Who says children don't eat their greens?

Last chance to enter UK’s Young Pea Chef of the Year 2016

Following the announcement this week that a quarter of children in England are now eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day*, the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition has begun its one month countdown to identifying the top British kids eating their greens.

Launched by the Yes Peas! campaign, British Growers Association and Waitrose, the Young Pea Chef of the Year recipe competition aims to inspire children nationwide to see healthy and nutritional ingredients as exciting.

Article continues below...
Advert

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.

With support from chefs and farmers across the UK and with exciting prizes on offer from competition sponsor Waitrose, children aged 4-12 are being invited to create a delicious recipe using peas as the main ingredient to be in with a chance of being crowned Young Pea Chef of the Year 2016 and winning £500 worth of cooking equipment for their school.

TV chef Rachel Green, who helped launch the competition in her Lincolnshire demonstration kitchen, said: “Frozen peas are rich in protein, carbohydrate and fibre and low in fat, as well as providing an excellent source of Vitamin A and C, which are important in building strong immune systems. We’re looking forward to showcasing this versatile vegetable, making sure children get vegetables on their plates, whilst finding a future star chef along the way!”

Michael Simpson-Jones, Waitrose Frozen Food Buying Manager, said: “We hope the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition inspires budding young chefs to get creative in the kitchen with this great British vegetable and encourages even more children to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day.”

Article continues below...
Advert

The competition will close for entries on 12 February 2016, when a panel of judges, including TV chef Rachel Green, Waitrose Frozen Foods Buying Manager, Michael Simpson-Jones, and representatives from Birds Eye and Pinguin Foods, will shortlist ten worthy Young Pea Chefs to go through to the final public voting stage.

The finalist with the most votes will win cookery equipment worth £500 for their school from competition sponsor Waitrose. The winner and nine runners up will be featured in a Yes Peas! recipe book which will be distributed nationwide.

The competition is open to children aged 4-12. View full competition terms and conditions and how to enter online at www.youngpeachef.co.uk.

Article continues below...
Advert

For peas recipes, visit www.peas.org and www.waitrose.com/home/recipes.html.

Follow the competition on Twitter @YesPeas and use the hashtag #youngpeachef to find out about the budding Young Pea Chefs and share your thoughts on who deserves to be crowned Pea Chef of the Year 2016.

*Health Survey for England

Article continues below...
Advert

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Sign-up to the Kitchen Garden Magazine Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address below to see a free digital back issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine and get regular updates straight to your inbox…

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.