Earlier this month teen chefs squared off in a final competition at Evander Childs Educational Campus. The program, sponsored by the Montefiore School Health Program, is part of its healthy eating initiative. Although the program is intended to promote good nutrition and healthy meals, it has not only transformed the way Evander students eat, but the way they connect with one another.

For eight weeks, students met together after school every Thursday. “We’ve become one happy family,” said ninth grader Krystal Rivera, adding that the program has gotten her to spend time with people that she normally wouldn’t hang out with.

The rigorous application process requires students to participate in a group interview and prepare a mock menu.
The 24 students chosen for the program are divided into two teams which “battle” to prepare multi-ethnic meals using healthy ingredients and advanced culinary techniques.

Earlier this month the two teams entered the final round of the competition. After weeks of preparing different recipes, the two teams got to create their own menu. Grace Walfall, director of community health at the School Health Program, said the students had to present their meal to the judges and explain how it was prepared and why the meal is nutritional. It was a close competition, but the yellow team took first place with their Chicken Alfredo with Tortellini.

The red team prepared an equally impressive meal of Extremaduran Chicken Stew with rice, a traditional meal from Spain.

Ninth grader Alandria Knapp explained that her team chose the recipe because it was faster than other kinds of rice. Alandria says that her team had originally wanted to make lamb stew, but decided to substitute it with chicken because chicken was less expensive.

Students explained how the program has not only helped them eat healthier but how it has helped them try different foods.

“I’ve learned not to be picky,” 11th grader Isaiah Peay said. “I thought I didn’t like tofu, but now I realize I actually do.”

Teen Battle Chef is a program organized by Montefiore’s School Health Program, modeled after a program created by Family Cook Productions (FCP) which aims to teach nutrition through cooking. FCP is now in 75 schools in 15 states.