The Chef Ann Foundation is dedicated to promoting whole-ingredient, scratch-cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.

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We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.

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Get Schools Cooking
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Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.

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FOR SCHOOLS

Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.

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Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.

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Step 1: Get Educated
Step 2: Get Organized
Step 3: Get Support
Step 4: Take Action
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WHO WE ARE

The Chef Ann Foundation is dedicated to promoting whole-ingredient, scratch-cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.

Visit Overview
Our Mission
Why School Food Matters
Founder Chef Ann
Our Team
Financials & Annual Reports
Employment

WHAT WE DO

We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.

Visit Overview
Get Schools Cooking
Salad Bars to Schools
School Food Institute
The Lunch Box
Healthy School Food Pathway
Pre-Apprenticeship
Fellowship
Bulk Milk
Specialized Programming

WHAT WE’VE DONE

Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.

Visit Overview
Our Impact
Our History
Success Stories
What People Are Saying
FOR SCHOOLS

FOR SUPPORTERS

Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.

Visit Overview
Support Our Work
Donate
Gift Circle
Ways to Give
Real School Food Challenge
Our Supporters

ADVOCACY TOOLKIT

Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.

Visit Overview
Step 1: Get Educated
Step 2: Get Organized
Step 3: Get Support
Step 4: Take Action
Tools for Home

KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Learn more about school food with resources, home recipes, and press materials.

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COVID-19 Resources & Support
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About School Food
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Competing

This is a step-by-step guide for competing in a Real School Food Challenge. The guide provides links to competition guidelines and resources to help you create your school lunch recipe.

Competing in the Real School Food Challenge is easy!

All you have to do is:

  • Create your recipe
  • Get ready for the challenge
  • Compete!

Competing

This is a step-by-step guide for competing in a Real School Food Challenge. The guide provides links to competition guidelines and resources to help you create your school lunch recipe.

Competing in the Real School Food Challenge is easy!

All you have to do is:

  • Create your recipe
  • Get ready for the challenge
  • Compete!

Create Your Recipe

For this challenge, you are creating a nutritious, tasty and kid-friendly school lunch (no dessert included!), which you will cook and sample out to guests at the Real School Food Challenge. Remember, this is a (friendly) competition, so the guests will be tasting your recipe and judging it against the other competitors’ creations. You can choose to either participate alone, or with a team.

This challenge is designed to educate and inform the public about what it takes to create a USDA-compliant school lunch from scratch. The challenge requirements have been adapted from USDA school lunch guidelines and are meant to give you a simplified idea of what schools must take into consideration when developing compliant recipes.

Do your best to follow these guidelines and give yourself at least a week to develop your recipe. You will submit a Recipe Entry Worksheet to your event host two weeks before the competition. For some inspiration, check out some recipes that other competitors have come up with here.

Get Ready for the Challenge

Recipe Preparation

Once you have your recipe developed, you’ll need to start thinking about how you will prepare it for the event. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Ask your event host how many guests they are planning to have. You will need to prepare enough food to hand out samples to each guest. Guests will not need a full High School lunch serving, since they’ll need to leave room for the other recipe samples. Plan for 1 sample to be approximately ½ of a High School lunch serving.

Your event host will be giving you a $50 gift card to Whole Food Market to help you purchase the ingredients for the event.

Get Ready for the Challenge

Recipe Preparation

Once you have your recipe developed, you’ll need to start thinking about how you will prepare it for the event. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Ask your event host how many guests they are planning to have. You will need to prepare enough food to hand out samples to each guest. Guests will not need a full High School lunch serving, since they’ll need to leave room for the other recipe samples. Plan for 1 sample to be approximately ½ of a High School lunch serving.

Your event host will be giving you a $50 gift card to Whole Food Market to help you purchase the ingredients for the event.

You will be preparing the majority of your recipe at home, saving final prep and assembly for the event location. Here are some tips for what should be prepped before the event:

  • Do any and all cutting/chopping at home and package things up separately (in tupperware, baggies etc.)
  • Make any sauce at home and package separately.
  • Cook anything that can be pre-cooked at home, and make sure to properly cool it before packaging.
  • Bring things that need to stay cool in your own cooler with ice (or check with your event host to see if they have space in their fridge).
  • If elements of your recipe need to be cooked/heated right before serving, plan on doing that at the event.

Compete!

Day of the Event

1

Plan to arrive one hour before the event starts.

2

You will have time to finish your recipe and prepare for sampling once you arrive.

3

Set up a “serving station” where you can easily portion out samples to the guests.

4

Create one presentation plate that you display next to your serving station so guests can judge the appearance of the meal.

5

Before the tasting begins, you will have the opportunity to tell the group about your recipe and what you learned from the experience.

6

The guests will score you and your fellow competitors. The host will tally up the scores and announce the winner!

7

The winning recipe will have the chance to be featured on Chef Ann Foundation’s national recipe database so thousands of kids across the country can taste your delicious creation.

Judging

Guests will be judging your recipes based on the following criteria:

Appearance: Is the meal plated well? Does it have a variety of colors? Does it look appetizing?

Taste: Is the dish pleasing to the taste buds? Is it seasoned properly? Do the ingredients complement one another? Was any component over or under cooked? Would students purchase this dish if it were on the lunch menu?

Scalability: Can this dish be replicated in a school district? Would they have the time and labor to replicate this for large batch cooking? For example, if your recipe requires the cook to individually prep each serving unit (like stuffing a pasta shell or dumpling) that may not be a practical recipe for expanding from 12 servings to 13,000 servings.

Judging

Guests will be judging your recipes based on the following criteria:

Appearance: Is the meal plated well? Does it have a variety of colors? Does it look appetizing?

Taste: Is the dish pleasing to the taste buds? Is it seasoned properly? Do the ingredients complement one another? Was any component over or under cooked? Would students purchase this dish if it were on the lunch menu?

Scalability: Can this dish be replicated in a school district? Would they have the time and labor to replicate this for large batch cooking? For example, if your recipe requires the cook to individually prep each serving unit (like stuffing a pasta shell or dumpling) that may not be a practical recipe for expanding from 12 servings to 13,000 servings.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for participating in this event on behalf of Chef Ann Foundation. We are truly inspired and invigorated by your support. To show our gratitude, we have some thank you gifts and prizes we will send you from our Renegade Lunch Lady Line.

Items you will receive from the Chef Ann Foundation for your event:

Real School Food Apron

Wear these the day of the event! Chef Ann Foundation will send you one for every competing chef, and for the host.

“First Place Recipe” Plate

The competitor whose recipe receives the highest score will go home with this beautiful inscribed award plate.

Discover More

Hosting

Plan to host a Real School Food Challenge with tips and resources that can be customized for your own event.

Learn More

Resources

These tools and resources will help you plan and compete in a Real School Food challenge!

Learn More

Photo Gallery

Check out Real School Food photos.

Learn More

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