Editor’s Desk: FERN’s very good day at the James Beard Awards

By Theodore Ross

It was a good day at the old FERN HQ yesterday (i.e. our Slack channel) when we learned that eight of our articles were nominated for James Beard media awards in four different categories.

For those who are keeping score at home, our haul includes nominations for:

Columns and Criticism, for three entries (by FERN staffer Teresa Cotsirilos, former FERN staff Bridget Huber, and very-smart-non-FERN staffer Claire Kelloway) in our “Farm Bill Fight” special series with Mother Jones;

Foodways, for Robert Kunzig’s “Transforming the Delta,” his report on how farmers are adapting to climate change in the Mississippi Delta, published with Switchyard; 

Health and Wellness, for Alexander Zaitchik’s “The U.S.-Mexico Tortilla War,” an analysis of the cross-border battle over GMO corn, with The Nation;

The Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism award, for three articles by FERN Senior Editor Ted Genoways, co-published with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Inverse. (“Trump said Democrats Would Take Away Your Hamburgers. He’s the One Who Might.”; “Time to Bust the Meat Trust”; “Technology Can Help Reduce Food Waste on The Farm, But It’s Only Part of the Problem”).

We’re always proud to have the hard work we do recognized by our peers and the public. I am particularly happy to note that three FERN staffers — two current, one former — are up for awards. That means other people are beginning to see what is already obvious to me: FERN’s reporters are special.

Finally, while I love all award nominations like my favorite players on the New York Mets — equally, that is — two of these awards deserve some additional context. Nominations for our special series on the farm bill and for Ted’s columns are a byproduct of strategic choices we’ve made at FERN to expand our journalism formats to include shorter, argument-based stories on pressing issues. It’s exciting to see that our efforts to innovate and evolve as an organization aren’t going unnoticed.

I also believe that FERN’s success is a result of the support and interest of the people who read, listen, and watch the journalism we do. It’s a reflection of how much you care about the issues in the food system and environment that we report on. We’re going to keep digging, and I hope you will consider making a donation to help make this work possible.