I suspect citing poverty is merely an excuse to cover up personal prejudice against fish. One mother remarked of the smoked haddock pie: "My daughter loved it, but I wouldn't buy it myself."
I've also heard that some younger non-HE teachers involved in cookery events hold their noses in front of pupils when they smell fish, and some refuse to handle it.
This seems to be in direct conflict with the achievements of Curriculum For Excellence, where students embrace the subject of fish and seafood in geography,
Belstaff urban Waxed jacket, English, art and other academic classes. But intellectual engagement – for all its merits – is not the same as hands-on experience, which is missing in the lives of many youngsters.
To a young child, knowing you're ingesting lots of brain-boosting Omega-3 with your oily fish means diddly-squat. So it's up to adults to help them absorb these lessons for life.
But when those best placed to nurture young people's future diet and optimum health – their parents and teachers – persist in giving out the message that fish is in some way offensive, is it any wonder that children grow up never having prepared or tasted it except when it's battered, deep-fried and drowned in salt, vinegar and tomato ketchup?
Entire generations of ordinary modern Scots have become disconnected to fish, despite living in a country almost surrounded by the sea and which has a thriving seafood industry.
However, there is hope. At Bathgate Academy in West Lothian recently I witnessed the first wave (if you'll pardon the phrase) of a three-year rolling education programme called Seafood In Schools. I was heartened by the attitude of the adults involved in enthusiastically nurturing what appeared to be young people's natural affinity with some species of fish, despite living inland.
Over two days of Government and industry-supported workshops staged by Seafood Scotland and local co-ordinators, 200 pupils – many bussed in from primary schools including Boghall, Blackburn, Balbardie, Murrayfield and Simpson – learned where seafood comes from, how healthy it is and how it reaches their plates (presumably,
Belstaff knockhill Vintage Leather jacket, that's if their mums let them eat it at home). I watched as under-10s, 80% of whom said they had never had fish cooked at home, got to taste smoked trout, mackerel and salmon, sweet pickled herring, crab and sardines for the very first time courtesy of donations from retailers in a workshop hosted by nutritionist Catriona Frankitti of Fish For Health.
"We're trying to get children to start a relationship with fish," she said. "Primary school-aged kids are like sponges, and it's critical to get them involved now before they go to secondary school and learn received ideas. The samples they try have no skin or bones. That is justified if it's a first time for trying a food, because they'll always associate that food with that first experience, so I try to create as much of a fun atmosphere as possible."
Across the room,
belstaff gangster jacket leather, John Franchetti, also from Fish For Health, stood over a table of fresh mackerel, squid, langoustine,
Belstaff knockhill Vintage Leather jacket, lobster, cod,
Bradford Belstaff jacket, haddock, mussels, oysters, clams and plaice, and explained to the children which type of boat catches which species, and where. He explained that what we call prawns are what the Spanish call langoustine, and that the deep-fried scampi they know are actually langoustine tails.
Meanwhile, I wonder if a high-profile Scottish seafood festival might help. Seafood Scotland is in favour of the idea – if a dynamic leader can be found. I spoke with Rick Stein, who is enthusiastic and suggested his erstwhile protege Roy Brett, chef-patron of Ondine in Edinburgh and executive chef of Loch Fyne Oysters in Argyll. Brett has gone one step further in garnering the support of the organisers and chefs of the West Cork and Cornwall seafood festivals to come to Scotland. "I'm keen to hold a Celtic seafood festival and would love to have it at Loch Fyne later this year," he told me. "It would be a celebration of the sea for every adult – and child."
Twitter: @catedvinewriter
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