Prioritize More Than Pizza by Julia

Prioritize More Than Pizza by Julia - November 2021 Scholarship Essay

It is shocking how many high schoolers I know that can only make a peanut butter sandwich and mac and cheese. Think about that for a second, going into adulthood and having to buy food and all you know is how to make these limited items. Cooking classes are needed more than ever in the convenience-based society we live in. Ramen is the best thing since sliced bread (pun intended). Even adults are being taken by these frozen crustless sandwiches. We need to make a change in our eating habits starting earlier in life. Lifetime cooking is a class that needs more empathizes in our schools because cooking healthy meals is a useful skill to learn early in life.
Eating pizza all your life is not an option. Most high schoolers don’t understand this. As a senior in high school, it is greatly worrisome seeing my friends bring pizza to our lunch table every day. Being an athlete, eating healthy has been a part of my life since I was little. I grew up chewing celery and munching on mushrooms. It’s been easy for me because I started learning these habits young. As early as middle school classes like “Lifetime Cooking” should be mandatory. Kids can’t eat healthy if they don’t know how to make healthy food.
Lifetime Cooking doesn’t just teach kids how to cook healthy quick meals but break the stereotype of “healthy food’s don’t taste good”. Kids need to be taught not all healthy food is just kale. Kale isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but put kale in a berry smoothie and is delicious. There are ways to incorporate healthy foods into everyday meals that are easy to make. Zoodles, pumpkin lasagna, cherry juice are all these healthy superfoods people don’t know about until they are 30 and trying to change their eating habits. We aren’t getting any younger, our bodies are going to catch up to us sooner than later. It’s better to start these habits now versus later. That is why we need to put more emphasis on Lifetime Cooking in our schools.