TDA ANNOUNCES KIDS KITCHEN CORRAL CONTEST
AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Agriculture kicks off the 4th Annual Kids Kitchen Corral Contest.
For contest details and an application packet, simply pick up a postage-paid entry card at select public libraries or in the produce aisle at your neighborhood Wal-Mart Superstore, while supplies last. You can also e-mail TDA at kidskitchen@tda.state.tx.us and request an entry card. TDA is accepting contest entry cards through the fall of 2007.
“It’s great fun to see our young Texans cook up some creative dishes in the kitchen,” said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. “They’re learning healthy eating and healthy cooking are something worthwhile with positive and long-lasting results.”
The Kids Kitchen Corral Contest calls on kids from across Texas to submit their own unique healthy recipes for judging. Recipes have to be original, nutritious, easy to prepare and contain no more than 10 ingredients.
The contest is open to Texans 6 to 18 years old and enrolled in a Texas school that participates in the National School Lunch or Breakfast Program. Each qualifying Texan who submits an entry card will receive an entry packet with nutrition information and contest details.
Past winners have received a medallion, donations from Wal-Mart, Texas Monthly magazine and/or Whole Earth Provisions, including gift cards, cooking supplies and a backpack with school supplies, and a framed certificate signed by Commissioner Staples. Their recipes have been featured on printed recipe cards and book covers distributed to all Texas public elementary schools.
Almost 270 recipes – everything from granola mixes to wacky wraps to veggie pasta – were submitted to TDA last fall for the 3rd annual contest. TDA judges narrowed the recipe submissions to 12 finalists, and students from the Bowie High School Culinary Arts Program in Austin put them to the test by preparing and tasting each recipe, before choosing four winners.
Additional details and deadline information for the 4th Annual Kids Kitchen Corral Contest can be requested by sending an e-mail to kidskitchen@tda.state.tx.us .
To view the winning recipes and to find more healthy eating tips and nutrition information, visit TDA’s Square Meals Web site at www.squaremeals.org and click on the link “For Kids.”
Livestock Product Receives Free Choice Allowance
Alltech's organic selenium, Sel-Plex, recently received free choice allowance in livestock diets from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This regulation allows producers and beef cattle owners to offer the mineral in a loose granular form, providing a full range of feeding applications. Sel-Plex is an organic selenium yeast produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3060.
The use of Sel-Plex in free-choice minerals can help areas with Selenium deficiency in forages and pastures. Studies have shown that Selenium is key in supporting normal reproductive function, reproductive status of bulls, calf health, stress due to weaning and feedlot receiving, meat quality, shelf life and the nutritional value of meat. Selenium plays an important role in beef cattle diets.
Sel-Plex is a unique form of selenium as it is presented in the same forms that are naturally present in plants. Organic selenium is more digestible than inorganic forms and better retained, which lets the animal build nutrient reserves against periods of increased demand without risking toxicity.
Selenium yeast has received allowance for use in chicken diets, followed by turkey, swine, goat, sheep, equine, beef and dairy feeds, and dog diets. Sel-Plex also received authorization as a nutritional feed additive for use in all species diets, from the European Union (EU) under EU regulation 1750/2006.
For more information, call a local Alltech representative, or visit www.alltech.com or www.Sel-Plex.com.
|
