FALL RIVER: Stella Jones is a name you might want to get to know. She could be a future chef cooking up your supper.
But for now, the eight-year-old who lives in the Schwarzwald subdivision in Fall River, will settle for creating her Wild blueberry smoothies for all, a recipe that earned her to be selected among 26 winners from across Canada in the Kid Food Nation recipe contest.
Stella and the 25 others across Canada won a prize pack and were exclusive guests to a Kid Food Nation virtual cooking lesson with celebrity chef Marysol Foucault, hosted by YTV’s Spencer Litzinger and Tyra Sweet on Oct. 30.
The prize pack included a tablet, culinary tools, and a custom Kid Food Nation chef jacket and apron.
An added bonus this year saw each winner receive a $5,000 grant from President’s Choice Children’s Charity for an in-class food growing system, plus tools and supplies for the winners and their classmates to cultivate their own kitchen gardens at home.
Stella was very excited about winning. She smiled ear-to-ear when she mentioned about winning the growing system for her Holland Road Elementary School classmates.
“I like cooking a lot,” she said. “I find it fun. I love cooking with my mom. I find it is relaxing.”
She said she began doing some cooking under her mom’s supervision around when she was four years old.
Stella learned about the Kid Food Nation contest when she was watching YTV one day and an ad for it came on.
She spoke about why she made her recipe on a smoothie.
“I make a lot of smoothies because I like them,” said Stella. “I did wild blueberry smoothies because my grandfather has this wild blueberry field in Pictou County, so I wanted to make them with those.”
Stella said she was surprised when she learned she was one of the winners.
“I was shocked,” Stella said. “I was excited.
“It makes me feel kind of special to be a winner.”
The virtual cooking lesson with Foucault was pretty cool too, Stella said.
“We made Scones,” said Stella. “They were really good. It was a lot of fun.”
The national recipe contest is designed to bring awareness to the Kid Food Nation program that runs at BGC Clubs across the country. Generously supported by President’s Choice Children’s Charity, the eight-week Kid Food Nation curriculum has four main goals:
- Teach children ages 7-12 essential culinary skills
- Encourage healthy choices about the food they eat
- Empower parents and families to plan, prepare, and cook healthy meals and snacks
- Foster healthy habits for life
Kid Food Nation also consists of a free, public website created by Corus Entertainment, which includes games, videos, tips about healthy eating, fun cooking facts, recipes, and more—see all the action at kidfoodnation.com.
Stella said some friends know she won.
“They’re happy and excited for me,” said Stella.
When asked what’s next for her future regarding cooking?
“I kind of want too,” added Stella.
Stella’s recipe for her Wild Blueberry Smoothie will also be featured in the Kid Food Nation cookbook, Volume 5, set to be released later this month.
