Four Greenville County students will get the chance of a lifetime when they cook alongside Michelin-starred chefs in Euphoria’s 2017 Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown.
The live cook-off will be held Sept. 24 during the family friendly Sunday Brunch: Fired Up!
Michelin-starred chefs Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn, Michael Mina of Michael Mina, and Curtis Duffy of Grace will be assisting the young cooks and acting as their sous chefs.
The finalists and their dishes are Wyatt Hampton, 9, East North Street Academy, Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Bake; Jordan Sizemore, 17, Greer High School, Beef Chimichanga; Joshua Davis, 17, Southside High School, Asian Tuna Salad; and Nayha Hussain, 16, Riverside High School, Gobi Manchurian.
“The Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown has become an annual event for Euphoria, and a fantastic way for us, as a food festival, to promote healthy eating among children,” says Euphoria festival director, Brianna Shaw, who works closely with partners Greenville County Schools and LiveWell Greenville.
The Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown is a cooking competition open to all Greenville County Schools students between the ages of 8 and 17. Entrants were required to submit healthy, delicious, and economical original recipes that adhere to the USDA’s MyPlate guidelines.
My Plate guidelines, which replaced the food pyramid, suggest proportions for each food group in a single meal, such as filling half of a child’s plate with vegetables and fruits; serving whole grains for at least half of the grains, like oatmeal and brown rice; and substituting fat-free or low-fat milk and water for sugary drinks.
Based on these criteria, finalists were selected by a panel of local judges.
The Euphoria contest is modeled after former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and Kids’ State Dinner, an annual event that promotes healthy eating and healthy lifestyles for children across the United States.
“Greenville County Schools is dedicated to providing fresh, healthy meals each day during the school year to the district’s nearly 80,000 students,” says Joe Urban, director of Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services.
“Year after year, this competition provides an exciting opportunity to help children across our community understand the importance of balanced nutrition – not to mention the fact that cooking and eating healthy can be fun and rewarding,” Urban adds.
Judges for the live cooking competition on the Euphoria Culinary Stage will include Cooking Light’s Hannah Klinger, Urban, LiveWell Greenville’s Sally Wills, and 2016 winner Fiona Baulo.