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A team of Columbiana County Rising Scholars students recently participated in the finals of the NASA HUNCH culinary competition at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to determine if their culinary creation would be a future meal for International Space Station astronauts. This team was one of the top ten teams in the country invited to participate.

The High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program includes high school student teams across the country who participate in project-based learning programs to develop skills and explore future career opportunities. The Culinary Arts Challenge is one of several categories.

“The culinary arts program teaches students how the body processes food in space and how this impacts nutritional requirements for astronauts,” said Jessica Paull, Ph.D., Rising Scholars program coordinator. “Students created a recipe to fulfill nutritional requirements while maintaining flavor and learned that preparing food to eat in space is not easy.”

Students learned about food processing/food science and how the body’s response to microgravity affects nutritional needs in space. This included learning about different methods of processing food for microgravity and how the entrée would be reconstituted for eating in space. They also had to create nutrition labels for each of their items, an impressive skill to learn for potential future careers.

Teams from 33 schools from across the country created entrees that were judged locally by food industry personnel and community members, and the ten teams who scored highest competed in the finals in Houston. Judges included NASA food lab personnel, industry professionals and astronauts and the winning entrée will be processed by the Johnson Space Center lab for astronauts to enjoy.

“The judges were impressed by the dish and the presentation,” said Paull. “Our students had answers to every question and were prepared and confident.”