Euphoria Launches Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown

For the first time in its ten-year history, Euphoria will celebrate the skills and culinary achievements of Greenville’s young chefs by hosting the first annual Kids in the Kitchen: Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown contest.

Open to all Greenville County Schools students between the ages of 8 and 12, the recipe and cooking contest allows district students from across the area to submit their original, healthy, affordable and delicious recipes online at www.euphoriagreenville.com now through May 29. The winner, who will be selected at a special cook-off event during euphoria on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, will win a prize package from LiveWell Greenville, Tupelo Honey Café and Mill Village Farms and have his or her recipe added to the Greenville County Schools menu during the 2015-2016 school year.

The Euphoria contest is modeled after First Lady Michelle Obama’s Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and Kids’ State Dinner, an annual event sponsored by pbs.org 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 72,000 students, and we encourage kids to take an active role in making healthy food choices year-round,” said Joe Urban, director of Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services. “This contest provides a phenomenal 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,” added Urban.

Judges of the contest include Tanya Steele, founder of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and Kids’ State Dinner in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Let’s Move! Steele is also Director of the Julia Child Foundation, founding editor of epicurious.com and former editor of Bon Appetit. At Euphoria, Steele will be joined by celebrity chefs Curtis Duffy and David Kinch – from Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago and San Francisco — along with “star” chefs from schools across the district to judge the top recipes submitted for the contest.

“Challenging kids and their parents to take an interest in what they eat, to choose healthy ingredients and focus on healthy meal preparation provides an opportunity to educate and shift perceptions,” said Steele. “The goal of this contest as well as the national Healthy Lunchtime Challenge is not only to enhance understanding of the benefits of healthy eating and healthy lifestyles, but to also make America’s kids true stakeholders in their own health and nutrition for a lifetime.”

Entrants of the first annual Kids in the Kitchen: Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown contest are required to submit original recipes that adhere to My Plate guidelines, are healthy, delicious and economical. Based on these criteria, finalists will be selected by a panel of local judges in June 2015 and will be announced in August 2015. These finalists will participate in a live cook off – which is the first kids’ event in Euphoria’s ten-year history – on Sept. 20, 2015.