Annual CookIt! and WriteIt! competition

Entries are invited for the Guild of Food Writer’s annual CookIt! and WriteIt! competitions from children and students between 10 and 18 years of age...

These hotly contested competitions are a great way of encouraging the younger generation to have a greater interest in good food, something the members of the Guild of Food Writers feel passionate about.

The CookIt! competition is open to all young cooks aged between 10 and 14 years of age. The theme for 2009 is ‘High Five!’ and entrants are asked to create a delicious two-course family meal using five or more different fruit and vegetables. The importance of eating fruit and vegetables is well known, but the judges will be looking for entrants that can really show just how delicious they are too! The six finalists will be invited to London, with all expenses paid, on Thursday 4 June 2009, where in the kitchens of the BBC Good Food Magazine, they will prepare their meals for a panel of judges including Xanthe Clay (Saturday Telegraph and author of Recipes to Know by Heart) and Mike Robinson (of The Pot Kiln in Berkshire). There will be some great prizes to be won and the final will also feature in a future edition of BBC Good Food Magazine. Closing date for entries is Thursday 23 April 2009. For more details on the competition visit: www.gfw.co.uk/children/?sub=62.

For food writers of the future the WriteIt! competition is a must! Open to students aged between 15 and 18 years of age, the competition invites articles on a food related subject. The judging panel includes respected food writer and critic, Charles Campion, broadcaster and restaurateur, Thomasina Miers and Alex James, formerly of Blur and now a successful cheese maker and food columnist. The judges will be looking for a real passion and understanding of the chosen subject, whatever that might be! It could be as simple as a description of a person or place that inspired an interest in food and cooking or a review of a restaurant or a campaigning article on a food-related subject. There will be some great prizes to be won. Closing date for entries is Tuesday 3 February. For more details on the competition visit: www.gfw.co.uk/children/?sub=61.

I know that there must be loads of budding Jamie Oliver's and Delia Smith's out there and I hope that schools will encourage their students to enter this great competition.
Chris