The St. Lawrence Health Initiative is now accepting sign ups for the North Country Jr. Iron Chef competition.

The competition, modeled after a similar event in Vermont, is geared toward teams of middle and high school students in the region, who will develop healthy recipes using a combination of local and USDA commodity foods that can be prepared in a school cafeteria.

The goal of the program is to engage students in choosing and working with healthy foods, which has been shown to increase the likelihood that students will choose to eat healthy food options.

The competition will be held Mar. 9 at the Eben Holden Center at St. Lawrence University.

Spectators will be able to watch the teams prepare their submissions for judgment and participate in local food tastings.

Canton, Potsdam, Brasher Falls, Massena, Malone, Brushton-Moira, Peru, and Saranac Lake, currently have teams signed up to compete in the middle school division. Seaway Tech of Norwood, Canton, Saranac Lake, Brushton-Moira, Northern Adirondack Central School, and Chateaugay currently have teams planning to compete in the high school division. Registration closes Jan. 18.

For more information, including contest rules and how to get involved, visit ncjrironchef.org/.