Tohono O'odham youths win cooking competition

Nourishing Native foods win national cooking competition

By Sanra RittenMembers from the Tohono O’odham Community Action Youth Cooking Class tantalized the taste buds of the judges in a national cooking competition with Native ingredients from their community, winning them the prestigious contest in Detroit, Mich. in May.

The Cooking Up Change competition, part of the Healthy Schools Campaign and the Farm to School program, allows students to actively address the issue of local foods and school nutrition. Teams of high school and college students are challenged to create a healthy, great-tasting meal that meets high nutritional standards, incorporates a local food item, draws from readily available ingredients and can be prepared in a school cafeteria.

The TOCA Youth Community Cooking Class members, Ross Miguel, Yvette Ventura, and Zade Arnold were the only Native American team to make it to the finals. They triumphed with a tepary bean quesadilla, baby spinach and pear salad with carrot vinaigrette, and a yogurt peanut butter fruit dip. They introduced new and exciting flavors to the competition that are also culturally appropriate and that have sustained their community for generations.

“Tepary beans are the most significant traditional food of the Tohono O’odham people,” the team explained to the Healthy Schools Campaign. They also locally sourced their carrots and spinach from the Student Learning Farm at Tohono O’odham Community College in Sells, Ariz.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Foods at Fancy Food Show, Native Foods Changed the World, and Bringing Native Foods to the Fore.

Below:  "The TOCA Youth Community Cooking Class members, Ross Miguel, Yvette Ventura, and Zade Arnold were the only Native American team to make it to the finals. They triumphed with a tepary bean quesadilla, baby spinach and pear salad with carrot vinaigrette, and a yogurt peanut butter fruit dip." (Mary Paganelli)