The program Teen Chef Pro is a reality cooking competition show that is run by the Utah Restaurant Association. It turns out, the cooking show is funded by Utah tax payer money. Each season costs at least $250,000 to produce and is produced by Reel People productions. Melva Sine, Utah Restaurant Association President was hesitant to talk about the production company behind Teen Chef Pro. The main reason being is that her daughter, Katy Sine runs Reel People Productions. Melva Sine says that her daughter isn’t paid to produce the show but one invoice KUTV received shows an invoice for $83,000.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert tried to remove the funding in 2016 but was added back in by lawmakers at the last minute.
“I thought putting the money into more education in the classroom and training people to be chefs was better than funding a reality TV show,” Herbert said.