Milam 4-Hers do well at District 4-H Food Show and Food Challenge

Milam County 4-H members competed at the District Food Show and Food Challenge on Dec. 8 at the Bell County Expo in Belton. Ten 4-H members competed and won many honors. 

The food show is the traditional 4-H Food Show that 4-H members make a dish at home and present it to the judges. The 4-H member must know the nutrition of their dish as well as the MyPlate food groups, nutrients, and other important information about their 4-H food and nutrition project. 

We had five compete in this part of the food contest and the results of this contest were: 

Juniors (3-5th grade): Samantha Stroh – sixth place.

Intermediates (6-8th grade): Harleigh Barrett – first place, Kaylor Eschberger – fifth place. 

Seniors (9-12th grade): Robert Miller – third place, Klay Eschberger – sixth place.

Three teams competed in the Food Challenge Competition. The food challenge competition is a lot like the “Iron Chef” on the Food Network. The 4-H members bring a tote of equipment to a table. The table includes the food items and no directions or measurements. 

The team must put together what they think the recipe may be or their own type of recipe. Presentations are given by the team on the preparation of the dish, food safety, nutrition and the cost per serving or substitutions and meal planning. They are also judged on their garnishing of their dish.

The results of the contest: 

Junior Team: Fourth Place - Jacob Almond, Luke Holcombe, Samantha Stroh, and Thanya Brown

Intermediate Team: Fifth Place - Kaylor Eschberger, Hannah Bakken, and Harleigh Barrett

Senior Team: First Place and advancing to state - Klay Eschberger, Robert Miller, Trenton Strmiska

This is the first time that a Milam County team has advanced to state in Food Challenge so we are very excited to see them compete in June at the state competition. We are so proud of these 4-H members as they are juggling all of their 4-H activities, school activities, and holiday festivities and make time for this fun and great learning experience and do so well. Congratulations!

For information and resources on these great 4-H related activities, please go to the website or Facebook page! www.Join4-h.com or www.facebook.com/milamcountyfourH For more information about Milam County 4-H, please call the Milam County Extension Office at (254) 605-0226 or email Micah Holcombe, FCH Agent, at mlholcombe@ag.tamu.edu or Floyd Ingram, Ag Agent, at Floyd.Ingram@ag.tamu.edu.