Courier Mail Article: Samford Family Nutritionist shocked by how many people don’t know how to cook!

This Brisbane Nutritionist says half her clients can't do this one thing - and that most wouldn't need to see her if they just learned how.

A BRISBANE nutritionist says about 50 per cent of her clients don’t know how to cook, but that it could solve 90 per cent of their problems if they did.

Danielle Husband from Samford Family Nutrition decided to start offering basic cooking classes after her daughter came home from school and said most of the girls in her home economics class didn’t know how to cook.

“I find this very alarming,” she said.

“So what’s going to happen to those girls?”

But those teenage girls aren’t alone, with Ms Husband seeing a large percentage of people in the same position when they come to her practice.

“I would say half (my clients don’t know how to cook), and there’s all sorts of reasons for that. But there are lots of meals where you don’t have to stand over a stove or an oven,” she said.

Ms Husband said her clients ranged from a 22-year-old who didn’t know how to cook to a 78-year-old who didn’t want to.

“That lady lived by herself and she thought ‘what’s the point?’ The point is being healthy and having more energy. And so she started, and came back two weeks later and said ‘it’s so liberating’.”

Ms Husband-Bridge said knowing how to cook was an investment in your health.

“I think it’s a real breakdown. It’s sad that people don’t know how to cook. And it’s the same as anything, if you don’t know how too, then you won’t,” she said.

“Look at the rate of obesity. It’s increasing because people are eating rubbish and that’s because they don’t know how to cook.”

A Samford nutritionist says people are living on takeaway because they don’t know how to cook.

An inability to cook even simple meals often leads to clients living on takeaway or pre-packaged meals.

“People say ‘they taste so good’ but of course they do because they’re full of sugar and salt and rubbish,” she said.

“All of those takeaway chains, their food is designed to hit the sweet spot. If you drive past any of those places most nights of the week at dinner time, I’m always blown away by how many people are lined up in their cars to go there and it never ceases to amaze me how people afford that.”

Many people are also confused about what they should be eating.

“They say to me ‘my diet’s really good’ but it’s actually not, and it’s no wonder they’re knackered all the time,” she said.

Ms Husband says pre-cut vegetables are an easy option.

“I know we’re all busy and people think they don’t have time to cook, but it only takes eight minutes to cook a piece of salmon. And you don’t even have to slice and dice veggies anymore, they come bagged up all good to go.”

Ms Husband said she was passionate about food and wasn’t totally down on takeaway.

“There’s nothing sexier to me then a perfect avocado when I open it,” she said.

“But I’m very partial to something deep fried every now and then - it just needs to be a balance.”

This week, Ms Husband sounded out her local community online to see if they’d be interested in taking part in a range of different cooking courses - and she was flooded with interest.

Some of her class ideas included 30-minute meals for busy mums, healthy food for university students on a budget, and what to eat for healthy skin and hair for teenagers.

She expected to start the classes in the September holidays.

“It certainly won’t be those lovely cooking demonstrations. This’ll just be grassroots in a community kitchen,” she said.

“I just want to do basics that are achievable. I won’t be teaching people how to make a crab souffle.”

In the meantime, she encouraged people to stay away from packaged products as much as possible.

“If everything you eat comes out of a box, chances are you’ll end up in one earlier than you should.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the classes can email Ms Husband at dani@samfordfamilynutrition.com.au

Jasmin Lill, North-West News/ The Courier Mail