BBC Food and Farming Awards 2012

06 June 2012

Nominations will open next week [17 June] for the BBC Food & Farming Awards. Now in their thirteenth year the awards have helped to transform and celebrate the lives of the unsung heroes of the food world including school dinner cooks, small traditional food businesses, community-led markets, and independent food retailers. Each finalist and eventual winner starts with a member of the public sending in a nomination.

There are nine categories including Best Food Producer, Best Drinks Producer, Best Food Market and Best Street Food/Takeaway.

Nominations can be made through the BBC Food & Farming Awards’ website from 17 June and will remain open till 12 August - www.bbc.co.uk/foodawards

Once the judges have selected a shortlist for each of the categories, they will visit each finalist in person. The eventual winners will be announced at the annual BBC Food & Farming Awards ceremony, held at the BBC Good Food Show, NEC, Birmingham on 28 November 28. Shortly after, BBC Radio 4 will broadcast a programme featuring the winners and judges.

Award-winning chef Angela Hartnett will be launching this year’s BBC Food & Farming Awards in a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme on Sunday 17 June. She’ll be making an appeal to the British public to celebrate food in their local areas by nominating the most deserving food lovers, cheese makers, drinks producers, retailers and takeaway chefs.

Angela says:
“The Awards this year are more important than ever. We’re in the thick of a recession and money is tight and it’s a tough time to be in business. After decades of decline and having among the world’s worst reputation for food, we now manage to produce some of the best you can find. But this progress is fragile and is now at risk of being lost if we don’t shout about what we have.

“We need to celebrate the people making a difference in food and drink. This is where the great British public comes in. These Awards depend on the stories they send in from every part of the UK. We know there are more great winners out there, more excellent food businesses to discover. So please do your bit for British food and nominate someone today.”

Sheila Dillon, judge and presenter of The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4, says:
“These Awards are like a barometer of British food; they’re a great guide to what’s happening across the UK. Last year’s winners included The Loch Arthur Creamery in South West Scotland, where some of Britain's finest cheeses are made, at last had recognition for the work of its highly skilled team, based in a community set up for people with learning disabilities. It was a real discovery, and such outstanding, delicious and affordable cheese.

“Another amazing story was that of Jack and Linda Mills, who work on Brighton Beach serving the best hot fish sandwiches. They source the fish from local day boats, and it’s as traditional as it gets. This was a real treasure for the people in Brighton, so they were our deserving winners in the streetfood / takeaway category. Each year we receive more nominations and I can’t wait to see who we meet, and what we get to taste this year.”