Girls Scouts win 'Local Chef' competition

Girl Scouts Maddie Alvendia, 17, of Oswego, Madison Runyan, 17, of Sugar Grove, and Alexis Thomas, 18, of Aurora - all members of local Troop 4882 - recently won "Local Chef," a joint competition between Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois and Illinois Agri-Women.

Troop 4882 competed against other troops to create a dish made of only local food and flavorings. In addition, girls had to source the ingredients and video record themselves making the dish as TV chefs.

The goal of the competition was to create a dish with the least amount of distance. Each team had to add up the total miles for each ingredient in the dish. If they visited a farmers market and bought carrots, they asked the farmer where the carrots were grown and calculated the distance from the market to the farm for the total miles. If they lived in a different town from the market, they also had to add in the distance from their house to the market.

As a winning troop, girls will receive $350 toward their troop account and an all-expense paid trip to Illinois Agri-Women's "Changing the Face of Agriculture" event at Illinois State University in Normal on Friday, March 6. Video clips of the girls' projects will be featured at the event, and the girls will be recognized onstage.

By collaborating with Illinois Agri-Women, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois is giving girls the chance to learn more about local food producers, where food is grown, how small businesses can benefit their community, and how local food can lead to a healthy living lifestyle.

Illinois Agri-Women is a grass-roots organization of farm and agri-businesswomen promoting a better understanding of agriculture and the family farm system. The organization consists of members from across the state of Illinois who volunteer to promote agriculture.

Illinois Agri-Women is organizing the "Women Changing the Face of Agriculture" conference as an investment in the future of agriculture. This outreach project gives all women the opportunity to explore different career paths offered in the agriculture sector. The goal is to help attendees receive accurate information first hand from actual women agriculture professionals.