The Culinary Arts field of employment is one that is rapidly expanding. The employment of chefs and head cooks is projected to grow by 25 percent from 2020 to 2030. This is about 18,000 openings each year for the rest of the decade (US Department of Labor). Kentucky is no exception to this trend with large growth in hospitality and specialty restaurants surrounding the existing tourist industries connected to bourbon and horses. This growth positions young people with a passion for the culinary arts to experience career stability and advancement within the state. The Culinary Challenge program is uniquely positioned to prepare young people to enter this career path.  

As the 4-H Culinary Challenge program puts a fork in its 7th annual contest a record number of teams attended with a 52% increase in youth participation. After the event, 96% of young people reported being confident in being able to make changes to a recipe. When ask about their food prep and kitchen management skills there was between 95-98% confidence across four critical techniques (knife safety, recipe reading, safe kitchen practices, and sanitation) with the highest confidence being in knife skills. This high confidence in critical skills is a result of the consistent work with 4-H agents and Volunteers. Youth reported an average of being engaged in 4-H activities for 3 hours a week. These skills have been identified as making a candidate highly qualified for positions in Culinary Arts positions and gives the young people who participate in Culinary Challenge programming a head start on career advancement. Of the young people who participated in Culinary Challenge programming this year, 7 were from Warren County and averaged 3 hours per week over the course of 9 weeks. Warren County had two junior teams that competed at state this year and one of the teams was named Junior Culinary Challenge Champion. This is the second year in a row that Warren County has brought home that title.