Date:                                                   Friday, March 26, 2021

                                                              (Due to Covid-19, location and date are subject to change)

Schedule:                                           See Below

Location:                                             Hopkins County Regional Civic Center – 1200 Houston Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482  MAP

Rules & Guidelines. Please carefully review the Rules & Guideline (click here) for complete instructions and information.

Tentative Schedule. The following tentative schedule applies to all contestants and judges (subject to change). A final schedule will be distributed/posted following the registration deadline.  The Awards Program for each heat will be conducted as soon as judging and tabulation are complete. More specific times will be sent to the Judges and Group Leaders after entries are received.

Registration.  Each participating member is required to register on 4-HOnline and pay the $14.00 registration fee. Registration will open on February 19, 2020 and close at midnight March 5, 2020.

Please make sure each team member uses the exact same team name when registering. County offices, please double-check and correct any team naming issues at your level before certifying.

Participation. Contestants must be active 4-H members enrolled in a Texas 4-H and Youth Development county program in District IV. Contestants must also be academically eligible (according to UIL rules) to compete on the day of the contest.

Age. Age divisions are determined by a participant’s grade as of September 1st of the current 4-H year.  Age divisions for this contest are: (Note: the MIXED age division was eliminated in 2016-2017.)

• Junior (3rd, 4th, & 5th grades)
• Intermediate (6th, 7th, & 8th grades)
• Senior (9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th grades)

Teams per county.  Each county may enter up to 4 teams in each age division. The 1st place senior team from each food category will advance to state.  Teams advancing to state will not automatically be assigned to the same food category as they were in at district.

Members per team. Teams must have at least three members but no more than four. Teams may not include members in different age divisions. Each county may enter a maximum of four Junior, four Intermediate, and four Senior teams.

Food categories. There will be four food categories in each age division: Appetizer, Main Dish, Side Dish, and Healthy Dessert. Teams will be randomly assigned to a category and heat. Heat assignment information will be distributed to Agents and posted on the District 4 4-H website prior to the contest.

Attire. Each team will have the option of wearing coordinated clothing or aprons. Each team member must wear a hat, hair net and/or other type of hair restraint during the food preparation part of the competition. They must also wear closed toe shoes.

No electronic devices or jewelry (except for medically required) is allowed in contest. This includes cell phones, smart watches, or other communication devices.

Contest References & Forms.  Please refer to the Texas 4-H website Food & Nutrition Project page (click here) for contest reference materials, forms, additional rules, and scorecard.

Resource materials provided at contest. Resource materials will be provided for each team at the contest. These include MyPlate Mini-Poster, Fight Bac – Fight Food Borne Bacteria Brochure, Know Your Nutrients, and Food Safety Fact Sheet. Optional resources will include the Food Challenge Worksheet, and copies of grocery receipts/purchase prices for age groups calculating costs. No other resource materials will be allowed. Teams may not use their personal copies of the resources during the contest.

Supply box. Please review the Rules & Guidelines (click here) for new changes to items in Supply box. Each team must supply their own equipment for the challenge. Teams may bring only the supplies listed in the Supply Box list.  Any extra equipment will be confiscated.

• Please make sure all knives are properly and safely packed in the box so that contestants and officials are not
• There will be no dish cleaning/washing facilities available.  Plan your supply boxes for each team accordingly.  Restrooms are off limits for dish/utensil
• After each heat, burners will be moved to a central table to allow for cooling. Please make sure all burners are clearly labeled with a county, club, or individual’s

Preparation. Each team will create an entire dish/recipe (not a full meal) using the provided key ingredient and grocery store items. Dishes/recipes created should include two or more servings. Teams should present the entire dish/ recipe to the judges and communicate during their presentation what an individual serving size should be. Teams will be responsible for determining the number of servings their dish provides. Teams should not create side or multiple dishes with their ingredients/grocery store items.

Teams will have 40 minutes to prepare a dish, plan a presentation, and clean up the preparation area. A 20-minute warning, 10-minute warning, 5-minute warning, and -minute warning will be given. NO talking is allowed after the 40 minutes is up.

