Organic winners at BBC Food and Farming Awards

The 2012 winners of the BBC Food and Farming Awards were announced in November and organic was the big winner, with two Soil Association licensees taking away the most coveted awards. Growing Communities in East London is the winner of the BBC Best Big Food Idea as a reat example of an innovator who is improving the way good quality food is sourced and sold, the Soil Association reports. It is a farmer’s market, box scheme and urban food growing project in one (picture: the Growing Communities market).

Guy Watson of Riverford Organic Farms is the winner of BBC Farmer Of The Year, as a farmer who has inspired, encouraged and risen to the challenge of sustainable farming in the 21st century. The Soil Association's Jim Twine says, “I have always thought that Riverford is as much a campaigning NGO as a farming business. Riverford is based on a core set of principles: producing food with a genuine care for the environment and an equally long-term commitment to the farmers and growers that have supported their expansion over the years. Above all, Guy has always been prepared to put his head above the parapet and stand up for what he really believes – from equity in trading relationships and concern over GM to being really honest with Riverford customers.”

Additionally, the Derek Cooper Award was given to Mike Duckett. He is the former head of catering at the Royal Brompton hospital where every meal is cooked on the premises using fresh, local ingredients, and 30% of the food is organic or locally sourced, with organic meats appearing on the menu at least once a week. Mike Duckett has been leading the way in improving the quality of public catering across the UK, and his work is followed by governments around Europe, BBC reports. The nomination said, “Mike's work connects many small producers around the UK by supplying those who care about food and nutrition standards, and those staff, families and ill people who need to eat the food in hospitals.”