Campus and Community Partners to Host 2nd Annual School Lunch Challenge

Local chefs will once again take on the School Lunch Challenge March 19, creating tasty dishes that meet USDA requirements for the National School Lunch Program. Attendees will have a chance to sample the creations at the cooking competition from 12-1:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Whitehead Road Elementary School.

Building on increased interest in the National School Lunch Program, and inspired by the 2014 exhibition, Food, Power, Politics: The Story of School Lunch, the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies and others partnered in 2015 to host a fun, educational event to engage the Athens community with the past, present, and future of school lunch. “Richard Russell co-sponsored the legislation which created the National School Lunch Program in 1948. We are glad to host this event that draws attention to the NSLP today, and our planning team is excited to make this an annual happening in Athens,” said organizer Jan Hebbard, outreach archivist at the Russell Library.

The 2016 event will expand attendance from 150 to 200 people, and offer hands-on activities and cooking demonstrations, in addition to the cooking competition. Local chef Hugh Acheson will serve as the master of ceremonies. Acheson recently launched Seed Life Skills, a non-profit committed to revamping Family and Consumer Science curriculum, supporting education that teaches skills including hands-on culinary instruction, conscious consumer economics, and D.I.Y. design principles.

Attendees at the 2015 School Lunch Challenge
enjoying samples from the cooking competition. 

Once again, the centerpiece of this event will be a cooking competition which invites participating teams, drawn from local restaurants and advised by members of the Clarke County School District (CCSD), to create dishes in accordance with USDA guidelines for the National School Lunch Program. A panel of student judges drawn from CCSD schools will vote to determine an overall winner. The winning team’s plate will be incorporated into the CCSD school lunch menu during the 2016-2017 school year.

Last year’s student judges voted The National the overall winner. Led by Chef Emmanuel Stone, the team won over judges with a deluxe chicken burrito and a side of broccoli with cheese. Adapted into a burrito bowl to reduce preparation time, this recipe debuted on the CCSD School Lunch Menu on Nov. 1 to rave reviews. The National team returns this year to defend their title against new competitors Pulaski Heights BBQ, The Pine, and a team made up of FACS teachers from the Clarke County School District.

This event is free and open to the public but attendance will be capped at 200 people. Tickets are available beginning February 26 through the Eventbrite website. Attendees are encouraged to bring donation items to benefit the Food 2 Kids program operated by the Foodbank of Northeast Georgia. Requested items include beans-n-franks (pop-top cans) and jars of peanut butter.   

The event is free and open to the public but attendance will be capped at 200 people. Tickets are available beginning February 26 through the Eventbrite website.

The 2016 School Lunch Challenge is sponsored by the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, the Clarke County School District, the Athens Land Trust, Athens Farm to School, UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences and Department of Foods and Nutrition, The Fresh Market, Seed Life Skills, and Heirloom Cafe and Fresh Market.  

To obtain tickets visit http://schoollunchchallenge2016.eventbrite.com  

For more information, contact Jan Hebbard at jhebbard@uga.edu or (706) 542-5788.

Student judges going through the lunch line.

Community Forum, What Kind of Government Should We Have?

When: Wednesday, March 2, 2016 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Where: Room 258, Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries

What: Community Forum, A New Land: What Kind of Government Should We Have?

It is the spring of 1787. We are now in a critical period. Our new republic is unstable and the liberty we won just four years ago is threatened. We’ve lost the unity inspired by our fight against Britain. Trade is difficult and our physical safety is uncertain. There are conflicts within and threats from without. What should we do? How will we survive? How can our hard-won liberty be sustained? The questions boil down to this: What kind of government should we have?

Please join the Russell Forum for Civic Life and Reacting to the Past at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, March 2 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. for a community forum considering key questions of this historical period. The discussion will take place in the large event space (room 285) of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. With the help of trained neutral moderators, participants will weigh and discuss three options for deliberation.

This issue guide is a part of the National Issues Forums' Historic Decisions series. Most guides published by the National Issues Forums Institute seek to stimulate deliberation by diverse groups of citizens about current public problems. This one focuses on a time in the past: 1787, just before the Constitution was written, negotiated, and adopted at the Constitutional Convention. All of the actions proposed in this issue book are based on ideas or proposals that were being considered in 1787. But these ideas were generated in a society in which many Americans were excluded from public discussions and democratic governance. Deliberative forums based on this issue guide will be more effective if they include diverse perspectives, including ones that were not heard in 1787.

The event is free and all ideas are welcome.  Registration for the event is not required, but participants may request a copy of the forum discussion guide in advance by emailing russlib@uga.edu. For more information call (706) 542-5788.