Contact: Tara Kennon, 312-419-1810
tara@healthyschoolscampaign.org

Culinary Competition Highlights Healthy Cooking
Contest is Part of Larger Effort to Improve School Food in Chicago

Chicago, Oct. 18, 2007 -- Chicago Public High School students are competing in a healthy cooking contest with the goal of creating a winning healthy school lunch that will be served in high schools across the district. The Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest will take place at a benefit to support Healthy Schools Campaign on Oct. 18 at Salvage One in Chicago, with the appetizers and desserts served at the benefit. But the competition is about more than bragging rights and awards: it’s about a larger school food transformation taking place in Chicago.

In the past year, Chicago Public Schools have made impressive changes to improve the quality of the food available at schools, adding more fruits and vegetables while removing trans fats and whole milk. Deep fryers are no longer used by any elementary schools district-wide or by 55 high schools, and the fryers will not be used in any CPS schools by 2009.

High school students can choose a meal prepared to meet the “Balanced Choices” guidelines designed by Chartwells-Thompson, the company that provides food service to CPS, to set a high standard of health and nutrition for school meals. The school meals that students prepared for the Healthy Cooking Contest meet the Balanced Choices guidelines, and also meet the cost constraints that CPS food service directors must face.

"These are important and impressive changes," said Rochelle Davis, founding executive director of the Healthy Schools Campaign. "I applaud Chicago Public Schools and I’m proud that Healthy Schools Campaign has been able to collaborate and support them in making these changes."

Amid the significant improvements, the healthy cooking contest has ignited an energy for healthy food among students and teachers throughout the district.

"It’s exciting for the kids to be involved in crafting healthy lunches because this issue affects their health so directly," said Davis. "With Cooking up Change, we’re bringing together students, chefs, families and advocates to highlight the ways we can create meaningful change for school food."

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The Healthy Schools Campaign, an independent not-for-profit organization, is the leading authority on healthy school environments and a voice for people who care about our environment, our children, and education. Our mission is to advocate for policies and model programs that allow students and staff members to learn and work in a healthy school environment.