San Jose, March 14, 2019: Moreland School District announced that fourth grade Easterbrook Discovery Student, Natalie Eng, has been awarded Moreland School District’s Future Chef Competition winner.
After more than 56 3rd - 5th grade students submitted recipes, finalists were selected to represent each elementary and K-8 school. The category this year was “Fiesta Fit,” and students were judged on originality, health attributes, ease of preparation, kid appeal, plate presentation, use of featured ingredients, and taste.
Natalie’s recipe, Zucchini Enchiladas, will advance to the Sodexo Food Services Regional competition where 5 semi-finalists will then create videos for the final vote to determine the national Future Chef winner. As the District-winner, Natalie also won a full cookware set, and an Amazon Echo smart speaker.
Moreland has had several students represent the Moreland School District as Regional Winners, including past Future Chef winners, Caden Thompson from Latimer and Elle Seguin from Payne. The District is incredibly proud of all school finalists and Future Chef participants:
- 2nd place winner: Anthony Messina, Baker School, 3rd grade (Taco Salad)
- 3rd place winner: Marc A. Crisp, Latimer School, 3rd grade (Mexican Mac n’ Cheese)
- Bailey Hurtado, Anderson Elementary School, 4th grade (Vegetarian Taco Salad)
- Rohan Aravind, Country Lane, 5th grade (Mexican Mint Rice with Gravy)
- Dominic De La Cruz, Payne Elementary School, 3rd grade (Fiesta Flautas)
Future Chef is a national cooking competition sponsored by Sodexo Food Services that begins at the school district level. Winners have the opportunity to advance to Regional and National levels, competing with students from all over the country. Previous Future Chef competitions have focused on “Healthy After-School Snacks”, “Healthy Breakfast Challenge”, and “Asian Fusion” recipes.