ORGANIC FOODS By: Chase McKinney

Thesis My project is about the benefits of organic foods. I am exploring the art of organic cooking and how it varies from ingredients and the quality of the product. I am also growing various herbs for my project. I plan to create an organic dish for my product and for the judges to taste.

What is organic food? The term organic is used generously these days, but the only true organic foods are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, as being from 90%-100% organic foods. Organic foods do not contain pesticides, hormones, or other chemicals.

WHY ORGANIC FOODS? I chose organic foods because I have always been interested in the subject. In this project, I hope to better my cooking skills and become more familiar with the kitchen. I am also glad I will be exploring further into the world of organics, including organic gardening. I wish to get more skills by learning about growing organically with my herb garden.

3 random facts I have found several interesting facts out about organic gardening. Organic farmers use other plants to draw pests away from there main crops, instead of using chemical pesticides. Organic chefs use herbs and spices to flavor and sweeten but not overwhelm the food, or make it less healthy for you. The different methods used to have fully organic livestock and the differences in the meats.

Product: Main Dish For my main dish, I have made organic lasagna. The lasagna I am making is a meat lasagna, but there will not only be meat in it. All ingredients used were USDA certified organic. It takes around and hour to prepare and cook this dish.

Product: Main Dish This dish comprises of lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, spinach, and ground beef. I also added spices, such as oregano, rosemary and basil.

Product: side dish For my side dish, I have created an organic salad. I made this salad out of Hearts of Romaine lettuce and baby spinach. To add flavor I made croutons out of hemp bread, used balsamic vinaigrette as dressing, and added carrots and cheese.

Product: dessert For my dessert I have made a raspberry cheesecake from scratch. To make this item, I used lots of cream cheese, sugar, flour, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract. To add the raspberry flavor I pureed them and added them to the batter.

Mentor My mentors name is Max. I have known him for about a year, he is my friends father. He's from Colorado. He has told me much about organic cooking , and what he's experienced in this area. He has never worked as a chef, however he has grown organically and has cooked organically for many many years.

Visual aids My visual aids will be the food I prepare for the judges, a PowerPoint presentation depicting what I learned throughout this project. I will also include pictures to document all I have learned and the steps I went through to create this meal.

What I’ve learned and challenges: I have learned how to cook organically. I also learned about growing organically, and how different it is from conventional foods. I also learned about raising livestock organically, and how much more humane it is. I’m very happy I had the chance to create this meal and learn how to do so. The biggest challenge I will face is finding time to work with my mentor, as we both work often. Another challenge is paying for all the materials I need. What I learned My Challenges

PowerPoint by Kendall Chase Mckinney Thanks for watching! PowerPoint by Kendall Chase Mckinney