Grandpa Chef! A name that is not unfamiliar. Once a month, it is time to transform into a grandpa chef and learn what food to serve to yourself. Most people who spend their days waiting for someone in a dark, humid, single room in the basement are the ones we affectionately call 'grandfathers'. A scene not easily seen in the past. What kind of men learn how to cook? "If you have it, just eat it. If you don’t have it, don’t eat it, right?" This was a program that they rejected with a wave of their hand.
A man cooking wearing a white chef's hat and an apron is not an uncommon sight. The menu is not of fancy dishes, they are satisfied making the dishes themself. Laughter bloomed along with their happy appearance. "I can live for another month with what I learned today and the menu from last time, so I don’t have to worry anymore."
The chefs recorded a year of memories and published the cookbook 'Grandpa Chef’s Secret Recipes'. Although simple, they held a publication commemorative party and served homemade sandwiches to all who attended. They all had big smiles on their faces.
Currently, the aging of our society is progressing at a rate unprecedented in the world. Unlike in the past, in this era where the number of elderly is increasing, the desire to lead a humane life is increasing. Still, it is also true that families and society feel the burden of the elderly as dependent beings.
When they grow old and live alone, “men are more lonely and depressed” (Seoul National University Nursing Department research team) — This is the title of a report based on in-depth interviews with 1,023 seniors aged 65 or older living alone in Gyeonggi-do between August and October 2018 about their overall quality of life by gender. According to the report, male seniors living alone were more depressed than female seniors living alone. It probably has something to due with men living in a man's culture for a long time and ending up alone. Accordingly, building a social environment to promote independent life and social integration in old age is necessary.
Even healthy people worry about the sudden rush of leisure time as they lose their social and occupational roles. Men due to sociodemographic characteristics, they are much more vulnerable than women who form relationships more easily.
In many cases, relationships with family and neighbors are severed, and there is a fear of mental illness such as dementia or depression or dying alone, so efforts are needed to establish a social and religious safety net for elderly people living alone, especially male elderly people living alone, who are prone to isolation.
Grandpa Chef seniors go beyond preparing their own food and engage in sharing activities by participating in various local events. They are invited to university festivals every year to operate a food booth and use the profits to expand their activity through sharing, exchange, and meeting within the region. We hope that the elderly will increase their sense of presence, will not stop building emotional relationships in their daily lives, and will be able to contribute to society, even if only in small ways, with the skills they have acquired late in life.
Our society is rushing like a rocket into an aging society, and even those who are not yet in that stage need to imagine themselves in the future and plan how to live. It's already late. At this point, shouldn’t we take a closer look at what welfare is available for the elderly in our society?
