here's abc's catherine falders. >> reporter: they come from high schools across the country to the nation's capital. these young student chefs taking control of their school lunches in an effort to create healthy eating in school cafeterias through a program called cooking for change. the challenge? making healthy and delicious meal while meeting an the u.s. department of agriculture guidelines on a tight budget. about $1 per lunch. no easy task. it's a challenge schools deal with nationwide. >> what is the message that you'reop students send to kids across the country. >> well, really, the core message is the importance of healthy eating and the fact that healthy food can be tasty food. i think you haired the students describe the meals they've created, these are going to be very tasty meals but also are carefully designed to meet health requirements. >> reporter: meet jeremy traveling all the way from dallas, texas, on a mission to fulfill his dream of becoming a chef following in his mother's footsteps. >> my mom is a chef. i kind of grew up beside her on a little stool in the kitchen. a

here's abc's catherine falders. >> reporter: they come from high schools across the country to the nation's capital. these young student chefs taking control of their school lunches in an effort to create healthy eating in school cafeterias through a program called cooking for change. the challenge? making healthy and delicious meal while meeting an the u.s. department of agriculture guidelines on a tight budget. about $1 per lunch. no easy task. it's a challenge schools deal with nationwide. >> what is the message that you're hoping that these ten students send to kids across the country. >> well, really, the core message is the importance of healthy eating and the fact that healthy food can be tasty food. i think you haired the students describe the meals they've created, these are going to be very tasty meals but also are carefully designed to meet health requirements. >> reporter: meet jeremy traveling all the way from dallas, texas, on a mission to fulfill his dream of becoming a chef following in his mother's footsteps. >> my mom is a chef. i kind of grew up beside her on a little sto