More than 50 young chefs from across the U.S., including two kids from the NYC area, tackled the First Lady’s Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and won a chance to dine at the first Kids’ State Dinner held at the White House with First Lady Michelle Obama and a surprise guest, President Obama.
On Aug. 20, 54 kids ages 8-12 got the chance to dine with First Lady Michelle Obama in the White House at the first-ever Kids’ State Dinner. Hailing from across the country, these kids were the winners of The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, issued by Epicurious and the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. One winner from each U.S. state and territory was chosen from more than 1,200 entries of creative, nutritious lunch recipes.
Among the winners were 9-year-old Samuel Wohabe of Manhattan and 10-year-old Betsy DaSilva from Cos Cob, CT. Samuel won for his recipe for Fish-Fueled Pepper Rocket with Kale Chips and Quinoa while Betsy concocted a champion Heavenly Lunch Wrap.
The winners, each accompanied by a parent or guardian, joined the First Lady for a healthy lunch featuring a selection of the winning recipes, followed by a performance by Big Time Rush and a tour of the White House kitchen garden.
During her introductory speech, the First Lady quoted Betsy’s motivation for her Heavenly Lunch Wrap: “Whenever I eat this food, I know that I’ve been blessed with the energy to focus more at school.” Obama praised her, saying, “More than anything else, that’s what this challenge is all about.”
A special guest at the lunch was Marshall Reid, a 12-year-old from North Carolina who co-authored Portion Size Me, a book about his family’s journey to a healthier lifestyle, and served as one of the judges of The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. “I was amazed at the quality of the entries,” Marshall said, citing the exotic foods like quinoa that the winners used. “I didn’t even know what quinoa was,” he said. “I can’t even spell quinoa!”
The President stopped by briefly during the lunch to congratulate the winners and warn them not to drop any scraps on the floor because Bo (the Obama family’s dog) “is on a diet.”
The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge invited a parent or guardian to work with their child to create an original recipe for a healthy, affordable, and tasty lunch. In support of Let’s Move!, launched by the First Lady to help solve the problem of childhood obesity, entrants were encouraged to reference the nutritional guidelines of the USDA site, ChooseMyPlate.gov, to ensure recipes met the primary criterion of being healthier. Entries had to represent each of the food groups, either in one dish or as parts of a lunch meal, including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and low-fat dairy foods.
The winners were chosen by a panel of judges that included Epicurious editor-in-chief Tanya Steel, assistant White House chef and senior policy advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass, celebrity chef Jose Andres, and representatives from the USDA and U.S. Department of Education.
“Our tasting panel was absolutely amazed at the variety of sophisticated, healthy recipes we received that included not only chicken breast, whole-wheat pasta, and fresh fruit, but more surprising ingredients like quinoa and salmon,” Steel said. “What was especially wonderful were the heartfelt stories about why it was important to eat healthy. These kids understand that you are what you eat and that they need to strengthen their bodies and their minds with the most wholesome food possible.”
A free downloadable and printable e-cookbook of the winning recipes, including nutritional analyses, photos, and drawings, is available at recipechallenge.epicurious.com, letsmove.gov, usda.gov, and ed.gov.
