Why (some) people don't cook

It's taken a while to post the second thing!

Something that comes up in discussions at foodbank related events is the question of why people (or some people) do not know how to cook.

Is it the fault of schools?   I can and do cook, but I did not cook at school, because as far as I remember it was not available to me (I was at an all boys school - I assume the girls at the next door all girls school could do cookery but could not do metalwork or woodwork, which I could.  But I don't know).   Second of all, my elder son has done cookery at school, admittedly alternating with other things, so, some weeks cooking, then some weeks textiles, and then some weeks something else.   But he did do it.   And it was cookery that involved devising his own recipes and using fresh ingredients.    

I did some cooking at home with my mum, and I grew up in a house where cooking was done.  Most of it by my mum, but my dad had a few recipes that he would cook - a fish pie was one, and there were others.   When I left home to be a student I did my own cooking.  I became a vegetarian at that time, and getting vegetarian food was not as easy as now, so cooking your own made sense.

So, is it that people have grown up in homes where no cooking was done?  And so, when faced with the need to prepare food, the only way to do it is to buy things ready made, with all that means in terms of nutritional content and cost?

And if people are growing up in an environment where no cooking is done, then is it more important that schools do teach it?

Meanwhile, the classes run by people like Leicestershire Adult Learning Services and by the volunteers of Love Food Hate Waste are vital.