After the 40-minute preparation time is up:

• The team’s area MUST be clean, and all the supplies and extra food items must be in their supply box (except hot burners, see Supply Box).
• No talking and no writing will be allowed among any team members. Team members caught talking and/or writing will receive a warning. The second time, the team will be disqualified and asked to leave the contest
• Team members should not have pens or pencils in their possession while waiting to give their presentation.

Pantry Ingredients. Each team may include in their equipment box the following “pantry” ingredients which they may use when preparing their dish if desired. There is no requirement to use these items, nor is it mandatory that teams include these in their supply box.

• Salt
• Pepper Oils (up to 17 oz)
• 1 jar chicken bouillon
• medium onion
• 2 cans vegetables and/or fruit (up to 16 oz) – team choice
• Rice (white or brown) or pasta (16 oz) – team choice

Grocery Store. Teams must use at least two additional items from the grocery store. These items will be “purchased” using a pricing system and “contest currency” (to be determined) to enable teams to analyze the cost of their dish and individual serving. The cost analysis system will be explained prior to the contest. Teams may not exceed the provided “contest currency” or trade “currency” or grocery store items with other teams.

• Example: teams may be provided $5.00 in “contest currency” to spend at the grocery store; each item in the grocery store will be priced and teams must calculate cost according to total spent in grocery

Cost Analysis. Price(s) of the key ingredient and grocery store items will be provided to teams. Teams will calculate the price of the dish based on the amount of ingredients used. Teams should calculate the cost of the total recipe, as well as the price per serving. Teams will determine the number of servings for their recipe.

Presentation. Following the preparation phase of the contest, each team will give a 5-minute presentation to a panel of judges. A majority of team members should participate in the presentation.

• To earn maximum points, teams must use these 5 minutes to address the following areas of the presentation scorecard: Knowledge of MyPlate, Nutrition Knowledge, Food Preparation, Safety Concerns, and Serving
• At the end of 5 minutes, time will be called – additional time will not be
• Judges will be allowed 3 minutes to ask questions; however, judges will not ask questions related to what teams should have covered during the presentation. Judges questions will be related to general nutrition, health, chronic disease prevention or others relevant to food and

Awards. The top two high scoring food challenge teams in each age division from each heat will be recognized with awards during the awards program.  In the senior age division, the 1st place team from each food category will qualify for state. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there will not be a formal awards assembly. The winners will be announced via Facebook Live later that day/evening.

Team Spirit Awards.  Team Spirit awards be awarded in each heat in each age division. The Team Spirit award will be given based on teamwork, enthusiasm, and professional appearance. Team Spirit judges will be different than presentation judges.  Team Spirit will be evaluated during preparation.

Participants with disabilities.  If you need any type of accommodation to participate in this program or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Denita Young at djyoung@ag.tamu.edu at least 2 weeks prior to the program or note such needs when registering on 4-HOnline.

Food Allergies.  Contestants with food allergies must note their specific allergy at the time of registering on 4-HOnline.

Rules of Play. Please carefully review the Rules of Play found in the Rules & Guidelines (click here).

Gadget of the Year. Teams may have the following kitchen gadget in their box for the 2020-2021 Contest Year:

• Spiralizer (manual only).

COVID-19 NOTICE

This program will follow any directives by the local/county health officials, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service policies, and State requirements in effect at the time of the event as it relates to COVID-19. Participation in this event REQUIRES any attendee to follow those procedures to attend the event. This may include wearing face coverings, social distancing, any other preventative measures mandated or required by this program. Please bring a mask or appropriate face covering with you.

Due to facility limitations and to adhere to proper social distancing and safety protocols, there will not be a waiting area inside the building for the parents. Parents/coaches will drop off their teams and come back at the designated time to pick them up.

You can bring your lawn chairs and wait outside the building, there is a nice park close to the civic center, or a great downtown area to shop and dine.