North Country Jr. Iron Chef (Farm to School)

2025 * Jr. Iron Chef Competition: Participating schools will be represented by no more than two teams of three to five each. Teams will create recipes using current school meal guidelines and must contain at least one ingredient from the Farm to School fresh cut product line. Teams will prepare the meal at the competition and make an oral presentation describing the dish, highlighting locally sourced ingredients, and the producer to solidify the connections between the product and the cafeteria line. A panel of judges will rate meals based on all required criteria. The top performing teams will have their recipes showcased on the participating schools’ cafeteria menus. The event is designed to celebrate the youth voice and unite community partners, school food services, students, and local producers.

This event will bring together community partnerships between schools, students, food service directors, local farmers, local business owners, and various other members of the agriculture and food systems sector, highlighting the importance of collaboration and impact agriculture and food systems careers have on the local economy.

*** Please Note The 2025 North Country Jr. Iron Chef event is transitioning from management by the Health Initiative to a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County. Some new elements in 2025 include nutritional programming available to school districts as well as highlighting the produce that is available through the Fresh-cut Farm-to-School Program. Due to new management, staff and funding, the 2025 competition will be smaller than previous competitions with a goal of growth in future years. Extension hopes to build a strong foundation and expand the program with annual competitions. We are glad you'll be joining us in this transitional year! Input from participating teams is welcome to help shape later competitions.

Last updated January 10, 2025