No city in the world can claim to have better art and design colleges than London. The Royal College of Art is consistently ranked not just the best in the UK, but in the world. But there is an anomaly in the way we do food in this city, and it starts from the problem that there are no food counterparts to London’s art schools.
Of course, you can study food in London. There are lots of colleges offering courses in catering, food technology and hospitality management, but they are at the vocational rather than the ‘higher’ end of post-18 education. To understand why this matters so much, it is worth looking at the contribution London’s art schools have made to the capital and the country.
Art schools have not only enriched their alumni; they have enriched us all. London wouldn’t attract the tourists, students and talented workers it does if it weren’t for its creative offer - and where does so much of this originate? Within the capital’s art schools, without which a huge part of the London economy would quickly disappear.
So why have we ended up with this brilliant education for other creative fields, and nothing similar for food? It can’t be because there is any intrinsic difference between the disciplines taught in art schools and those that might be taught in food schools, if they existed. In fact, the similarities between the applied arts and cooking are striking. Consider how things would have developed in a parallel city - one with brilliant food colleges, but none for art. No doubt, designers would still flourish in this city. They would learn their trade just as cooks do in London today. But would design be better for it? I doubt it.
And what would our food scene be like in this parallel city? First, thousands of people would have been given opportunity to attend food school. Their world would have become bigger and more interesting, and ours, too. School food would have improved - no self-respecting graduate of the Royal College of Food teaching Food GCSE and A Level would let their school serve the bilge our schools have long fed our children.
But the difference between this parallel universe and ours would not just be felt in schools. Politicians, policymakers and public health experts would have food universities and research institutes addressing problems of poor diet and unsustainable food choices. London would have established itself as a mecca for chefs and food innovators from around the world and the capital’s economy would be that much bigger, broader and more interesting.
London would benefit from some proper colleges of food. Better late than never.
Ben Rogers is director of Centre for London
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