Food Sustainability Media Award Finalists Announced

by Zeina Najjar
Tuesday, 24 October 2017 10:36 GMT

A farmer makes a heap of guar to sort them at Chiloda village in the western Indian state of Gujarat November 22, 2014. Farmers worry that oil firms a world away in the United States will buy less of their guar in future, ending a short-lived boom that helped Indian farmers out of poverty. Food firms are also buyers and the sector is likely to take more this year as traders scout out new markets, but it will be hard to match the impact made by oil industry demand in recent years. Picture taken November 22, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave

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The Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation revealed the finalists selected for the 2017 Food Sustainability Media Award today.

Launched in December 2016, the initiative aims to draw public attention to the issue of food sustainability through recognising outstanding coverage of issues relating to food security, sustainability, agriculture and nutrition. An expert panel of judges selected 18 finalists across the six award categories; written journalism, video and photography, both published and unpublished, based on a number of criteria including substance, originality and creativity. Winners will receive either a cash prize of €10,000 or a Thomson Reuters Foundation journalism training course.

Overall, 498 award submissions were received from 72 countries around the world. Finalist published work included entries from The Guardian, Huffington Post UK, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic and Vice Magazine.

Monique Villa, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation said: "Our food system is facing unprecedented threats. 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year – four times the amount needed to feed the 795 million undernourished people in the world. We need to take action now to work towards a sustainable future. The first step is bringing these issues to a wider audience. We believe these finalists are all worthy of recognition in the unique and exciting way in which they can make this happen."

"With this award, we aim to raise awareness and propose solutions to face the challenges the world faces around food and sustainability”, said Guido Barilla, BCFN Chairman.

All finalist entries will also enter the initiative’s Best of the Web Award. This award will be chosen by the public, who can now vote for the entry that they would like to see recognised for excellence in reporting on food sustainability. Voting is open on the award website from today, 24th October, until 11:59 PM (GMT) on 30th November.

Winners will be announced at the BCFN Foundation’s 8th International Forum on Food and Nutrition on 4th December in Milan. Those awarded for their published work will receive a cash prize of €10,000. Those awarded for their unpublished work will receive an all-expenses paid trip to attend a Thomson Reuters Foundation media training course on food sustainability.

The winner of the Best of the Web prize will also receive a place on the training course, along with the two runners-up in each of the unpublished categories.

All winning unpublished entries will be distributed via the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the BCFN Foundation websites. The winning unpublished article will also be distributed through the Reuters newswire, reaching an estimated 1 billion readers.

The full list of finalists for the 2017 Food Sustainability Media Award is: (In alphabetical order)

The full list of finalists for the 2017 Food Sustainability Media Award is:

(In alphabetical order)

Photography published category

Supersize: The Dizzying Grandeur of 21st-Century Agriculture – George Steinmetz, New York Times
The Price of Basmati – Adriane Ohanesian, National Geographic, El Pais
The United Soya Republic – Jordi Ruiz Cirera, National Geographic

Photography unpublished category

‘Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.’ Mahatma Gandhi – Clelia Carbonari
Globesity – Silvia Landi
The Gleaners – Simone Dipietro

Video published category

Food and the Faroe Islands – Lucy Sherriff, Huffington Post UK
Food Wastage in Ghana – Justice Baidoo, Joy News Today
Game Changer – Daniel Klein, The Perennial Plate 

Video unpublished category

Harvests of Hope: New Orleans – Koorosh Farchadi and Karen Buchsbaum
The People in the Shadows – Yoni Nimrod and Matt Sborgia
Unpeeling the rot in the mango value chain – Musdalafa Lyaga

Written published category

Maggot Revolution – Gloria Dickie, bioGraphic
Wheat as a Weapon of War – Emma Beals, Vice Magazine, Munchies online
Why Americans lead the world in food waste – Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian

Written unpublished category

Forgotten foods: the importance of food diversity – Rob Percival
India battles hunger amid wastage of USD 13 billion worth of food – Uzmi Athar
Ripe With Promise: A Homegrown Solution to High-Yield, Low-Nutrition Foods – Merin Porter

The judging panel:

All finalists were chosen by a panel of judges made up of leading professionals in the fields of journalism, photography, food and agricultural sustainability policy and research, including:

  • Founder of Food Tank, Danielle Nierenberg
  • Editor-in-Chief of La Repubblica, Mario Calabresi
  • Thomson Reuters Foundation Climate Editor, Laurie Goering
  • Photographer and author, Finbarr O’Reilly
  • Director of Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Development at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Marcela Villarreal
  • Director of Communications at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Cassandra Waldon
  • Director of Global Advocacy for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, Olly Buston
  • Founder of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Ruth Oniang’o
  • Environment Correspondent at The Economist, Miranda Johnson

See website to view full entries: http://www.goodfoodmediaaward.com/finalists/


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