Cookery classes will be made compulsory in British secondary schools for the first time, the government announced, as the fight against childhood obesity intensifies.
School Secretary Ed Balls said 800 cookery teachers will be trained over the next three years. and agreed with health campaigners who say the new policy should have been introduced years ago.

Students aged 11 to 14 will learn to cook for an hour a week for one term.
Currently around 85 per cent of secondary schools have cookery lessons but the new policy, part of a government obesity strategy, requires all schools to be teaching the subject by 2011.
A recent government study predicted that half the population could be obese within 25 years while experts believe one million children will be overweight in a decade.

Mr Balls said he wanted children to be able to cook simple and healthy recipes.
"I think it is right to act now and maybe we should have acted earlier but we are acting now," he told BBC television.
"We are preparing people for the future so we can teach our younger people to be healthier adults in the future."

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has been involved in a high-profile campaign to improve the quality of school dinners, told the Daily Mirror: "It's of the utmost importance that all kids learn to cook good food from scratch and shop well."

Prue Leith, the new head of the government's program to improve school meals in England, also welcomed the news.

"If we had done this 30 years ago we might not have the (obesity) crisis we have now," the cook, restaurateur and food writer told Radio 4's Today program.

But Clarissa Williams, a spokesperson for the National Association of Head Teachers, said that training had been neglected for so long it would be difficult to implement now.
"Cookers, microwaves, all of the utensils - all of that costs a lot of money," she told the Today program.

Considering healthy nutrition in 2025: How will the market be shaped? Which products will be generally accepted, which will be successful? What kind of consumer groups will market participants have to face?

This working paper documents three scenarios on the future healthy nutrition market, which have been developed in a transnational foresight exercise by nutrition experts from various fields. Each scenario focuses on a different aspect of healthy nutrition.

• Healthy nutrition in 2025 in the low-price market
• Health as a central aspect and purchase decision argument in the higher price market
• Healthy nutrition and the cared-for-consumer.

For more information please click here

The Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal (FCSRJ) is a peer-reviewed journal seeking manuscripts for the Celebrating Cultural Diversity and FCS Special Issue on

1. strengths and challenges of culturally diverse individuals, families and communities
2. exploration of cultural diversity through family and consumer sciences and related field perspectives
3. examination of the demographic shifts in population and how these shifts have impacted individuals, family life, community and society.

For more information please click here

Call for Papers for Journal of Consumer Education

For more information please click here

Current directions:

Consumer Science activities have re-focused into three streams:

• Public Health where food choice and consumer behaviour studies will be closely allied to emerging Government policy on nutrition
• Risk Perception where new psychological approaches will be taken to develop a robust theory of risk perception. Such a model is greatly needed to understand, for example, responses to emerging food hazards
• Social Complexity where in collaboration with in-house and external mathematicians, the complexities of social activities related to food will be addressed head-on.

This work will form part of the Institute’s drive to utilise this exciting cutting-edge science across its research programmes. Whether it is studying grains of sand in a sand-pile or humans in a society, complexity science offers us radical new ways for understanding the dynamics and properties involved. We have been instrumental in setting up a Complexity Club across the Norwich Research Park, bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with an interest in complexity.

Please click here for download the whole report

"The conceptual mapping of Consumer Sciences in the United Kingdom in Higher Education in relation to consumer citizenship"

Sue BAILEY, London Metropolitan University - London, United Kingdom

Issues of consumption from provider and consumer perspectives and aspects of citizenship have become areas that Consumer Sciences courses in the Higher 224 Education Sector in the United Kingdom have needed to take note of, although some would argue that they have always been an intrinsic part of the area from the heritage of Home Economics. As the subject field of Consumer Sciences has developed the question as how course design has responded in relation to these issues has been in need of study. In order to track these changes in the UK, research is currently being undertaken to develop appropriate concept maps.

