FW: Michigan Junior Iron Chef: RECIPES DUE MAY 8th!

 

Greetings,

 

There are only 4 days left for high school student teams to submit recipes for the first Michigan Junior Iron Chef Competition! Please review the rules and be sure to download the recipe entry form from the website (www.mnn.fcs.msue.msu.edu) to submit your teams’ healthy school lunch meal for the recipe contest by this Friday, May 8^th! Teams that win the recipe contest will be notified mid-month that they are eligible to compete in the cook-off competition at Michigan State University for the chance to win exciting prizes!

 

We look forward to a tasty competition!

 

The Michigan Junior Iron Chef Planning Team

 

 

 

 

Dear Michigan High School Student, School Employee, or Community Member:

 

We are excited to invite high school students to join the first Michigan Junior Iron Chef Competition! This competition gives students hands-on cooking experience and teaches them about local foods and healthy food choices. It starts with a recipe contest (entries due May 8^th, 2009) and ends with a cook-off competition on September 19^th, 2009. Michigan Junior Iron Chef is sponsored by the Michigan Nutrition Network – Michigan State University Extension and the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University.

 

Here’s how it works:

Part 1. We challenge teams of 3-4 high school students to work with an adult coach to make one tasty, healthy school lunch meal featuring Michigan-grown and commodity foods. A list of these foods along with rules for participating are available on the Michigan Junior Iron Chef website listed below. Recipes should be easy and practical for school food service to use and meet nutrition guidelines for school lunch. (See rules on the website for more details.) To enter, teams submit an application and recipe for their meal by May 8^th, 2009. Recipes will be judged by creativity, use of local foods, nutritional quality, and practical use for school food service. Winning recipes will be shared with schools throughout the state in a Michigan Junior Iron Chef Cookbook. To participate, student teams must be from Michigan schools which have at least 50% free and reduced-price meal participation. We ask that teams that enter the recipe contest be made up of 9^th-11^th graders so they may cook as a team at the competition in the fall of 2009.

 

Part 2: Teams that win the recipe contest will prepare and cook their meals on-site at the Michigan Junior Iron Chef Competition on September 19^th, 2009. Teams will also create a nutrition education and marketing packet to present with their meals at the cook-off. Meals will be judged by an expert panel on taste, presentation, creativity, use of local foods, nutritional quality, and practical use for school food service. Prizes will be awarded to three winning teams for Best in Show (best overall), Best Use of Local Foods, and Best Nutrition Education and Marketing Packet. Prizes for the first place team, Best in Show, will be worth up to $150 per student team member and will include an award of $500 to the food service program of the team’s school! Reimbursements for travel for one vehicle per team and up to $100 for ingredients for practicing recipes will also be provided to teams that compete in the cook-off.

 

The event will also include a cooking demonstration and a healthy lunch along with tours of some of Michigan State University’s farming and food production facilities. Local farmers who provide ingredients for the event will also be invited to attend.

 

Spread the word! Help us recruit creative student teams for this exciting event! For more details and resources, go to our website at www.mnn.fcs.msue.msu.edu. Thanks for your help in promoting healthy eating habits and celebrating Michigan foods!

 

Sincerely,

 

Michigan Junior Iron Chef Planning Team

Michigan Nutrition Network, MSU Extension

2100 Anthony Hall

East Lansing, MI 48824

mnn@anr.msu.edu

www.mnn.fcs.msue.msu.edu