Rajen Dey, 11, is from North Carolina.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An 11 year-old boy from North Carolina was announced as one of the winners of the White House’s “Healthy Lunchtime Challenge” competition.
Rajen Dey was selected as one of 54 winners of the contest, which First Lady Michelle Obama created as part of her “Let’s Move” initiative. The First Lady has long been at the forefront of the charge to combat childhood obesity, and created this contest with the explicit purpose of augmenting that fight. The winners were chosen from over 1,500 applicants.
The “Healthy Lunchtime Challenge” was started three years ago to thousands of students across the nation, who had to submit a recipe for a dish that was both tasty and healthy. Each submission had to have a component of all six major food groups – fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, protein, and fats – into either a single dish, or as parts of a large ensemble of dishes.
Dey’s recipe was entitled the “Yummy and Healthy Kati Roll,” and will now be featured along with all the other winning recipes at a lavish White House State Dinner on July 18. The winners, all of whom are ages 8-12 years old, will be recognized for their accomplishments at the gala dinner.
“I am looking forward to hosting the winners of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge here at the White House for the third annual Kids’ ‘State Dinner,’” said First Lady Obama, in a statement. “This event gives us the opportunity to showcase healthy creations from talented kid chefs from across our country, and I can’t wait to see – and taste – this year’s selections.”
The judges who chose the winning entries were: Sam Kass, Executive Director of “Let’s Move!” and a Senior Policy Advisor on Nutrition; Tanya Steel, Epicurious’ Special Projects Contributor and originator of the contest; Jackie Haven M.S., R.D., Deputy Director, USDA; Deborah Friendly, General Attorney Office of the General Counsel, USED; Chef Linton Hopkins, consulting chef for Delta Air Lines, and two Washington, D.C.-based children who are graduates of Share our Strength’s Cooking Matters program.
The White House – along with epicurious.com, letsmove.gov, USDA.gov, and Ed.gov – will create a full cookbook of all the winning recipes, which can be downloaded from the aforementioned sites.