2nd Annual Harvest Challenge Competition Begins
The second annual Harvest Challenge Tasting Event will be held Friday, October 15th, in the Viroqua Middle/High School Cafeteria. At the event, student teams from Viroqua, Laurel, La Farge, Hillsboro, De Soto, Westby and Youth Initiative High Schools will serve their healthy school meals to a panel of judges, students and the public. The tasting event is the culmination of the Harvest Challenge, a school lunch cooking competition. The competition pairs teams of Vernon County high school students with local chefs to design and serve a healthy school meal that tastes great. The teams are challenged to use local foods, meet the nutrition guidelines of the National School Lunch Program and keep the cost to less than $1.00 for food per meal. Kateri Burton, a winning member from last year’s team said, “This competition helped me realize my true passion is working with food. This is a great experience!”
The Harvest Challenge Tasting Event will be open to the public from 6-8PM. Attendees will be able to sample the meals prepared by all the teams and participate in a silent auction. The judges will announce the winning school lunches at 7:45PM. Teams will have their meals judged by a panel of celebrity judges on predetermined culinary and nutritional criteria. Selected students and the public attending the Tasting event will also vote for their favorite school lunch. Marilyn Volden, Food Service Director for Viroqua Public Schools says; “The Harvest Challenge is a cooking contest for high school students highlighting the benefits of including fresh and local foods in school lunch programs.”
Tickets are $10/individual, $3/student (under 18). Tickets can be purchased at all participating schools and the Viroqua Food Co-op. Proceeds will benefit the Vernon Area Farm to School Initiative. This event is sponsored by CROPP Cooperative-Organic Valley, Viroqua Public Schools, Valley Stewardship Network, and the Vernon County Farm to School Initiative.
Last year the Tasting Event was attended by 200 community members and the winning team from Laurel High School went on to compete in the national Cooking Up Change Competition in Detroit, Michigan. This year organizers of the competition hope to the Challenge will raise $5000 to support the Vernon County AmeriCorps Farm to School Initiative. The Farm to School Initiative seeks to teach kids about healthy nutrition and where their food comes from, while bringing more fresh healthy local food into the school lunch programs. Sara Tedeschi, The Great Lakes Farm to School Coordinator explained; “The Farm to School program has a direct effect on childhood obesity by teaching kids about the importance of healthy food and by getting more fresh local foods in school cafeterias.”
The Vernon County Farm to School Initiative is a collaboration of local schools, farmers, distributors and community supporters with the goal of incorporating fresh produce and locally-grown foods into the Vernon County public schools. “Farm to School is really taking off this year with seven schools participating in the Harvest Challenge. Students and teachers are excited about being a part of this experience,” notes Bjorn Bergman, the 2nd year AmeriCorps Farm to School member for the county. To get involved contact: Bjorn Bergman, 608-637-1540 or berbjo@viroqua.k12.wi.us.
Harvest Challenge
2nd Annual Harvest Challenge Competition Begins
The second annual Harvest Challenge Tasting Event will be held Friday, October 15th, in the Viroqua Middle/High School Cafeteria. At the event, student teams from Viroqua, Laurel, La Farge, Hillsboro, De Soto, Westby and Youth Initiative High Schools will serve their healthy school meals to a panel of judges, students and the public. The tasting event is the culmination of the Harvest Challenge, a school lunch cooking competition. The competition pairs teams of Vernon County high school students with local chefs to design and serve a healthy school meal that tastes great. The teams are challenged to use local foods, meet the nutrition guidelines of the National School Lunch Program and keep the cost to less than $1.00 for food per meal. Kateri Burton, a winning member from last year’s team said, “This competition helped me realize my true passion is working with food. This is a great experience!”
The Harvest Challenge Tasting Event will be open to the public from 6-8PM. Attendees will be able to sample the meals prepared by all the teams and participate in a silent auction. The judges will announce the winning school lunches at 7:45PM. Teams will have their meals judged by a panel of celebrity judges on predetermined culinary and nutritional criteria. Selected students and the public attending the Tasting event will also vote for their favorite school lunch. Marilyn Volden, Food Service Director for Viroqua Public Schools says; “The Harvest Challenge is a cooking contest for high school students highlighting the benefits of including fresh and local foods in school lunch programs.”
Tickets are $10/individual, $3/student (under 18). Tickets can be purchased at all participating schools and the Viroqua Food Co-op. Proceeds will benefit the Vernon Area Farm to School Initiative. This event is sponsored by CROPP Cooperative-Organic Valley, Viroqua Public Schools, Valley Stewardship Network, and the Vernon County Farm to School Initiative.
Last year the Tasting Event was attended by 200 community members and the winning team from Laurel High School went on to compete in the national Cooking Up Change Competition in Detroit, Michigan. This year organizers of the competition hope to the Challenge will raise $5000 to support the Vernon County AmeriCorps Farm to School Initiative. The Farm to School Initiative seeks to teach kids about healthy nutrition and where their food comes from, while bringing more fresh healthy local food into the school lunch programs. Sara Tedeschi, The Great Lakes Farm to School Coordinator explained; “The Farm to School program has a direct effect on childhood obesity by teaching kids about the importance of healthy food and by getting more fresh local foods in school cafeterias.”
The Vernon County Farm to School Initiative is a collaboration of local schools, farmers, distributors and community supporters with the goal of incorporating fresh produce and locally-grown foods into the Vernon County public schools. “Farm to School is really taking off this year with seven schools participating in the Harvest Challenge. Students and teachers are excited about being a part of this experience,” notes Bjorn Bergman, the 2nd year AmeriCorps Farm to School member for the county. To get involved contact: Bjorn Bergman, 608-637-1540 or berbjo@viroqua.k12.wi.us.