Does it matter if people don't know how to set a table? Or that they don't own any pots and pans, preferring to use the microwave for reheating ready meals? Those of us of a certain generation would say that of course it does, and argue that returning the nation to its long-lost culture of cooking from scratch and eating together at table is the highest and noblest culinary aspiration of our times.
The deskilling of several generations of Scots certainly upsets Shirley Spear, chair of the Scottish Food Commission and a grandmother herself, who recently declared herself shocked to discover that more than half of Scots do not sit down together for a daily meal and that 8% never eat together.
I know I'm certainly not alone in agreeing with Ms Spear that getting more people to reconnect with food is a vital if we want to start addressing the alarming diet-related health statistics of much of the Scottish population, and build a healthy, sustainable food culture for the future, which is part of the Scottish Food Commission's somewhat daunting remit.
It's inarguable that choosing, buying, preparing and consuming fresh locally grown produce and sharing it inter-generationally with family and friends is pleasurable and can positively help reduce stress levels as well as the intake of unwanted salt, sugar, fat and nasty additives.
It restores control of what we eat back to us. Buying locally also helps local economies. Compared with the modern habit of individuals reheating stuff prepared by someone else in a far away location, seeing the money we pay for it disappear into someone else's pocket, and snarfing it down from its plastic bowl while staring at the TV or tablet or smartphone screen with earphones on, it's a no-brainer.
The trouble is, of course, that things are not as simple as that. Preparing food from scratch takes time and money. Those living in deprived areas have at best restricted, at worst zero, access to fresh local food unless they take the bus or car, and sometimes say they can't afford the fuel to cook it. The working affluent for their part say they don't have the time to plan meals for the week as their grandmothers used to; long hours and zero or short-term contracts have put paid to that.
The result is at least three generations of Scots who can't, or won't, cook. Such attitudes have become entrenched and self-perpetuating over recent years despite a barrage of local initiatives aimed at changing them. I know of several community schemes which demonstrate to parents that it can actually be cheaper to plan and prepare homecooked meals for the week than it is to buy them ready made. Thanks to the efforts of at least one celebrity chef, we know that cooking produces tasty and nutritious leftovers rather than non-reheatable gunk stuck to microwave plastic trays. Most supermarkets are at least paying lip-service to consumer demand for more local produce on shelves and there are proposals to release land for community growing of fruit and veg, as well as plans for more local food to be served on public transport. But such noble moves are piecemeal and fragmented, and don't appear to be co-ordinated.
For all I admire their courage and ambition, I have to admit I don't envy Spear and the team at the Scottish Food Commission one little bit. Its aim is to build a 'good food nation' of informed, engaged and healthy consumers. But whatever their remit states, what it boils down to is effecting a massive culture change in the face of persistant resistance.
At the moment, I regard trying to shift our attitude to food (call it food culture if you like) as akin to attempting to persuade a massive slurry-filled tanker to change course. Creating the collective desire for a step-change will be its greatest challenge.
I will be very interested to read the Scottish Food Commission's interim report, due in the next few weeks. Members are experts across a spectrum of relevant professions, including child education, health and nutrition, farming, aquaculture, food retail, catering, and food poverty.
Ms Spear has already mentioned the creation of a food hub – which would consist of a community-run cafe, fruit and veg shop, supported by local authorities, in every town in Scotland. But hard-pressed councils have to be persuaded to reduce business rates to enable fruit and veg shops to flourish once again on our high streets, much as charity shops do.
Supermarket buying policies have to be decentralised if we want more control over what's on offer. Those serving food in public places such as hospitals, schools and cafes must commit to serving good food - and to shout about how proud they are of it.
Most of all, we women (and men) of a certain age can also do our bit, and pass down the skills and enthusiasm about food we learned from our own mothers. If that includes how to set a table, so be it.
I wish Ms Spear and the team luck. Let's face it, we need it.
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