School Nutrition Teams Compete in 10th Annual Maine DOE Farm to School Cook-off
March kicked off the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Child Nutrition Team’s 10th Annual Maine Farm to School Cook-off. This event aims to showcase the culinary skills of school nutrition professionals, while promoting locally-grown products in school meals. School teams competed in different regions across the state, and the top team from each region will compete in the state finals in Augusta on April 17th. There, the 2025 Farm to School Cook-off Champion will be crowned!
This year, the following three regional competitions took place:
- York Regional Competition at Kennebunk High School on March 18
- Teams competing included RSU 21 (Kennebunk) and MSAD 60 (North Berwick).
- Aroostook Regional Competition at Madawaska Middle/High School on March 20
- Teams competing included Madawaska Public Schools, MSAD 27 (Fort Kent), and MSAD 33 (Frenchville).
- Western Regional Competition at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on March 25
- Teams competing included MSAD 17 (South Paris) and MSAD 52 (Turner).
Competing cook-off teams consisted of one Child Nutrition employee and one person from the school administrative unit (SAU)—student or staff member. Teams were tasked with preparing breakfast and lunch meals using local ingredients and USDA foods. Local eggs donated by Maine Family Farms and local fish donated by Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association were included as challenge ingredients in the competition. (All recipes will later be shared in a Maine Farm to School cookbook!)
A panel of judges for the cook-off consisted of a student/student representative, school nutrition director, and professional chef. The dishes were scored based on presentation, taste, creative use of challenge ingredients, and feasibility to be used in a school kitchen. Other criteria included teamwork, food safety, and time management.
Congratulations to MSAD 60 (The Flavor Knights), MSAD 27 (Fire & Ice), and MSAD 52 (Leavitt Lunch Crew), who won the regional competitions and will be advancing to the finals on April 17!
MSAD 60 prepared a USDA Pancake Breakfast Bake for breakfast, using local sausage and Maine maple syrup. For lunch, those involved served fish tacos and corn salsa.
MSAD 27 prepared a hashbrown egg bake for breakfast and cheddar bacon ranch baked fish for lunch.
MSAD 52 prepared a breakfast frittata with vegetables and baked stuffed haddock for lunch, along with apple crisp.
For more information about the Maine Farm and Sea to School program, please visit the Maine DOE website.
Related
Distribution channels:
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Submit your press release