The aim of the current research has therefor been to analyse the subject field construction at Higher Education level for degree and post-graduate courses in the UK in the last four years, using prospectus, handbook and official data in terms of stated subject study areas. In addition semi-structured interviews with members of staff involved in the construction and delivery of these courses is currently being undertaken and analysed to produce comparative concept maps. It is also expected to relate the research as to how consumer citizenship is perceived as a significant area.

Initial analysis of the subject field indicated that in the last four years there had been a period of relative stability in terms of course content and emphasis, but with an increasing focus on the consumer particularly as an individual, not necessarily in the context of a family. It need to be considered how far citizenship, consumer education and personal, social and health education are perceived as being an intrinsic part of the interpretation and concept map for Consumer Sciences or whether the approach is more fragmented.

"Consumer education between "consumership" and citizenship: experiences from studies of young people"

Jette BENN, The Danish University of Education - Copenhagen, Denmark

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"Consumption in everyday life - A question of ethical challenges and responsible action?"

Jette BENN, The Danish University of Education - Denmark

Jörgen JUUL JENSEN, Suhr´s College - Denmark

Margaret JEPSON, Liverpool University - United Kingdom

Households and individuals are consumer decision making units in the civil society. Consumption is both a way to construct meaning for individuals and families and a fundamental need in the household. Furthermore consumption has huge consequences for health and environment and raises a wide range of dilemmas in everyday life. These dilemmas must be discussed in consumer education.

The aim of consumer education has mainly been to teach and educate students to act as informed and rational consumers. This perception of consumption as reasoned behaviour or action is inadequate in a reflective modern society, where consumerism is first and foremost characterised by globalisation, cultural change and the liberation of the individual. Institutional consumer education stands in contrast to informal consumer socialisation and the education of individuals. The aim of formal consumer education may be described as educating for critical consumer awareness and action competence, but consumer education is located in the field between consumership and citizenship.

The presentation deals with perspectives and discussions upon the following questions .

• How is it possibly to understand production and consumption regarding to households, families and individuals?
• How does the responsibility emerging from the role as households influence on the understanding of consumption at the market?
• Which ethical challenges do the family and individual have to cope with?
• How can formal consumer education contribute to a broader understanding of consumerism and raise critical awareness and responsible action, as consumption is related to health and environment?
• Which educational questions do consumer education raise . consequences for practice?

"Consumer citizenship for life quality in Latvia"

Vija DISLERE, Latvia University of Agriculture - Latvia

The paper will deal with how to understand the European concept of consumer citizenship in Latvia.

What are the existent attitudes of society towards consumer rights and responsibilities? What are the criteria of life quality and it.s adaptation for analyzing local social processes. The paper will also provide an analysis of consumer science study programs in higher education level and further education. How does research about consumer education made in the Institute of Education and Home Economics influence life quality? Latvian society`s awareness within consumer education is insufficient, except on the higher educational level and amongst professionals working in consumer education field, but it is necessary to strengthen the conceptual initiation of consumer citizenship in Latvia.

"Sustainable consumer empowerment through critical consumer education: a typology of consumer education approaches"

Sue MCGREGOR, Mount St. Vincent University, Faculty of Education - Canada

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"Understanding consumer´s moral consciousness"

Sue MCGREGOR, Mount St. Vincent University, Faculty of Education - Canada

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"Consumer Citizenship Education in the comprehensive school in Finland"

Kaija TURKKI, University of Helsinki - Finland

The aim of the basic general education in Finland is .to try to help the students become balanced, fit, responsible, independent, creative, cooperative, and peaceloving people and members of society. The comprehensive school is to educate its students in morality and good manner that gives the student those skills which are needed for the development of the student.s personality in a diversified manner and for training them for the society.. These are the citations that fit well to describe the idea of consumer citizenship too. On this grounds it is relevant to ask how and where it is supported and practiced during school years. In this presentation the focus will be at the level of the national curriculum in Finland that has been under the renewing process during last years.

