Teen Battle Chef introduces youngsters to healthy eating
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BRONX TIMES R 50 EPORTER, MAY 24-30, 2019 BTR
The Bronx Times On-Line
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BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
BronxWorks, a non-profi t
group that focuses on helping
people improve their economic
and social well-being,
recently completed its Teen
Battle Chef program that
helped 15 young people learn
the basics of healthy cooking
and eating.
The eight-week program,
which culminated in a grand fi -
nale cooking contest ‘battle’ on
Tuesday, May 7 at the Betances
Community Center in Mott
Haven, was created by Fami-
The youth are pictured with their citations of merit based on their participation in the healthy cooking program.
Photo courtesy of BronxWorks
lycook Productions with the a
general goal of getting young
people to cook and eat more nutritious
foods, said Kim Wong,
BronxWorks program director
for community health programming.
The fi nale saw two teams,
Team Orange and Team Purple,
in a competition where the
young ‘chefs’ in the program
created two tasty dishes: a Tex-
Mex chili and a Thai-inspired
broccoli and chicken with peanut
sauce and coconut rice,
said Wong.
The judges for the cooking
challenge fi nale, which offered
a prize of movie tickets, were
unable to pick a winner and
declared the contest a tie, said
Wong.
Wong said that in much of
the borough there is often a
lack of knowledge about and access
to healthy foods, and children
are especially prone to
eating ‘junk food’ because it is
usually readily available.
“It is important to teach
kids about healthy eating and
we are doing it a fun and engaging
way,” said Wong.
They also learn about teamwork,
giving presentations and
organizational skills.
The participating youth
learned to cook spring roles,
jambalaya, seafood pasta with
mussels, fi sh chowder, breakfast
sandwiches, vegetable stir
fry and quesadillas.
“They started simple and
then got more complicated
(with recipes)”, said Wong.
The judges for the fi nale
were Councilwoman Diana Ayala;
Eileen Torres, BronxWorks
executive director and Daralyn
Calderón, NYC Department of
Youth and Community Development
community coordinator.
Teens work to prepare a nutritious
meal as part of a competition that
served as the fi nale of the healthy
cooking and nutrition program.
Photo courtesy of Bronx Works
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