Two determined teams met on December 13th for a face-to-face cook-off at Lower Lake High School, vying for national recognition through the Recipes for Health Kids Challenge sponsored by the USDA National School Lunch Program. Hosted in the Lower Lake High School Culinary Arts classroom, the cook-off featured teams from Cobb Mtn. Elementary School and Terrace Middle School in Lakeport. Each team consists of school food service professionals, a professional chef, parents or community members and several students.
Ten judges critiqued each recipe, providing feedback for the teams as they refine their recipes for submission into the national competition. The panel of judges included LCOE Superintendent Wally Holbrook; Lakeport Unified Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg; First 5 Lake Executive Director Tom Jordan; Chic le Chef owner Julie Hoskins; HLN Director Susan Jen; and five school lunch experts: students Bailey Serpa, Kayley Morado, Jade Holling, Jasmine Dean and Sarah Graves.
The nationwide challenge requires each team to develop a healthy recipe that is actually used in their school cafeteria. The recipes are judged on nutrition content, creativity, ability to be realistically implemented in school cafeterias, taste and presentation.
For more information about the national contest, visit the Recipes for Health Kids Challenge website. The four recipes tasted during the cook-off can be downloaded on HLN's home page.
