Students joined the celebration of International Chefs Day recently at Camarin Elementary School in Caloocan City where Nestlé Philippines, in partnership with the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (Worldchefs) and the Le Toque Blanche (LTB) Philippines Chefs Association, prepared an educational and interactive afternoon for all.

After an energizing Wellness Dancercise, the workshop began with a learning session on nutritious ingredients and the importance of a balanced plate. The participants then applied what they learned and used their creativity in drawing their version of balanced plates, ensuring that each food group is well-represented and proportioned properly.

In line with this year’s theme, “Growing great chefs,” the event also featured a pizza-making activity where the students had the chance to make their own malunggay pan pizza with the help of chefs from LTB Philippines Chefs Association and Philippine Young Chefs Club.

“The annual celebration of International Chef’s Day is an avenue for Nestlé and our partners to bring both seasoned and up and coming chefs together to educate students on basic culinary skills and promote tasty and balanced meals, said Regina Acorda-Mendoza, Corporate Chef of Nestlé Professional.

“This is a great way to show the students that with a bit of creativity and resourcefulness, healthy food can in fact be tasty, appetizing, and easy to make. We want to encourage them to eat healthier meals through a fun and hands-on cooking experience,” said Jerome Valencia, President of LTB Philippines Chefs Association.

LTB Philippines Chefs Association is the premier professional chefs association in country that aims to bring together hotel and restaurant professionals for social and vocational purposes.

“I want to thank Nestlé Philippines, LTB Philippines Chefs Association, and Philippine Young Chefs Club for this very educational activity for our students. This is very much aligned with our on-going initiatives to promote healthy eating behaviors as well as school gardening in our curriculum,” said Dr. Naohmie L. Rivera, Principal of Camarin Elementary School.

This year’s International Chefs Day celebration is part of the Nestlé for Healthier Kids program (N4HK) that promotes balanced diets and healthy lifestyle habits for children aged 3-12 years and supports parents and caregivers to raise healthier kids around the world.

“A balanced diet is integral to a child’s development and growth. At Nestlé, we recognize our responsibility as the biggest Nutrition, Health, and Wellness company in the world to help families lead healthier, happier lives through our products and services,” said Ivy Sicat, Nutrition Advocacy Manager of Nestle Philippines. “It has always been our purpose to unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life and we do this through constant research and development to come up with more nutritious food formulations, fortification of our food products, and nutrition education initiatives like this and the Nestlé Wellness Campus where we promote children’s nutrition, health and wellbeing.”

Started by Worldchefs in 2005, the International Chefs Day aims to encourage chefs around the world to share their culinary expertise. It first partnered with Nestlé in 2015 to reach children covered by the Nestlé Wellness Campus program.