Four middle school students - Joatan Diaz, J’had Ferris, Hailey Coates, and Eva Luna Wittman - participated in the 4H Youth Super Chef Competition, held on World Food Day on the UVI campus. Country Day alum and current owner of The Basic Butcher, Tyler Jowaissis led the team, and 7th Grade social studies and language arts teacher, served as the school liason. This year’s theme “Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability” was chosen to shed some light on how food prices can impact our diet and impact those most vulnerable.
In addition to having fun planning and preparing a menu, participants are asked to look seriously at what causes swings in food prices, what they can do to reduce their impact on our community, and how they can best use the ingredients chosen for this year’s competition: lamb, peppers, and pineapples. In World Geography Class with Ms. Bishop, students explored two current event topics that relate to World Food Day. They discovered that there is a darker side to chocolate: In the Ivory Coast, children are kidnapped to work on cocoa farms. Once this was brought to the attention of the major chocolate companies, guidelines were set to protect the rights of these children. Seventh graders also watched a news program about the famine in Somalia.
In preparation for the competition, participants met with Tyler Jowaisis twice at his shop in Gallows Bay. At the first session students learned about the nutritional value of each of the ingredients. They learned that lamb is nutritious for its protein, zinc B vitamins, and Omega 3. Peppers have anticoagulants which prevent heart attacks, and papayas potassium, and pineapples are rich in vitamins A and C as well as offer the benefits of antioxidants. After the basics about nutrition, the junior chefs learned a lot of important knife skills: how to cut onions and peppers, and how to cut lemons to get rid of the seeds efficiently. They learned how to make an herb chiffonade without damaging the delicate herbs, and how never to salt while sautéing.
At the second session at The Basic Butcher, the team decided who would be responsible for each course to be prepared at the competition
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