Student teams cook up great stuff at K-12 by Elior’s Junior Chef Competition

More meaningful than your usual “Iron Chef, but with kids” cook-off, K-12 by Elior’s Junior Chef Competition takes place in the kitchen, but opens up the door to the community in the form of local farms and producers.

Kids from 3rd to 8th grade at Benson (AZ) Unified School District were grouped by grade level and given pantry items like eggs, butter and proteins. The community aspect came in when the students were encouraged to purchase up to ten more food items for under $15 from local food sponsors and a mini farmer’s market.

“The goal is to teach students how to become skilled shoppers when shopping on a budget for fresh and healthy food,” said K-12 by Elior Senior Director of Marketing Trent Krupica. “We want students to have fun with food by presenting opportunities to engage with the culinary arts, create team building opportunities and maybe even be inspired to think about culinary as a future career.”

The judging criteria was based on the best presentation, recipe, taste and team spirit. The overall Judges’ Choice Award was presented to Team Lavender (Lina Alvarez, Cassidy Burlison, Kristina Sandoval Barnett and Genevieve Tovar, all potential future chefs who received $250 each). Their dish: BLT Burger and classic potato salad. The future looks bright!