from Bryan on Scouting  Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, this badge will get a silver border. Moms and dads, prepare the needle and thread! Sustainability, a new merit badge, will join Environmental Science as an Eagle Scout option after its debut at the 2013 Jamboree. Cooking, meanwhile, will become Eagle-required as of Jan. 1, 2014. The total number of merit badges required for the Eagle Scout Award will remain at 21. In other words, instead of 12 Eagle-required badges and 9 elective badges, a Scout must earn 13 Eagle-required and 8 elective badges. Why the change? The goal is to "reflect a better balance of the needs of youth and our nation today and in the future," according to the BSA's resolution. Personally, I like it. Keeping up with the ever-changing world means questioning the way things have always been done. Sustainability becomes more important as our population increases while resources decrease. And a boy who reaches Eagle without skills in cooking and healthy eating habits hasn't become fully "Prepared. For Life." in my opinion. I think the BSA's board got it right on here. What do you think? For the list of Eagle-required merit badges as it looks now — and as it will look in 2014 — follow the jump. Read more of this post. On November 1, further information will released regarding this change including a general outline of what will be requirements in the Sustainability when it is released next summer during the National Jamboree. Click here to learn more. Posted October 17, 2012. | 
