GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A team of students representing the Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) culinary program will be competing in April for a chance to send a meal to the International Space Station.
As part of the NASA HUNCH competition, culinary teams from across the country are competing to send their meals to space. The GRCC Raiders Fuel culinary team has made it to the top 10, and will be competing on April 20 in Houston against nine other teams.
Katie Bird and Devon Vanderwall, who are Ottawa Area Intermediate School District’s Careerline Tech Center students, will be representing GRCC.
The team has been working since September to perfect their dish using NASA nutritional guidelines and studies of how food impacts astronauts in zero gravity.
Last month, they cooked for 20 judges and guests at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in a preliminary round.
The culinary team is coached by Secchia Institute’s program director Dr. Werner Absenger and Chef Jennifer Struik, an instructor in the program.
“I’m thrilled to be representing team GRCC in Houston this year!” Struik said. “Katie and Devon worked incredibly hard to earn this top 10 spot. I’m very proud of their commitment to the project over these past seven months.”
For the students participating, the competition has helped them hone skills that they will use in their cooking careers.
“Now I know I can work under high-pressure conditions with precision,” Bird said.
The GRCC culinary team has competed in the NASA HUNCH competition four times previously. The 2019-2020 team came in second.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.