Washington, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently
announced the finalists in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids
competition, a national contest to promote healthy eating among children. The
first-place recipes from categories of Whole Grains, Dark Green and Orange Vegetables,
and Dry Beans and Peas will compete for the Grand Prize at a national cook-off
event during the American Culinary Federation National Convention in Dallas, Texas,
“Creating
and consuming nutritious meals provides a foundation for healthy lives among America’s
children,” Vilsack says. “The Obama administration supports the many
innovative strategies in place that enable our schoolchildren to learn, thrive,
grow – and ultimately win the future. We congratulate these teams on their hard
work, creativity, and dedication to improving the health and nutrition of kids
across the country.”
USDA and the
First Lady launched the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition last September,
challenging teams of school nutrition professionals, chefs, students, and
community members to develop creative, nutritious, and kid-approved recipes
that schools can easily incorporate into National School Lunch Program menus.
The contest is a component of the First Lady’s broader Let’s Move! initiative
that also includes Chefs Move to Schools, which encourages chefs to work with
schools in their communities.
The public also
had the opportunity to vote on their favorite selection in the Popular Choice
Award. The honoree for the Popular Choice Award, Tasty Tots from Bellingham Memorial Middle School Bellingham, Massachusetts,
will receive $1,500.
The first,
second, and runner-up winning recipes and schools for each category are:
Dark Green and Orange Vegetables
First Place: Central
Valley Harvest Bake, Joshua Cowell School,
Manteca, California.
Second Place: Stir-Fry
Fajita Chicken, Squash, and Corn, Monument
Valley High
School, Kayenta Unified School District, Kayenta, Arizona.
Runner-up: Crunchy Hawaiian Chicken Wrap, Mount Lebanon Elementary
School, Pendleton,
South Carolina.
Whole Grains
First Place: Porcupine
Sliders, Intermediate District 287, South
Education Center
Alternative, Richfield, Minnesota.
Second Place: Chic’
Penne, Harold S. Winograd K-8 School Mission,
Greeley, Colorado.
Runner-up: Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Bellingham Memorial
Middle School, Bellingham, Massachusetts.
Dry Beans and Peas
First Place: Tuscan
Smoked Turkey & Bean Soup, Ira
B. Jones
Elementary School, Asheville, North Carolina.
Second Place: Lentils of the Southwest, Sweeney
Elementary School, Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Runner-up: Confetti Soup, Burke Middle and High
School, Charleston County School District,
Charleston, South Carolina.
To recognize and
share the culinary creativity nationwide, the top 10 recipes in each category
will be published in a Recipes for Healthy Kids Cookbook to share with students
and families. For more on the recipes and winners, visit the website for
Recipes for Healthy Kids.
USDA’s Food and
Nutrition Service oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance
programs, including the child nutrition programs. Improving child nutrition is
also a focal point of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that was signed in to
law by President Obama in December 2010. This legislation authorizes USDA’s
child nutrition programs, including the Summer Food Service Program and the National
School Lunch Program, which serves nearly 32 million children each day. It will
allow USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, the chance to make real
reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical
nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. The Healthy,
Hunger-Free Kids Act is the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle
Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. To learn more, visit the Let’s Move website.
