blows my skirt up, too.
I have a friend who used to manage an upscale restaurant here in town and left that to run a school kitchen. She teaches classes to kids to teach them how to cook healthy food on a budget. So many of them think convenience store food is fine dining, she says, and they don't know anything else. And it's probably too late to change the parents' habits, so she's teaching these kids not only how to cook but how to develop a taste for better food. The kids really love it. I just wish more school systems provided for programs like this; it would be a worthy use of my tax dollars.
And not knowing basic preparation skills goes across all social and economic levels. My partner works at a cancer hospital. When she offered some of the chicken that we raise for sale, people were appalled that it was a whole chicken. Lots of them didn't know what to do with a whole chicken. One woman stated that her children had never eaten chicken with a bone in it (yep, it's blowin' my skirt up again)!!! 
And these are people who are in the health care profession and are health practitioners. Wow.
I wasn't fortunate enough to have a mom who cooked well & had to teach myself. Thank God I had the desire & will to learn, and I've always been happy to teach anyone who wants to cook from scratch or can vegetables. Pass on the gift, if you get a chance.
6:59 pm
February 22, 2010
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Amen, Merryment! That is why I love this site and forum so much…we are passing on our gifts.
7:46 pm
May 5, 2010
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Blows my skirt up! Seriously, we need an emoticon for that image … I'm loving it already!
Ya know I hadn't thought about the steady reduction of Home Ec classes. My daughter went through cooking and sewing in middle school near 10 years ago and I had to do damage control. The cooking class swung from over-disciplined to silly recipes they'd never do as adults and the sewing class had them learning basics on a horrid duffel bag I would have rated intermediate, not beginner … happily she shrugged off the cooking class, but I've yet to woo her back to attempting the sewing machine again as she was completely turned off by the restrictions of that first project. I've never seen so much tearing out and she's quite coordinated. IOW, even if you do have Home Ec in local schools it is at the mercy of the teacher teaching the class.
If the school system wasn't so bloody hidebound in politics (read: stupidity) here, I'd head in that direction. Get to 'em while they're still young!
8:23 pm
December 14, 2010
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Nancy graduated from the college of home economics at UT. That school no longer exists. It was replaced for a time by the college of human ecology and that has since been merged into the university science colleges.
1:22 am
May 5, 2010
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Sorry, Ross, it did sound as if I was lumping all home ec teachers into a bad lot … not so, there's a good-sized flock of fine teachers across all the subjects. My school region just seemed to pull short straws in the majority and this home ec teacher may have had book instruction but her practical experience was zilch. CA is swimming in the shallow end of the pool when it comes to scholastic standing … which has been a source of keen disappointment. I'm grateful there are groups such as this site that manage to hang on to common sense and survival skills.
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