Darina Allen claims no child in the country should be allowed to leave school or get their Leaving Certificate without being able to prove they can cook.
And as Ireland remains destined to become the most obese country in Europe by 2030, Darina stressed the importance of understanding the impact food has on our health.
The TV chef, who has written 19 cookbooks throughout her stellar career, said: “All the youngsters are encouraged to concentrate solely on the STEM subjects which are very important - science and maths and all of that sort of thing.
“But I think no child, boy or girl, in this country should be allowed to leave school, should actually get their Leaving Cert, without being able to prove that they can cook a certain number of dishes.”
Referring to the education system in Finland, where kids are taught how to cook and fix things as an inspiration, Darina, 71, added that while children need the academics they also need basic life skills.
She told Womans Way: “Alot of kids now can’t make toast, and there’s also the strong message, not even a subliminal message, that this is much lesser value than the academic skills.
“And a lot of the time it’s no wonder there’s a shortage of chefs because a lot of the time the kids in school are told if they can’t get into university, ‘Ah, well you could go into hospitality.’
“That’s nonsense.
“I've been able to start the cookery school, first and foremost work in Ireland, do television, write books and travel all over the world.”
When asked about what recipe every young person should be able to make, Darina recalled the bread panic during Storm Emma last year as an obvious example.
She said: “Look at what happened when we were snowed in a couple of years ago.
“I mean there was absolute panic in the supermarkets, people were pulling loaves of sliced pan form each other and there was flour and buttermilk just a couple of shelves away.
"We’d forgotten how to make a loaf of bread.”
Meanwhile, stressing the severity of the ‘mess’ Ireland is in, she added: “[Food] is the most important thing to give us energy and vitality and help us to concentrate and all of that [but] it’s way down on our list of priorities.
“And here in Ireland we’re as you know destined to be the most obese country in Europe by 2030 and I think it’s 46.9% or 49.9% of all the food we eat here in Ireland is ultra - processed food as opposed to 10 per cent in Portugal and 14 - point something in France.
“I meant that’s a European-wide study that was done a few months ago.
“So, Ireland is in a desperate mess and we need to have a huge educational campaign very soon to show people the link between the food they’re eating and how they’re feeling.”
