Food and Nutrition Contest

Well this morning we had our county food and nutrition contest for 4-H. For those of you not familiar with 4-H food and nutrition, it's more than just being able to cook. The food is judged on appearance but not on taste (apparently there have been some food poisoning issues). The kids also have to learn the nutritional information on their dish. They are supposed to know

• calorie content


• subsitutions you can make, such as whole wheat flour for AP


• primary nutrient and what that nutrient does, like calcium which builds bones


• what food groups are on the food pyramid and which group your dish is in


• they have to be able to serve it


• and other stuff I can't remember

So its alot of information to learn.

Both kiddos were participating this year. Junior is in the Clover-Kids age group (5-8 yrs) and they don't really compete, they participate. They are "judged" by the older kids, but there is no scoring and all of them get green ribbons.

Daisy's age group is junior division which does compete with real judging. They go back individually, serve the judges and answer questions about their dish.

This year Daisy made Baked Apples This was really yummy but since the judges didn't taste it, that doesn't matter. It also has only 90 calories. That is amazing for a dessert!

Anyway, Daisy won runner up this year (last year she won a blue ribbon and first place with Great-Grandma's Applesauce Bread.) If the other kid can't go to district, Daisy will get to go, but it's not likely. The kid who won, his family is heavily involved in 4-H.

Junior made Yogurt Parfaits He made them with vanilla yogurt, granola and pineapple -- I had my doubts that pineapple would be good with yogurt but it is wonderful -- just canned pineapple. We were able to hear his presentation. He did well . . . except he kept putting his glove in his mouth -- makes the gloves for serving food pointless.

I know he was really nervous, in fact I asked one of the older kids in our club to pretend to judge Junior so he could feel less nervous. I think that helped, but they judged the Clover-Kids last so he was nervous again by the time it was his turn.

All in all, it was a good competion, the kids learned quite a bit.