Blue Watermelon Project -- includes gardening, nutrition, and taste

Blue Watermelon Project’s Feeding the Future is a culinary contest that challenges students to create healthy, great-tasting meals that meet the real-life requirements of the National School Lunch Program, National School Breakfast Program and Afterschool Snack Program.

This contest was created to help students develop tasty, nutritious, and affordable school meals that can be served to Arizona school children. Participation in this context helps students and the surrounding community better understand the challenges that school food professionals face and the ever-changing conditions that impact access to good food.

Attendees join in the fun by tasting the creative dishes of the top ten student teams presenting to guest judges throughout the event. While the judges deliberate, attendees can enjoy the beautiful outdoor scenery of the Farm at South Mountain with live music, yard games and children’s activities.

Event Details

Sat, January 28, 2022

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM MST

The Farm at South Mountain

6106 South 32nd Street

Phoenix, AZ 85042

Tickets on sale now at:

https://www.exploretock.com/fnbrestaurant/event/366047/feeding-the-future-2023

Blue Watermelon Project, led by Chef Charleen Badman of FnB restaurant is a 501c3 organization comprised of chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, and community food advocates that want children to have access to good food in schools. For roughly 1 million schools in the country, the federal government provides around $3.23 for each lunch served to a student who qualifies for a free meal. After labor and other costs, schools have about one dollar to spend on food. This often results in the purchase of frozen, highly processed, bottom of the barrel foods that kids are expected to eat and be nourished by. At the same time, studies show an average 17.5% increase in standardized math scores from students who consistently start their day with a healthy meal.

Blue Watermelon Project works with individual schools to help students rethink their relationship with fresh and whole foods, helping them to become more adventurous eaters. We do this by working with K-12 students, their parents, and the community to integrate taste education and interactive programming into curriculum and everyday life. Blue Watermelon Project could not do the work they do without the support of The Steele Foundation and Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation.