Join Teens Grow Greens for Their Chef's Dinner: Chopped Edition on Oct. 22
Teen Grow Greens is hosting a virtual cooking show on Oct. 22, 2020. (Picture provided by Teens Grown Greens)
Knowing how to cook is one thing, but growing your own food is an entirely different flex. According to the National Gardening Association (NGA)’s Five-Year Look at Food Gardening in America report, the interest in food gardening has gone up. This information is based on the year 2013, but with the COVID pandemic, these numbers may have increased.
People are scared that there will be a lack of food, so they’re teaching themselves how to be self-efficient through growing food. Although there’s a current interest in growing one’s own food, the Non-profit Teens Grow Greens has been dedicated to teaching the youth of Milwaukee how to grow their own food for years. Now, they’re taking that same model and bringing it virtual.
Teens Grow Greens is hosting a Chef's Dinner: Chopped Edition on Oct. 22, 2020 with three teams consisting of a teen and a chef where they will create and cook a meal with secret ingredients, while viewers at home watch and then vote by donating to their favorite team.
Viewers have a chance to cook alongside the teams by pre-ordering the ingredients from Outpost Natural Foods and picking them up prior to the event. All pre-orders ended on Oct. 4, 2020. The event is free to watch, but you must register.
Anthony Horton (L) and Jesus Gonzalez (R). (Picture provided by Teens Grow Greens)
Teen participant of the Chef’s Dinner Anthony Horton joined Teens Grow Greens after hearing about it from his high school Messmer. After his first gardening lesson, Horton began to look at the world in a whole new way.
“Man, I like food! Food and life,” Horton said. “I get the pleasure of knowing that I grew that.”
Since his first growing lesson, Horton grows a variety of greens: collards, lettuce, sweet peas, sage and more. Eventually, Horton wants to learn how to grow a tree.
For the Chef’s Dinner, Horton was partnered with Jesus Gonzalez of Zócalo Park. This was Gonzalez first involvement with Teens Grow Greens and he’s excited to find more ways to work with youth. Gonzalez didn’t realize that youth were still passionate about learning and growing their own food, until he met Horton.
Gonzalez said the two felt very comfortable working with one another and they trusted each other’s skills.
“I think mentorship is key,” said Gonzalez. “If you invest into working with youth, they will be extremely interested to know more.”
All voter donations will be split between Teens Grow Greens and the chefs. The funds raised will help Teens Grow Greens expand their internship and apprenticeship opportunities for teens on the north and south sides of Milwaukee.
To register for Teens Grow Greens’ Chef's Dinner: Chopped Edition, click here. To out more about Teens Grow Greens, click here.
Watch Chef’s Dinner: Chopped Edition teaser below: