Illinois 4-H

Show Your Skills

• Create a menu for a balanced special meal
• Design a traditional meal of a specific culture
• Practice plating techniques
• Start a kitchen garden and develop dishes with the harvest
• Write instructions on how to prepare a meal so that all items have the same finishing time 

Service and Leadership

• Cookie baking day with a nursing home
• Kitchen supply drive for a community center
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen
• Coordinate a meal train for families in-need
• Donate to / volunteer at a local food pantry
• Chair your 4-H club’s refreshment committee
• Coordinate food-related 4-H service projects
• Youth liaison for a food stand at a 4-H show
• Assist a food SPIN club in using new recipes

Entrepreneurship

• Make & sell homemade candy for holidays
• Create a cookbook
• Mix and sell locally sourced dried spice blends 

Technology Connection

• Explore new kitchen gadgets and how they improve the kitchen experience
• Set up a virtual cooking show
• Start a food blog

Connecting with a Mentor

• Community college with a culinary arts program
• Local restaurants, bakeries or caterers 
• Local food company
• Family and consumer education teachers 
• College or university food and nutrition majors or faculty

Events

• 4-H Food Challenge
• 4-H food SPIN club
• 4-H Presentations Contest - Food Demonstration
• Illini Summer Academies
• Local cooking / baking challenges / cook-offs
• Community-wide food festivals
• Local grocery store cook-offs or demonstrations

Project Manuals & Exhibit Requirements

• 4-H Cooking 101 
• 4-H Cooking 201
• 4-H Cooking 301
• 4-H Cooking 401              

Purchase manuals on the Shop Illinois 4-H Store. 

View exhibit requirements and scoresheets on the Illinois State Fair page.