This year, Chefs Collaborative will recognize four individuals who have played an exemplary role in advancing the Chefs Collaborative mission to promote a national network of chefs fostering a sustainable food system. Awards will be presented on Tuesday, November 4 at the Chefs Collaborative Sustainable Food Summit in Charleston, SC.
The Awards nomination deadline has passed! Please contact Alisha Fowler with any questions.
The Awards
National Sustainer: This award will recognize a chef who has been both a great mentor and is a model to the culinary community through his/her purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and the transformation of these ingredients into delicious food. Click here to see past winners.
Southeast Sustainer: This award will recognize a chef in the Southeast who has been both a great mentor and is a model to the culinary community through his/her purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and the transformation of these ingredients into delicious food. Click here to see past winners.
Pathfinder: This award will recognize a visionary working in the greater food community who has been a catalyst for positive change within the food system through efforts that go beyond the kitchen. Click here to see past winners.
Foodshed Champion Southeast: This award will recognize a food producer in the Southeast(farmer, fisher, artisanal producer) committed to working with chefs and who exemplifies the following principle: Good food begins with unpolluted air, land, and water, environmentally sustainable farming and fishing, and humane animal husbandry. Click here to see past winners.
The Judges
- Rick Bayless, Chef/Owner, Frontera, Topolobampo, XOXO restaurants, Chicago, IL. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board member. 2010 Pioneers Table Awardee
- Jane Black, Journalist, Washington Post Columnist, Brooklyn, NY
- Sara Clow, General Manager, GrowFood Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Peter Davis, Executive Chef, Henrietta’s Table, Cambridge, MA. 2010 Sustainer Awardee
- Piper Davis, Cuisine Director/Co-Owner, Grand Central Baking Company. Chefs Collaborative Board member
- Justin Dean,
Farm Manager/Chef Educator, Relish Restaurant Group, Ft. Mitchell, KY. Chefs Collaborative Board Member
- Rebecca Goldburg, Director of Marine Science, Pew Charitable Trust’s Environment Group, New York, NY. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board Member
- Maisie Greenawalt, VP of Strategy, Bon Appetit Management Company, Palo Alto, CA
- Sam Hayward, Chef/Owner, Fore Street, Portland, ME. 2011 Sustainer Award
- Kären Jurgensen, Chef Instructor, Seattle Culinary Academy, Seattle, Washington
- Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ames, IA. Chefs Collaborative Advisory Board Member
- Chris Koetke, Executive Director, Kendall College School of Culinary Arts. Vice President, Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts, Chicago, IL. 2010 Pathfinder Awardee.
- Michael Leviton, Chef/Owner, Lumiere in Newton MA and Chef/Co-Owner, Area Four, Cambridge MA. Chair, Chefs Collaborative Board
- Theresa Marquez, Chief Mission Officer, Organic Valley, La Farge, WI
- Dan McGovern, Publisher, Sustainable Food News, Portland, ME
- Gary Nabhan, Internationally-celebrated nature writer, seed saver, conservation biologist and sustainable agriculture activist, Patagonia, AZ. 2011 Pioneers TableAward
- Nicolette Hahn Niman, Attorney and Livestock Rancher, Bolinas CA
- Michel Nischan, President/CEO, Wholesome Wave, Bridgeport, CT. 2010 Pioneers Table Awardee
- Bob Perry, Coordinator and Chef, Food Systems Initiative, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky. Chefs Collaborative Board Member
- Andrea Reusing, Chef/Owner, Lantern, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Jimmy Schmidt, Executive Chef, Morgan’s in the Desert, Aspen, CO. Pioneers Table Awardee
- Kim Severson, author/Atlanta Bureau Chief, New York Times, Atlanta, GA
- Marion Sullivan, Culinary Institute of Charleston; Food Editor, Charleston Magazine, Charleston, SC
- Teresa Taylor, Features Editor, Post & Courier, Charleston, SC.
- Megan Westmeyer, Fishery Improvement Project Director (FAO Area 31), Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, Charleston, SC
- Paul Willis, Founder and Manager of the Niman Ranch Pork Company, Thornton, Iowa
- Virginia Willis, Chef and Food Writer, Atlanta, GA.
Awards Process
- Awards Committee is established. Piper Davis, Cuisine Director/Co-Owner, Grand Central Baking Company; Justin Dean, Farm Manage/Chef Educator, Relish restaurant Group, Ft. Mitchell, KY; Marion Sullivan, Culinary Institute of Charleston; Food Editor, Charleston Magazine, Charleston, SC; Virginia Willis, chef and Food Writer, Atlanta, GA
- Nominations due to the Awards Committee by July 10
- Awards committee selects finalists by August 1
- Awards Judges will review nominees and select an awardee in each category by end of August
- Nominees will be notified in August
- Awards will be announced and presented at the Chefs Collaborative Sustainable Food Summit in Charleston, SC, November 3 – 5