West Adams Preparatory High School Crowned LAUSD's Cooking Up Change Champion

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Among a cheering crowd comprised of students, parents and teachers, a panel of administrators and Los Angeles area chefs named Jose Landaverde, Maribel Sandoval and Esther Segura from West Adams Preparatory High School winners of the LAUSD's Cooking up Change^® District competition held at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.  The winning team will now continue on to present their healthy creations at the Cooking up Change^® national competition in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2013.

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"The talent and passion for healthier food choices demonstrated by all the students are truly inspiring," said LAUSD Senior Deputy Superintendent Michelle King.  "The entire District congratulates all the participants for stepping up to the plate and accepting the challenge to create recipes that not only taste good, but are good for them as well."

Cooking up Change^® is a national healthy cooking competition launched by Healthy Schools Campaign.  It challenges teams of high school culinary students to create menu items that are not only healthy, but also meet nutrition guidelines and the budgetary constraints that School Food Services programs across the country face today.  It's a program that allows students to be involved in the conversation as campuses across the country strive to serve healthful, great-tasting school food. 

The following teams of students proudly represented their respective schools at the LAUSD District competition serving the following meals:

Teams of two or three culinary students from six of the District's Culinary Arts programs followed a rigorous recipe development process with a limited list of ingredients to create dishes that are low in calories, fat, sugar and sodium.  The District's Food Services dietitians carefully checked each recipe to meet nutritional requirements.

"We listen to our students and this competition demonstrates how important it is for LAUSD to have young people actively involved in the food development process," said David Binkle, LAUSD Director of Food Services.  "Many of these students now have a better understanding of the challenges our District is presented with on a daily basis to deliver only the healthiest school menus possible to better students' health and academic performance." 

LAUSD will compete against other culinary programs from Santa Ana, Chicago, Denver, Jacksonville, Saint Louis, Stamford, Winston-Salem and Washington, D.C. The national competition will be held at the kitchen of the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition to receiving cookware, knife sets, culinary class scholarships and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., the winning team's menu will be served at all LAUSD schools during the 2013-2014 school year and there is a chance that it could also be served at the cafeteria of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Los Angeles Cooking up Change^® competition is sponsored by LAUSD's "I'M IN" campaign, an all-inclusive program designed to raise awareness about the District's healthy meals to help fight off childhood obesity, as well as to encourage student attendance and dropout prevention.

For more information on the "I'M IN" campaign, visit www.facebook.com/ImInLAUSD.

SOURCE Los Angeles Unified School District