First Lady Michelle Obama received a taste of "Kids Cooking" recently when she donned an apron in Washington, D.C., signed by 60 young cooks from the Virgin Islands. One of many events in the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience, Kids Cooking brings together 60 burgeoning young chefs each year to work with chefs and learn the beauty of food, and to encourage their interest in cooking healthy and eating local.
This year’s Kids Cooking received a surprise when Michelle Obama’s favorite chef, Todd Gray, joined Kids Cooking and spoke about the importance of bringing healthy food to the table, both the family dinner table and the cafeteria table at schools across the nation. The young cooks were so excited to hear that Chef Gray would soon be seeing the first lady, they decorated a Kids Cooking apron with their names, and Gray pledged to deliver it to Obama. The apron now has a place in the White House.
Gray is a valued partner in the first lady’s Chefs Move to School program that aims to improve school nutrition and to encourage young people to make healthy eating choices – and to know where their food comes from.
This year’s Kids Cooking featured Sharana Davis of Skai Juice and Frank Robinson, who taught the young cooks how to create their own sour orange, mint and honey drink and an avocado chocolate berry parfait.
Three members of the St. Croix Culinary Juniors – Daralin Acevedo, Jade Bryan, and Rider Odom – were also at Kids Cooking and were introduced to the audience as a potential next step for young cooks wishing to pursue a career in the culinary arts.
Through events like Kids Cooking and youth projects like the St. Croix Culinary Juniors, the St. Croix Foundation and A Taste of St. Croix are working to strengthen the pipeline for vocational education in the culinary arts by reaching students early on.
Last year two young people who participated in A Taste of St. Croix and the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience were fortunate enough to experience a two-week internship at Facebook’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. In response, the foundation has created an internship/scholarship program to fund these opportunities and Facebook has agreed to again participate.
Visiting chef Sam Choy has also committed to host an internship at his restaurant in Kona, Hawaii.
St. Croix Foundation President Roger Dewey said, "The St. Croix Food and Wine Experience allows the foundation to raise critical funds for programs that support economic development and, as a primary engine for economic growth, education is a top priority. We could not be more pleased to know that the foundation’s annual fundraiser also provides mentoring opportunities and exposure for the youth of US Virgin Islands."
For more information, contact Dewey at 340-773-9898 or visit the foundation’s website at www.stxfoundation.org.
