Cooking is arguably one of the most important skills to have, but nowhere is it required to learn. Eating is necessary to live; cooking food correctly is necessary to not get poisoning. School is where people get most of their education from, yet it’s not required to teach students one of the essential parts of living. At both schools I’ve attended, a class about cooking and learning about food is offered as an elective, but it’s never needed for a student to take it. In all schools, there should be a required course about cooking and kitchen knowledge.

Home economics was a class (mostly for women when it started) that taught how to do household things, like cooking and sewing. Home economics is a great idea, but it can be simplified down to just cooking. Not everyone plans on having a household where they plan on having to sew a dress. However, everyone will have to cook a meal for themselves and perhaps a family as well.

Learning to cook a nice, healthy, and tasty meal is almost imperative to know before you go to college but has other purposes as well. Most college freshmen want to avoid the “freshman fifteen” at all costs. Cooking and eating healthy would help them. A mom or dad has to be able to prepare a dinner for their spouse and their children that will help the kids develop and also taste good for the picky kids. An older student wants to know how to impress a date with an appealing dinner.

Since most people already take the elective that offers an understanding of the kitchen, why not make it required? It’s a class that’ll actually help once you get out of school – no matter what you do – and is usually fun to take.