Virginia 4-H Food Challenge Curriculum Evaluation

Abstract

In 2014, 4-H agents brought the Food Challenge competition from Texas to the Virginia program as a new competition outlet for youth. With this new program comes the need to train Extension faculty, staff, and volunteers to provide adequate knowledge for youth to be successful in their competitive endeavors. Due to the competition being relatively new to the nation, a curricula specific to the competition had not been developed. This study compiled and reviewed existing 4-H healthy living curricula to determine what already-existing materials would help a team prepare for the competition. Many materials were found to be adequate at covering specific sections of the competition judging criteria, however only three were determined to meet a majority of the programming needs. The top recommended curricula were Exploring the Food Challenge, Teen Cuisine, and Cooking Matters for Teens. Exploring the Food Challenge covered all 12 criteria, with Teen Cuisine and Cooking matters for Teens covering 11 of the 12 criteria.