FOOD BOX CHALLENGE
Each year, Festival of Sharing kicks off the Sharefest season with a Food Box Challenge. Individuals and groups are encouraged to put on their aprons and thinking caps to create a recipe using items from the Family Food Box and a short list of pre-approved extra ingredients. The recipes can be submitted with a picture of the final product for a chance to win in the categories of “Just Roll with It,” a dish using few ingredients, or “Hello Gourd-geous,” a dish that looks too good to eat.
We hope this is a fun activity to engage your minds and challenge cooking skills while raising awareness of food insecurity, hunger and poverty. Included with the challenge directions are a set of facts, definitions and debrief questions as well as an agency highlight for Society of St. Andrew (SOSA). SOSA is a food rescue agency who partners with churches and groups to glean and collect leftover crops after harvest to distribute to those experiencing hunger. The Food Box Challenge coincides with SOSA’s celebration of Hunger Action Month in September.
Guidelines for 2024 Food Box Challenge
Challenge held September 1 - 30, 2024
2022 Winners
Just Roll With It: Chicken Noodle Casserole
St. James Youth Group | St. James, MO
Recipe: Chicken Noodle casserole: pasta, cream of chicken, milk, can chicken, parsley, pepper and salt
Hello Gourd-geous: Zadi’s Potato Bread
St. James Youth Group | St. James, Missouri
Recipe: water, butter, sugar, dry milk, salt, yeast, instant potato, flour
Past Winners
2021 Food Box Challenge
Just Roll With It: Marcia | Columbia, Missouri
View Recipe
Hello Gourd-geous: St. James Youth Group | St. James, Missouri
View Recipe
As the winners, they were awarded a sweet treat and the opportunity to send five kits each to an agency of their choice. Marcia selected Refugee & Immigration Services in Columbia, and St. James Youth selected Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in Vienna. All recipes submitted can be viewed at the here.
