Chefs Move to Schools

Cross-posted from the Let's Move blog: The annual Harvest Challenge, menu planning and cooking event for high school students, is an important example of how aspiring chefs get started and learn to create winning recipes. This exciting contest, which is now going into its 8 th year, challenges teams...

Cross-posted from the Let's Move blog: Student culinary competitions are becoming a fun and popular learning tool utilized by many schools throughout the country to engage students in creating healthy, appealing meals. These events encourage students to eat more nutritious foods, as well as give...

Nothing says autumn like pumpkins fresh from the farm! And since it’s Farm to School month, It’s fitting that I joined Christine Skipp, Lori Hall and their first grade class at RB Hunt Elementary School, in St. Augustine, Fla. to sample 11 different varieties of pumpkins. We took advantage of this...

In August I went back to school with students in Albany and Newton, Ga., to see how healthy school meals help students get their “S.W.A.G. on” and prepare for success. In Albany, 400 Sherwood Acres Elementary Magnet School students celebrated school breakfast, many wearing S.W.A.G. t-shirts, which...

Cross-posted from the Let's Move blog. Last Father’s Day, President Obama challenged American fathers to take time for their children. He has said that being a father to his two daughters is the most important job he has. In Chicago, one organization of talented fathers is rising to that challenge...

Drum roll please…. The long anticipated winners of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition were announced this morning by Secretary Vilsack. USDA and the First Lady launched the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition last September, challenging kids, nutrition professionals...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: It’s only natural that when the team from Charter Oak International Academy came up with their entry in the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition it would have true international flavor. The West Hartford, CT school is a magnet school with a global focus...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Have you cast your vote? The selection period for the Popular Choice Award in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition will close soon, so it’s time to make your voice heard. The First Lady and the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched the...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Chef Billy Reid, manager of child nutrition services at Salida Union School District, is an advocate of the Chefs Move to Schools initiative. Chef Reid has been using his expertise to make sure students in his District eat meals that are both healthy and tasty...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: In March 2011, USDA Special Nutrition Programs Regional Director Julie Mikkelson and I met Chef Paul Penney at a HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) award celebration in Canton, Michigan. Chef Paul, a volunteer with the First Lady’s Chefs Move to Schools...