Thirty teams from various Foods and Nutrition classes competed in a very meaty competition to make the best sliders. Starting this year, Foods and Nutrition classes taught by Melissa Laferrera and Casey Schmitz replaced previous years’ pie competition with a more healthy, protein-focused competition.

     “We are learning about the importance of protein in our diet. The average hamburger packs about twenty grams of protein,” Laferrera said. “We applied for a beef grant. The beef counsel gave us 800 dollars to split between our two classes.”

     With the ability to purchase so much beef, the two Foods and Nutrition teachers decided to have the students make sliders instead of pie.

     “We used to do a pie competition, that was a lot of fun but I started to feel uneasy because there was so much sugar and butter,” Laferrera said. “As fun as it is to make a homemade pie, it isn’t as nutritious as it could be.”

     Each team spent approximately a week designing their own unique recipe. One team, for example, made a burger recipe that they named “The Gettysburger Address,” which represented the all-American burger with bacon.

    While the grills were heated up and the ingredients were prepared, the teams put on their game face and grilled for the win.

    “I think that they’re going to see [ours] as the best because we are putting all of our effort into it,” one team member Mara Solis said.

     Teachers, upon receiving an e-mail, volunteered to be a judge during their off period. The judges for the 3A competition were Sparky Adair and Troy Dorsey. What they looked for the most included taste and how it looked.

     “I was thinking about presentation and about [whether or not] ] I would eat it if I went to a restaurant,” Adair said.

     After tasting the juicy sliders, Adair and Dorsey chose “The Olympic Burger” as the winner, and the teammates received chef hats as their prize.

     Laferrera hopes to make this competition a continuing tradition for future years.