• Spanish chef Xanty Elías has been awarded the Basque Culinary World Prize 2021 for promoting food education for young boys and girls, through his “Los Niños se Comen El Futuro” initiative.
• He was chosen by a jury chaired by chef Joan Roca and comprising of some of the world's most influential chefs and international experts.
• The award, and a prize of 100,000 euros, will promote Xanty Elías’ “Los Niños se Comen El Futuro” initiative which works to educate the next generation about healthy eating.
On Thursday, 9 December, the Tabakalera's Prism in Donostia-San Sebastián hosted the Basque Culinary World Prize 2021 ceremony to officially confer the prize to Xanty Elías for educating the next generation on healthy eating.
The Basque Culinary World Prize is a unique and global award given by the Basque Government, within the framework of the comprehensive Euskadi-Basque Country strategy, and by the Basque Culinary Center, a world-leading academic institution in gastronomy. It is an award for chefs improving society through gastronomy in areas ranging from innovation to education, health, research, sustainability, social entrepreneurship and economic development.
Started in 2018, Xanty's “Los Niños se Comen El Futuro” initiative collaborates with companies and institutions throughout Andalusia to provide healthy eating in Spanish primary schools. Via a multi-disciplinary curriculum called “Cultura Gastronómica Solidaria”, his programme promotes nutrition and sensible dietary choices by teaching students how food culture intersects with traditional subjects such as history, geography, and mathematics. The innovative programme, which has already received national and international awards, empowers the next generation to become sensible consumers, bettering their future and improving the outlook for society.
Under the motto, “There is nothing healthier than educating”, Xanty’s programme has been active in over 80 schools in Andalusia and Madrid with the participation of close to 10,500 primary school pupils – a figure that will double starting in January 2022.
The 100,000 euros awarded through the Basque Culinary World Prize will be used to expand the “Los Niños se Comen El Futuro” venture globally, help to promote this subject in schools, and to create new content.
