School Lunch Makes Sam Kass Cry

The Senior Policy Advisor talks about judging an emotional episode of Food Network's "Chopped," airing this weekend...
Joining host Ted Allen to film the special Chopped episode titled "Class Acts" was a "profound" experience, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass told Obama Foodorama. Kass served as a guest judge for the show, which starred four school cafeteria chefs in a culinary showdown that required them to use the kind of ingredients found in school kitchens across the US. Without spoiling the ending, it can be said that the tense competition made Kass very emotional: He cried onscreen...and not from sliced onions. "Class Acts" airs again on Saturday and Sunday on Food Network. (Above: Kass onscreen during the show)

Kass said the dueling chefs showed how truly difficult it is to serve kids healthy, delicious food under tight budget constraints, and hailed them as "wonderful contestants." First Lady Michelle Obama has made improving school foods a pillar of the Let's Move! campaign because more than 32 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program, and many get up to half their daily calories in school.

The chefs on Chopped represent "work being done all over the country," Kass said. And he wasn't the only one who cried during the filming.

"The producers were crying, the cameramen were crying, the host was crying, the chefs were crying," Kass said.

"You saw four people who work day in and day out tirelessly trying to do what's best for the kids that they're serving, in very difficult circumstances, be recognized for their work and be shown the respect that I think that they deserve. It was such a powerful moment for everybody involved."

Host Ted Allen agreed.

"Tonight--seriously--is one of the best Choppeds EVER," Allen tweeted in November, when "Class Acts" first aired.

The competing chefs are exemplary: All work in school cafeterias that rely on scratch cooking rather than pre-packaged, processed foods. Three chefs are from Connecticut: Cheryl Barbara, from High School in the Community in New Haven, runs a backpack program, and sends food home with kids on weekends. Rhonda Deloach, from the Common Ground magnet school in New Haven, sources fresh produce from a farm run on school grounds. Diane Houlihan is the assistant cook manager at Great Neck Elementary School in Waterford. The fourth chef, Arlene Leggio, is from Islip High School in Long Island, New York.

"It was an honor to part of an event with such wonderful contestants," Kass said. "I truly enjoyed it."

Two other guest judges joined Kass to decide the winner of the $10,000 prize: Chef Marc Murphy, who is a "big supporter" of Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" campaign, and "fine dining specialist" and chef Amanda Freitag, who is a supporter of Edible Schoolyard NYC.

Kass is the mastermind behind the Let's Move! subcomponent Chefs Move To Schools, which marries professional chefs to schools to boost nutrition initiatives. At Mrs. Obama's behest, Kass and White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses have adopted Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington, DC, as their Chefs Move school. There are now more than 3,700 professionals signed on to Chefs Move, according to Kass. In his first interview of 2012, Kass gives an update on the progress of the Let's Move! campaign.

Showtimes: "Class Acts" airs on Food Network on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 12:00 AM/11:00 PM central and 9:00 PM/8:00 PM central, and on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3:00 PM/2:00 PM central.