The aim of this paper is to make comparisons between the present (accepted in 1994) and the new (since Autumn 2004) curriculum regarding the presence of 225 consumer and citizenship issues. The main emphasis will be paid on the general framework of the curriculum including intercurricular issues, and on some selected subjects as home economics, history and social studies, and health studies. Some conceptual analysis will be made to find out the concepts used, the emphasis made, and to reveal the contexts in which consumer-citizenship is introduced. Some proposals for new frameworks in understanding the consumercitizenship education will be discussed. The research may also reveal some requirements to prepare supporting material for teachers to make consumercitizenship issues more visible and understandable. The material is needed to help teachers to produce the local curricula at school level.

"Culture Consumption and Adult Education: Refashioning Consumer Education For Adults As A Political Site Using A Cultural Studies Framework"

Jennifer A. SANDLIN, Texas A & M University - USA

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Call for Papers, Special Issue on Consumer Finances - Journal of Family
and Economic Issues

This special issue invites original empirical or theoretical research papers relevant to consumer finances.

The suggested topics are, but not limited to, as follows:

recent bankruptcy law changes; recent proposed increases in minimum required payment rates; growth of the payday loan industry; and the introduction of credit card use in China.

Please follow the 5th Edition of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to prepare the manuscripts. The manuscript should not have more than 30 pages. Send an electronic copy of the paper, along with a cover letter, to

Lucia F. DUNN, Guest Editor at: dunn.4@osu.edu,before or on February 1, 2007.
The special issue will be published in June 2008.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Lucia F. DUNN, Guest Editor, Professor of Economics, Ohio State University Columbus,

OH 43210-1172, USA; (614) 292-8071; dunn.4@osu.edu.

For more information, a more detailed call for paper please click here

Please click here for reading an article of THE WASHINGTON POST (18 March 2006) regarding the Home Economics theme everyday life skills

according to the theme of IFHE Smposium 2006

Proceedings of the 1. International Conference of The Consumer Citizenship Network, Paris 2004

"Using, choosing or creating the future?"

" The academic and the NGO (non-governmental organisation) communities also have vital roles to play in achieving sustainable consumption. On the one hand, research is needed to better grasp the technical and sociological aspects of the issues at hand. On the other, NGO advocates provide clarity and forcefulness required to sustain a thorough debate. Together they can inform and inspire the whole debate on sustainable consumtion."

Kofi ANNAN, Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1999, The global Compact

The report can be ordered from the Hedmark University College

Introduction

Victoria W. Thoresen

International Coordinator, The Consumer Citizenship Network (CCN)

Hedmark University College - Norway

The results of the first year of cooperation amongst the partners of the Consumer Citizenship Network are reflected in this selection of some of the papers which were presented at the first annual conference of the Consumer Citizenship Network (CCN) March 2004.

The Consumer Citizenship Network is a thematic network whose goal is to stimulate dialogue between researchers, educators and civil society as well as strengthen cooperation in relation to value education, civic training, and environmental and consumer education. The CCN is an interdisciplinary network of educators and researchers from 29 countries, and includes cooperation with UNESCO, UNEP and international citizenship and consumer organizations.

The CCN is an interdisciplinary network which has not only analysis of present situations as its goal but also the development of consumer citizenship education. Thus the fact that the professional language and subject references are noticeably different in the presentations from the conference is considered a positive contribution to the process of including consumer citizenship in a variety of educational settings. Of the 53 presentations which were made at the conference it has not been possible to include all in this publication. A complete file of all presentations, power point programs and posters is on a cd-ram available from the CCN Core Unit.

Complexity Science and Education

This glossary of terms is meant as a webbed introduction to key terms and concepts in complexity science, framed in terms of their relevance to educators and educational researchers.

Please click here for download the Glossary of Terms

"Consumer and Families as Market Actors"

Thematic keynote summaries, commentaries and concluding keynote papers

National Consumer Research Centre Working Papers 72 - 2002

Please click here for download the paper