ARIELLE GODBOUT Enlarge Image

Tec Voc High School students (from left) Angela Lantano, Ryan Reyes and Randy Greig take a break from peeling and chopping ahead of the 100-mile meal at St. Mary’s Road United Church last week.

For budding chefs Ryan Reyes and Randy Greig, entering a province-wide recipe contest was a no-brainer.

But what did give the Tec Voc High School students reason to pause, they said, were the competition’s rules.

At least three ingredients must be locally grown, raised, processed and packaged.

Reyes, 21, said he was a little surprised by the requirement, though not discouraged.

"I’m new here in Canada, so it’s kind of fun because I can learn different kinds of produce that are grown here in Manitoba," he said.

The organizers of the Localvore Iron Chef Cook-Off , Food Matters Manitoba, say that’s exactly the kind of response they’re hoping to inspire with the competition.

"(The contest) is to get them to think what is available locally," said Ashlee Espenell, communication co-ordinator for Food Matters. "There’s a big disconnect . . . People just don’t know where their food comes from."

Espenell added the competition is part of a larger push to have Manitobans recognize a diet rich in local foods as a viable alternative to eating produce shipped in from countries such as the U.S. and China.

"We’re definitely trying to make it less of a fringe group and more of a mainstream (option)," she said.

The group is promoting the competition — and the benefits of eating locally, such as reducing carbon footprints and supporting the local economy — through presentations at high schools.

Angela Lantano, another Tec Voc culinary student who recently sat through the Food Matters presentation, said she was surprised to learn about the environmental impact of transporting tomatoes from, say, California to Winnipeg.

"I really didn’t know that fuel had a big part of it," she said.

Last week, Tec Voc culinary students got a hands-on feel for some local produce by helping with the preparations for a 100-mile fundraising dinner organized by St. Mary’s Road United Church in St. Vital.

Almost all of the ingredients in the meal — which was attended by between 250 and 300 people — were grown or raised in the province.

The event was the brainchild of Nancy Blokland, who said one of the primary goals was to show the community that eating locally is a real option, not just an alternative food movement.

"It was to not only show them, but to celebrate that (local food) is rich and it’s diverse," said the St. Boniface resident. "If you saw the meal we produced, it wasn’t limited or sacrificed. It was rich and it was plentiful and it was good."

She added there was plenty of information available at the dinner about where to access local foods during the winter, when farmer’s markets are closed.

Espenell acknowledged eating locally during the winter climate can be difficult, and said the Iron Chef competition encourages students to think about those challenges and come up with creative solutions.

Submissions for the recipe contest will be accepted until Nov. 24.

Finalists for the cook-off on Feb. 5 will be teamed up with a professional chef for help in perfecting their recipes, and the winning entry will be presented at Food Matter’s 2011 Getting Vocal, Growing Local Food Security Conference.

For application forms and more information, visit http://www.foodmattersmanitoba.ca/content/localvore-iron-chef-cook.

arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com