In her address, Iveta Vējone stressed fast food restaurants growing in popularity and called for thinking about the origin and influence of food consumed every day on health. She encouraged to include locally and seasonally grown food in the menus for schoolchildren much more, thus both reducing the adverse effects on the environment and supporting local producers.
First Lady of Latvia Iveta Vējone pointed to the crucial role of family in formation of children's eating habits. “Understanding of healthy eating forms in childhood, when a family is cooking and serving meals together. Our cooked meals and provided knowledge about nutrition and the effects on children’s health create the first impression of food,” said Iveta Vējone.
The competition aims to educate future chefs and catering specialists by raising awareness about organic food, basic principles of organic farming, and differences of organic food. The project also aims to contribute to the skill of future chefs and catering specialists to develop a modern and creative menu, which is in line with today's most topical food and cooking principles - seasonal, organic, local foods, traditional foods in a modern way of serving. Future chefs and catering specialists currently learning this profession in one of the educational institutions in Latvia participated in the competition.