Photo courtesy of the James Beard Foundation.
The James Beard Foundation (JBF) recently announced the winners of the seventh annual JBF Leadership Awards. These awards are intended to spotlight and raise awareness of sustainability, food access, and public health by celebrating visionaries who have made an impact in these areas.
This year’s recipients were recognized for specific outstanding initiatives as well as bodies of work and lifetime achievement. The selection criteria include excellence of work, innovation in approach, and scale of impact either within a community or across the nation. Honorees were selected by previous winners. The 2017 winners are:
Dan Barber (Chef and Author) “for his work in blending the dining and educational experience to reduce waste, improve food taste and sustainability, and promote a soil-to-table approach.”
Olivier De Schutter (Co-chair, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food) “for his research and work in redesigning a sustainable food system on the local, national, and global level.”
Joan Dye Gussow (Professor, Author, Food Policy Expert and Environmentalist) “for her pioneering advocacy of sustainable, healthy food production and for her work as an author, educator, and food policy expert.”
Joann Lo and Jose Oliva (Co-Directors, Food Chain Workers Alliance) “for their dedication to improving the lives and communities of food system workers and their families.”
The Honorable Chellie Pingree (Member of Congress, Maine’s First Congressional District) “for her support of national policies that promote healthy food, local and regional food systems, and organic agriculture.”
Previous winners include Wendell Berry, Mark Bittman, Dr. Jason Clay, Debra Eschmeyer, Sam Kass, Fred Kirschenmann, Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, Marion Nestle, First Lady Michelle Obama, Michael Pollan, Karen Washington, and Alice Waters.
The mission of JBF is to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. The JBF Leadership Awards were co-hosted by Good Housekeeping, with founding partner GRACE Communications Foundation, and additional support from the Natural Gourmet Institute. Food Tank was a media partner for the event.
