Preparing for the Kid's State Dinner: Picking Winners of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge

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Tanya Steel: About a year ago, I mentioned to the First Lady's office and
"Let's Move!", wouldn't it be amazing to really inspire kids
to cook if we said that the winners could come to a Kids'
State Dinner in the White House?
What we did is, we worked with the First Lady's office and
"Let's Move!", as well as the USDA and the Department of
Education to create this contest, the Healthy Lunchtime
Recipe Challenge.
We had over 1,100 entries from all over the country,
and one winner from all of the 50 states, plus the territories,
are going to come.
And they are going to have this Kids' State Dinner at the White
House and meet Mrs. Obama, and enjoy some of the things that we
are having today.
Chef José Andrés: Conceptually, is awesome.
Speaker: You want to feature it in your restaurant?
Chef José Andrés: Wow -- when I'm (indiscernible) competition,
I'm seeing dishes that I'm even getting ideas to add to my
own restaurants.
So it's great to see that children and families are able
to come up with those recipes.
So you know, when you are doing a competition and you are the
judge, the first thing is you have a very quick look
at the dish.
Second is the smell.
And third, obviously, the most important, the taste.
That's how I love to judge; that's what every kid should do
every time they are eating -- at school or at home.
Tanya Steel: What we're looking for is healthy,
first and foremost.
It has to be kind of adhering to the MyPlate guidelines.
It has to taste really good.
It has to be affordable.
Food Judge: Five is -- five --
Tanya Steel: The five is the highest.
One is the lowest.
The most important things here are healthiness and taste.
[laughter]
Chef Sam Kass: What's really exciting about this is it's taking the MyPlate
and putting it into action, but it's doing it in a way that
really empowers kids.
MyPlate is the new food icon.
It's replaced the food pyramid and it really tries to simplify
so that families have the information they need to eat
healthier diets.
I mean, it's a great framework that can be interpreted all
kinds of different ways which is what we're seeing here today.
Look how creative that is.
Chef José Andrés: Oh --
Chef Sam Kass: I'm giving a "four."
Alex Reid: As a busy parent, it's very difficult every day to come up
with new, fresh and healthy meals.
Our family was eating out of a box for years at a time and
we've been working really hard to change things around.
One way that I've been able to be successful with it is to
invite my children into the kitchen with me.
Chef Sam Kass: What we've seen time and time again is that when kids are
active participants, when they take ownership in this,
by coming up with recipes or cooking or planting a garden,
their minds open up and their willingness to try new foods and
really own this is just so dramatically increased.
Marshall Reid: Since I've been looking at health and nutrition and eating
better, I've been feeling awesome.
I have a lot more energy.
I actually -- my grades improved.
Alex Reid: We've been inspired by the First Lady and her garden.
We are inspired by the energy that's being brought to this
particular topic.
And we're thriving off of that.
And we hope to also be able to convey that same energy to
other people.
Chef José Andrés: I already have my winner.
But this is a democracy and there's many judges and everyone
is voting, and obviously maybe the judges don't know as much as
I do or what the right dish is.
Chef Sam Kass: Hey, hold on a second, that is nonsense.
Chef José Andrés: Oh, some guys.
Chef Sam Kass: He's biased, and we still have, like, 20 more to go.
So he doesn't know the winner yet.
Chef José Andrés: Okay, but I'm gonna tell you what, I have my winner already,
but it's secret.
But is corn and kale involved?
That's my (indiscernible).
Bye.
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