1.  When, and where, is this event taking place?
2.  Who can participate?
3.  How do I register my team?
4.  I want to ask a local business to sponsor my team, how could I do that?
5.  Ok, we're registered...now what?
6.  What do we have to bring with us and what will be provided?
7.  Can we have our adult/chaperone help us cook?
8.  How can my team find a chef to work with?
9.  What sort of dishes are we supposed to make, anyway?
10.  Is it okay if we don't use at least 5 of the local products you told us to use?

1. The first annual Jr. Iron Chef VT competition is Saturday, April 12th, 2008.  The   entire event will be held in the Blue Ribbon Pavillion at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT.     
This is the schedule for the day:

2. Any VT resident in grades 6-12 are eligible.  Teams are broken down into Middle School (grades 6-8) and High School (9-12) categories.  Each team must have between 3 and 5 members, from any grade level in the appropriate category.  Each team must have an parent or guardian chaperone or school employee.  The teams are also allowed to have one "cooking coach" - this could be a food service worker, a chef, or someone else who is allowed to provide guidance to the team about cooking techniques and safety, and is NOT allowed to help with any cooking during the competition.

3. Teams may register by downloading the application forms (here), and must mail them in (no email, no fax, sorry!) with their $100 registration fee.

4.  Teams are welcome to find local businesses and organizations to sponsor their $100 registration fee.  A sample sponsor letter is available for download (here), and the four steps below  are a good way to find a great business sponsor for your team!

1. Think of some of your favorite businesses, such as restaurants where you like to eat, movie stores/theaters, or stores where you like to shop.
2. Write a letter to these businesses explaining what Jr. Iron Chef is, why you want to participate, and how the business could help sponsor your team. If you like, you can get an idea of how to write this letter from our sample letter on the website. Make sure you include your contact information and how much money you are asking from the business.
3. Follow-up the letter with a phone call or a visit.
4. Don’t forget to send your sponsoring businesses thank you notes. They would love to see pictures of you and your team at the competition and hear about the dishes you prepared.

5. Once you have sent in your registration forms and fee (due by February 27, 2008) you should start developing your recipe - which is due to us via email or regular mail by March 14, 2008.  We ask for a recipe to determine the quantities necessary of the local products which we provide, and to make sure it conforms to the food safety requirements and restrictions we have given to all teams.

6.  There are three parts to this answer, please read them all!
Part 1 - You will be provided with :

Part 2 - You are asked to bring your own:

Part 3 - You will be provided with the neccesary amount, as based on your submitted recipes, of the following local and seasonal products.  You are required to use at least 5 of them in your recipe, but do not have to use all of the following items:

Any other ingredients used must be provided by the team.  Teams are encouraged to use fresh and local ingredients, and ones that are available to school food service through the federal commodities list.  Contact your school food service workers for more information on this list.

7. Sorry, your chaperone(s) can't help you cook during the competition- they're there for guidance and safety!

8.   First, you should think about what your favorite restaurants are; do they have a chef who could help?

If you don’t have a favorite restaurant, you might find a restaurant that is a member of the Vermont Fresh Network (VFN). To be part of the Vermont Fresh Network, chefs promise to buy ingredients from local farmers. That is a bonus to your team since these are chefs already committed to using local ingredients. You can find the list of VFN restaurants at www.vermontfresh.net

You might also consider asking one of the cooks from your school cafeteria if they could help you. They know a lot about cooking food that kids love and might have some secret recipes that are sure to win the competition.

Once you have found chefs that you are interested in, you should write them a letter or call them on the phone that explains what Jr. Iron Chef is and why you want their help. If you are calling, avoid calling right at lunch or dinner time when the chefs are super busy.

9. Teams are asked to make one or two dishes, of 6 servings each, for the competition.  A main goal of the competition is to make healthy dishes that can be easily prepared for school food service menus.  For safety reasons, dishes may not contain meat, poultry, or fish.  No desserts are allowed, and any savory dish is permitted, i.e. entrees, dishes, soups, sandwiches, salads, finger foods, or snacks. 
If there are questions whether or not something is allowed, please email us: info@jrironchefvt.org. 

10. Teams must use at least 5 of the local ingredients noted in #6.