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Student “Chefs” Nationwide Compete for College Scholarship

Food Creation, FoodProcessing.com
04/09/2006

Beginning April 4, high school students across the country will be chopping, dicing and sweating over a hot stove in an effort to take their education to the next level, courtesy of Vitaminschool. This cooking competition is all part of a 12-city public service campaign aimed at educating high school students about how to get more of the nutrients they need without giving up the flavors and taste they crave. Entries are being accepted at www.freelunchmoney.com.

Nearly half of the children in the United States will be overweight by 2010, up from what recent studies say is about one third, according to a report published by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. Sponsored by Glacéau, Vitaminschool is an effort aimed at helping to break this cycle by empowering students to abandon the empty-calorie, preservative-filled norm, and take steps towards a healthier, more positive lifestyle for themselves and their communities.

High school students in each of the tour markets (including Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, New york, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston) are being asked to submit recipes for the most nutrient-rich school cafeteria lunch they can come up with including a main course, fruit or other healthy dessert, and to wash the meal down, their favorite variety of Vitaminwater. Three area students in each of the tour markets with the best recipes will be invited to present their creations live at the Vitaminschool “cafeteria” in front of three high-profile local judges and a nutritionist at a local high school.

Each semi-finalist will win $5,000 cash for their school to promote healthy eating, as well as free Vitaminwater for a year. At the event, the judges will select one winner to become their city’s finalist. That winner will be entered automatically into the next round of competition for the chance to go to the grand finale event in New York City and compete for the grand prize: a college scholarship* (up to the value of $100,000) from Glacéau.

“Kids today are a lot smarter about nutrition than most companies give them credit for,” said J. Darius Bikoff, founder and CEO, Glacéau (the sponsor of the program). “Vitaminschool is an opportunity for students to demonstrate how they would go about improving their diets in a way that works for them, if given the tools to do it.”

The Vitaminschool tour will be on the road from April 25 through the beginning of June. For specific tour dates and further information on the competition, visit to www.freelunchmoney.com. For more information about Glacéau, visit www.glaceau.com.