Feed the Future Recipe Contest: Coffee and Cocoa

As the weather cools in the United States this fall, our drinks warm up. Hot chocolate. Pumpkin spice lattes. Peppermint mochas. 

Have you ever stopped to consider where it all started? The coffee and chocolate beans that go into these drinks traveled miles to get to your cup.

In rural areas around the globe, millions of farmers grow coffee and cocoa on their small farms, depending on these crops for a living. It’s a fragile existence and many live in hunger and poverty, with climate change compounding the vulnerability they already face.

That’s where the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, comes in. Coffee and chocolate are great examples of value chains we’re working in to help smallholder farmers make a better living, connect to the global economy, and fight back against climate change.

By working with businesses, civil society, researchers and governments, we’re helping deliver on agriculture’s promise to provide a path out of poverty and hunger for these rural communities.

To help raise awareness this holiday season about agriculture’s potential to end poverty, hunger and malnutrition around the globe, we’re launching a recipe contest starring coffee and cocoa. Send us your favorite fall recipe featuring one or both of these ingredients!

Update: The contest is now closed. Check back next year to participate and view the winning 2015 entries on our blog.

Our panel of judges will vote on their favorites and we’ll notify the winners via email around Thanksgiving. Winning recipes will get top billing on Feed the Future’s social media and blog.

Submissions Requirements

• Recipe must be an original submission by the individual or organization sending in the recipe and you must not infringe on anyone else’s copyright (eg. no copying from Pinterest unless it’s yours).
• Recipe must be submitted in English and should be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Recipe must include a full list of ingredients and measurements (in U.S. measurement units) as well as specific cooking instructions.
• Recipes should not include brand names. Please list all ingredients using generic names only.
• Recipes should be non-alcoholic (so any and every one can enjoy them!)
• Please include your name and home U.S. state in your submission.
• Submissions with high-quality and high-resolution photos and videos are highly recommended!
• Not sure where to get started? Here’s an example for inspiration.

When you submit your recipe, let us know why it is important to you: Is there a story behind the recipe? Is it a family favorite? We’ll review your submission and share a roundup of the recipes we receive on the Feed the Future website and social media accounts; so win or lose, your recipe may get featured.

Please make sure you read all the contest rules below before submitting a recipe.

Contest Rules

• Only one submission per individual is allowed. If there is a dispute about who submitted a recipe, we will consider the registered email or social media account holder as the submitter.
• We may reject, disqualify or disallow any submission we deem inappropriate, in violation of contest rules, or for any other reason in our sole and absolute discretion. We may, in our sole discretion, edit, adapt or modify your submission.
• Submission of a recipe and related media (photos, videos, etc.) constitutes your certification that it is your own original work and does not infringe the intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third party.
• You agree that USAID and/or other individual U.S. Government Feed the Future partners who use the recipe and related media will not be responsible for the infringement of any third party rights that may arise as a result of your actions or omissions.
• Your submission represents irrevocable consent that USAID and/or other individual U.S. Government Feed the Future partners may reproduce, publish and otherwise use your recipe and/or related media in materials (including digital and print media) related to Feed the Future.
• You agree to incur in full any costs associated with participation in this contest and to indemnify and hold harmless USAID from any claims, damages, liabilities, expenses or losses which arise from participation in this contest.
• You must be 18 or older to participate in this contest. To protect children’s privacy, please do not include any personally identifiable information about your child, such as names and addresses, in your submission. Do not include your child or other people in related material, such as photos.

By submitting a recipe and related material to this contest, you certify that you have read, agreed to, and are following all the submission requirements and contest rules listed above.

Want to contribute but don’t have a recipe that meets the contest criteria above? Share on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #feedthefuture to join the conversation on ending hunger and poverty!

Find out how Feed the Future is helping end global hunger.

Learn More About Coffee, Chocolate and Food Security

• 10 Sweet Facts About the Halloween Chocolate You Ate Last Weekend
• Wake Up to Coffee’s Impact on Rural Livelihoods
• Haitian Farmers Improve Skills to Enter Cocoa Export Market
• Coffee Farming Offers Hope to Rwandan Farmers with a Troubled History
• Fighting Coffee Rust in Latin America and the Caribbean
• On Valentine’s Day, Reflecting on the Importance of Chocolate Production