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Get Your Aprons Ready: What You Need to Know About the 2024 Chef Showdown

on  October 1, 2024

As we enter October and World Food Day approaches, that means something exciting is sizzling at Rise Against Hunger — the It Starts With a Meal™️ Chef Showdown is almost here! Our virtual cooking competition is returning for a fourth year, taking place on social media from October 7-15.We host the Chef Showdown every year in recognition of World Food Day, an annual holiday established by the United Nations on October 16. The holiday focuses on driving awareness and action for global food insecurity — and the Chef Showdown does just that! During this year’s competition, renowned chefs are lending their talents to create dishes inspired by one of the regions or countries where Rise Against Hunger works. From October 7-11, their cooking videos will be released on our Instagram and Facebook pages, and YOU and other Hunger Champions vote for your favorite chef until October 15 by liking, commenting and sharing their video. Each of these engagements will count as a vote and help determine which chef will take home the Golden Whisk Award. And that’s not all! In addition to showcasing delicious international dishes, every video also highlights the state of food insecurity and Rise Against Hunger’s work to address this critical issue. So, when you vote, you’re helping to spread the word about our mission and the importance of ending world hunger.   It’s time to get your aprons ready! Keep reading to learn about this year’s chefs and what you need to know in preparation to cast your vote.

Get to Know This Year’s Participating Chefs

Talented chefs from around the world, including from Texas, Alabama, the Philippines and Italy, are competing this year. Learn more about each of them by reading their bios below, and click on their images to visit their Instagram profiles!Nacho Aguirre and Susana Mijares — Husband and wife duo Nacho and Susana are owners of the beloved Délice Chocolatier & Patisserie in San Antonio, Texas. They are also Food Network stars, with Nacho competing in the “Spring Baking Championship” and serving as a judge for “Candy Land,” and Susan winning season 12 of the network’s “Halloween Wars.” They are competing in the Chef Showdown for the third year in a row.

JR Royol — Hailing from the Philippines and competing in the Chef Showdown for the first time, JR hosts the culinary show “Farm to Table” and won the first season of “Master Chef Philippines.” He also has a special connection to Rise Against Hunger’s work, serving as the chef at Anihan, a restaurant at the Good Food Farm, a working farm and agri-tourism resort operated by Rise Against Hunger Philippines. 

Nicole McLaughlin — From Birmingham, Alabama, Nicole is the reigning 2023 and 2022 champion of the Chef Showdown. Coming back to try to win a third time, she is the producer and star of Allrecipe’s food series “You Can Cook That.” With over 20 years of experience in the culinary industry, Nicole has been featured on “The Today Show” and is popular on Instagram for her approachable recipes.

Michelle Adrillana — From the Philippines, Michelle is a chef, food and beverage consultant, content creator and advocate for Filipino cuisine. She is competing in the Chef Showdown for the third consecutive year.    

Cristina Bowerman — Cristina is a Michelin-star-rated chef at the restaurant Glass Hostaria in Rome, Italy. She also recently spoke about her advocacy work and contributions to reducing food loss and waste during the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ virtual event for International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. With a passion for creating dishes that blend flavors from around the world, she is competing in the Chef Showdown for the second time. 

Cast Your Vote October 7-15

The Chef Showdown videos will be released from October 7-11, and voting closes October 15. To ensure you don’t miss your chance to vote, make sure you’re following us on Instagram and Facebook. You can like, comment and share your favorite video on those platforms to cast your vote for who you want to win the Golden Whisk Award! You don’t want to miss it — voting will be open for a limited time, with the winning chef being announced on World Food Day, October 16.  See you at the Showdown!

About the Author

Hannah Payne is the Public Relations & Communications Manager at Rise Against Hunger. She facilitates communication between Rise Against Hunger and the media.

More Posts by Hannah Payne

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.