Congratulations to the winners of the Cooking up Change national healthy cooking contest!
The student chefs of the Tohono O'odham Community Action Cooking Club took home the trophy in the high school division with their first-place school lunch of tepary bean quesadillas, baby spinach and pear salad with carrot vinaigrette, and yogurt peanut butter fruit dip.
In the college division, the student chefs of the University of California, Berkeley placed first with their lunch of heart-healthy cornbread casserole, colorful rice delight, brownie surprise.
Students created the meal using only ingredients commonly available for food service -- including one local ingredient -- and no more than six steps per recipe. Their efforts highlight the challenges and incredible importance of bringing fresh, healthy, tasty school food to all students.
Congratulations to the student chefs!
Student chefs of the Tohono O'odham Community Action Cooking Club accept their trophy.
As a board member of Healthy Schools, I felt privileged to be an observer at the contest. Not only was the food healthy and delicious, but also the student presentations to the judges were very impressive. Prior to actually cooking the meal, the students had to manage and execute a variety of tasks including researching nutritional values and creating a recipe which met IOM standards for foods in schools.
I was especially impressed how each team of students used local ingredients important in their communities. In the case of the winning team from Arizona, the tasty quesadillas featured tepary beans which are culturally significant to generations of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Check out www.tocaonline.org and click on O’odham Foods.
What a great experience for young people. These students are future leaders in their communities.
Rob Rogers
Vice President, HSC Board of Directors
Posted by: Rob | May 19, 2010 at 11:25 AM