Nathan Williams, of Lawrence, digs into a plate of tofu marinated in tomato and garlic after school. The Cordley School student won the Sunflower State Games Essay Contest in 2009 about healthy eating.

This is the picture Nathan Williams submitted with his winning Sunflower State Games essay in 2009. It depicts a “healthy” person made from strips of tofu.

A Cordley School first-grader won a statewide essay contest about healthy eating.

While most youngsters focused on fruits and vegetables, Nathan Williams wrote about tofu and how it’s low in fat and high in protein.

“I like tofu a lot,” he said Monday after school, munching on a slice fixed his favorite way: marinated overnight in a garlic-and-tomato sauce and then broiled.

He also likes to eat tofu in wraps or simply plain.

“Being the only true vegetarian in the family, I was surprised and delighted that he actually picked tofu as the food to represent,” his mother, Laura, said with a chuckle. “We are so proud of him.”

She said Nathan wrote his essay at home.

“When I told him that the essay had to be at least 100 words, his eyeballs got really big, but he did a very good job,” she said.

Nathan also came up with the picture that needed to accompany the essay. He arranged the slices of tofu into the shape of a “healthy” person on a plate and took a photo.

His entry caught the eye of Mitch Gross, executive director of the Sunflower State Games, the contest’s sponsor.

“It was very imaginative, especially with his picture,” Gross said. “It was different.”

Nathan’s entry was picked from about 100 entries. He won the category for first- through third-graders, and his prizes are a Sunflower State Games gold medal, T-shirt, Barnes and Noble gift certificate and $50 savings bond.

He has been invited to read his essay at a special Sunflower State Games reception July 9 in Topeka.