The month of April has been a fun and exciting time for
re:TH!NK and the Winnebago County Farm to School program as we geared up for a major
food event. 
The Oshkosh Area School District, in partnership with the
re:TH!NK’s Winnebago County Farm to School program, hosted the first annual
Cookin’ It Fresh Challenge on April 19th, 2015 at Oshkosh North High School. Approximately
150 people attended the event.
The competition was modeled after the Harvest Challenge in
Vernon County, which has been popular there for the past 6 years. The cooking competition challenged students
from Oshkosh North and West high school to influence their school lunch menu by
creating new entrées using locally grown foods that would appeal to student’s
tastes.
Each team of students was to create their entrée to meet the
National School Lunch program nutritional guidelines while incorporating
locally grown foods. The teams were paired up with a local chef who mentored
the students throughout the project. The restaurants the student teams worked
with were, “The Roxy”,” Mahoney’s” ,”Beckets”, and “Fratello’s”.
The purpose of the event was also to help students learn
more about school foods, food safety, local foods, cooking skills, and how to
make nutritious foods taste great. Several students and chefs were asked what
their favorite part about the experience was. Student Kyra Eirman stated, “I
really like having an impact on what we eat at school.” Another student
claimed, “Learning about the school’s difficulties when preparing food”. Chef
Elliott Boushele from The Roxy stated, “the team bonding” and Chef Scott Roekle
from Fratello’s in Oshkosh stated, “working with the students”. Overall, the
first annual Cookin’ It Fresh Challenge was a success.
Entrée’s were presented to a panel of judge’s and later
served to the community. A vote was taken as to the favorite dish. The four entrée’s the teams create d were, “Turkey Vegetable Alfredo Cannelloni (Team
Roxy)”, “Pork Roulade served with Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli (Team
Becket’s)”, “Roasted Vegetable Thai Coconut Curry with Tofu or Chicken served
over Brown Rice (Team Mahoney’s)”, all served with Fresh Dinner Rolls, and
“Chicken Walking Tacos made with Tortilla Chips (Team Fratello’s)”.
Prizes were awarded to the winning teams, including a
traveling trophy for the judge’s choice, a hand-crafted painted pottery dish
for the community choice, and one of the entrée’s served on a future high
school lunch menu for the student choice. The award winners were, Team Fratello’s who
won both the judge’s choice and student award, and Team Roxy, who won the
community choice award. 
Proceeds from the event will support a project to put salad bars in all elementary,
and middle schools in Oshkosh.
Look out for Chicken Walking Tacos made with Tortilla chips
on the future Oshkosh areas school district lunch menu! We look forward to next
year’s Cookin’ It Fresh Challenge.
The competition was made possible through funding
from a USDA Farm to School grant, and is supported by re:TH!NK/Winnebago County
Health Department, Oshkosh North Communities Program, the University Studies
Program at UW Oshkosh, and other community partners.
