Decatur, Ill. -- The Illinois 4-H Food Challenge hosted its second culminating statewide event on June 14, bringing together talented young chefs from across the state to showcase their culinary skills. This program is designed to help youth develop expertise in nutrition, healthy food preparation, food safety, communication, and teamwork through hands-on culinary experience.
Since its inception in 2015, the Illinois 4-H Food Challenge has seen participation from over 5,000 youth. This year, young culinary enthusiasts have participated in various local competitions with teams from four counties competing for statewide honors.
“A lot of kids have participated in a food challenge before, but we had teams that had never participated in a program like this,” says Natalie Bradley University of Illinois Extension 4-H youth development specialist. “The kids need to know basic information about food nutrition, the food groups, basic food safety, and they also present their dish to the panel of judges to hopefully win the competition.”
In this exciting competition model, teams race against the clock with 40 minutes to create a nutritious dish that must include the three provided mystery ingredients, applying their knowledge of kitchen safety and nutrition in addition to presenting their culinary creation to a panel of judges. This format provides a unique platform for youth to showcase and enhance their culinary skills and knowledge, learn from and collaborate with teammates, develop essential teamwork abilities, gain valuable public speaking experience, and foster leadership qualities.
“This competition is preparing kids to be beyond ready,” says Bradley. “It helps them learn skills for teamwork, planning, organizing, and confidence.
This year’s state level competitors included the DeWitt County Homeschool group of Lily Watterson of DeWitt County, Dexter Watterson of DeWitt County, Bailey Walters of DeWitt County, and Gideon Craft of DeWitt County; The Spice Squad of Josi Rupp of Bureau County, Vivi Rupp of Bureau County, and Lottie Leonard of McLean County; Full STEAM of Scarlett Siebert of Iroquois County, Jack Anderson of Iroquois County, Livvy Ladd of Iroquois County, and Kinzie Urban of Iroquois County; and Clinton High School of Audrey Holland of McLean County, Alex Holland of McLean County, Nathan Tull of DeWitt County, and Abby Van Zee of DeWitt County. Judges included Mark Sturgell of GROWMARK, Inc., Susan Head of the Illinois Beef Association, and Mike Stubblefield of the Heartland Technical Academy. The Illinois Beef Association also served as this year’s sponsor.
The Illinois 4-H Food Challenge not only promotes healthy decision-making through food and nutrition but also offers new learning opportunities. By connecting youth with Illinois agricultural products, the challenge helps them appreciate local farming and food production as well as valuable life skills.
The Spice Squad of Bureau and McLean Counties were named winners with the Dewitt County Homeschool group as runner-up.
This event was made possible thanks to the generous support of several key contributors. The Illinois Beef Association provided grant funding that supported the event and the John Boos & Co. donated butcher block cutting boards for the winning team. Additionally, Jaime Boas, Extension County Director, and her staff offered invaluable support in hosting, planning, and implementing the event as well as special thanks to Henry Craft, Martha Ebbesmeyer, and Jaylynn Schober who served on the event planning committee.
About Illinois 4-H: Illinois 4-H is the flagship youth development program of University of Illinois Extension and administered through the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences. 4-H grows true leaders, youth who are empowered for life today and prepared for a career tomorrow. The hands-on approach in 4-H gives young people guidance, tools, and encouragement, and then puts them in the driver’s seat to make great things happen. Independent research confirms the unparalleled impact of the 4-H experience, demonstrating that young people are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.
For Further Information, Contact:
Source: Natalie Bradley, 4-H Youth Development Specialist
Writer: Carissa Nelson, Media Communications Manager, 4-H State Office, carissa@illinois.edu
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.