Curriculumfood forthought

I have always liked cooking. That doesn't mean to say I'm at all good at it! I love doing food technology GCSE '“ the cooking lessons are my favourite in my whole curriculum at the moment.

What makes it even better is doing it alongside my best friends. We all have our own embarrassing stories of cooking nightmares, so in true name-and-shame style, first up...

Tasha, who at 14 can't cut onions, and got the helper to do it for her! Then there's...

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Becky, who skipped the step about greasing the tin and got her cake well and truly wedged in. Or...

Cameron, who simply can't cook and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a kitchen ever again (since he turned mincemeat into charcoal and what he called whipped cream I could have sworn was scrambled egg!)

As much as I'd like to make out that I am a fantastic cook, I am afraid that is only mere fantasy and I still have a lot to learn.

I can present things well and make everything look pretty on the plate, but don't dare taste it unless you have a medical team standing by.

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For those who don't take GCSE food, you can stop learning cooking at 13.

But shouldn't cooking be something everyone should learn right up until they leave school?

I for one certainly want to be a university student who, when I leave home, can live on more than tinned food.

With obesity levels rising, we should all be taught how to cook even the simplest of recipes that are healthy and fun to make.

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Jamie Oliver has a new television programme called Ministry of Food. He is going to Rotherham, where obesity is a major problem, to teach a bunch of adults how to cook simple recipes.

He also turned the series into a book which I have at home. The recipes are really easy and things I actually like!

Some people may think you don't need to take GCSE food because it's more important to study academic subjects.

But cooking is a life skill and even if the rest of my year are forced to live on baked beans in university, at least there are a group of us studying food tech who will be able to cook for them!

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