Food Fight wins Rep. Chris Smith’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New Jersey’s Fourth District
Rep. Chris Smith has named Ava Obara, Skye Huang, and Abigail Riddle of Communications High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New Jersey’s Fourth District. Their app Food Fight makes detailed nutrition information accessible and clear.
When asked what inspired the creation of Food Fight, the students said, “We were inspired to create Food Fight as we looked into the lunch food offered to students. Many times, these students rely on the food offered at their schools, with no other alternatives; in fact, schoolnutrition.org states, ‘Nearly one in five children in America live in households without consistent access to adequate food.’ Unhealthy school food may lead to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Schools often resort to quick, convenient meals, though nutrition is sacrificed in return; a 2023 survey from City Journal revealed that only 17% of schools nationwide offered food made from scratch every day, while only 3% served only freshly made food. This led to our epiphany that an app could be created to battle these concerns. At Food Fight, we believe that students can manage their own health with delicious and nutritious school lunches.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.