DALLAS
— USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Administrator Audrey Rowe recently
announced the winner of first lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids
competition. The contest launched last year to challenge students, parents and
other interested community members to create tasty and healthy new recipes for America’s
school cafeteria menus.
Intermediate
District 287, South Education Center Alternative in Richfield, Minnesota,
captured the Grand Prize with its Porcupine Sliders in a national cook-off held
during the American Culinary Federation National Convention, from among 340
recipes originally submitted by schools across the country. White House chef
Sam Kass acted as master of ceremonies for the cook-off.
“Intermediate
District 287, South Education Center Alternative and all of the schools that
participated in the competition have demonstrated once again that school meals
can be healthy – and taste great too,” Rowe says. “This is an outstanding
achievement for our kids and for our efforts to bring healthier meals and
healthier lifestyles to schools across the nation.”
Finalists
in the recipe cook-off also included Central Valley Harvest Bake, submitted by Joshua Cowell
School in Manteca,
California; and Tuscan Smoked Turkey &
Bean Soup submitted by Ira B. Jones Elementary School in Asheville, North Carolina.
Competing teams submitted recipes in three categories: Dry Beans, Dark
Green-Orange Vegetables, and Whole Grains. The top 10 recipes in each category
will be published in a Recipes for Healthy Kids cookbook to share with schools,
students and families.
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 Michelle Obama’s broader Let’s Move!
initiative that also includes Chefs Move to Schools, which encourages chefs to
work with schools in their communities.
The
National School Lunch Program is one of 15 nutrition assistance programs
administered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Together these programs,
which also include the Summer Food Service Program, the Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program,
comprise a national safety net against hunger.
Additional
information about USDA’s nutrition assistance programs can be found on the Foodand Nutrition Service website.
