Kicking Off the Cooking up Change Healthy Cooking Contest

October 14, 2008 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign

By Sara Klinzing, Cooking up Change Healthy Cooking Contest Liaison

Cooking up Change 2008 has gotten off to a fiery start, with 13 schools participating in this year’s healthy cooking competition.  In my role as Healthy Cooking Contest Liaison, I’ve been traveling around to all the schools,  meeting the students and instructors, and getting them geared up to compete.  It has been an absolute treat meeting the students. Many teams have returning students who competed in last year’s event and others hosted tryouts to determine their team roster. 

The challenge that Cooking up Change presents to these culinary students is a hefty one -— they only have four weeks to assemble a team, develop recipes and create final dishes to submit as contest entries. With just 16 days remaining until Cooking up Change, the contest is really heating up!  CVCA was last year’s first-place winner in the School Lunch Category. This year, they are the team to beat as they attempt to defend their culinary title. It won’t be easy; all the other teams are scrambling up fresh ideas in their quest for the first-place trophy. 

During my school visits, I was not granted even a hint at what the teams are cooking up (they’re keeping their recipes close to the apron), but I did get the sense that this year, the bar has been raised — Cooking up Change 2008 is an event you won’t want to miss!