PIONEER CHEF & RESTAURATEUR NORA POUILLON NAMED LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
PHILANTHROPIST & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR DENISE CERRETA NAMED HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR
NEW YORK, NY (January 10, 2017) —
The James Beard Foundation announced today that
Nora Pouillon, restaurateur, author, and the first American chef to open a certified organic restaurant, has been named the recipient of the
2017 James Beard Lifetime Achievement award, and Denise Cerreta, founder of One World Everybody Eats (OWEE), has been named the recipient of the
2017 James Beard Humanitarian of the Year award. The Lifetime
Achievement award is bestowed upon a person in the industry whose
lifetime body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the
way we eat, cook, and think about food in America.
The Humanitarian of the Year award is given to an individual or
organization whose work in the realm of food has improved the lives of
others and benefited society at large. Nora Pouillon and Denise Cerreta
will be honored at this year’s James Beard Foundation
Awards on Monday, May 1, 2017, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“The
two women we honor this year are positively inspiring game changers in
our culinary world,“ said Susan Ungaro, president
of the James Beard Foundation. "As the first chef to open an
all-organic restaurant over 38 years ago, Nora has truly impacted the
way people and the industry think about the food we eat. Denise’s
pay-what-you-can community cafes are transforming the way community
restaurants can help others who can’t afford dining out to enjoy a
healthy, good meal. We look forward to honoring the powerful work
they’re doing to create a better food system.”
As
a pioneer and champion of certified organic, environmentally conscious
cuisine, Nora Pouillon has been promoting a
healthier lifestyle since arriving in the U.S. in the 1960s from
Vienna, Austria. Relying on her extensive network of natural and organic
farmers, Nora began to purchase her produce for her cooking classes and
catering business directly from the source. In
1979, Nora opened her namesake restaurant in Washington, D.C.,
Restaurant Nora, and in 1999 it became the first certified organic
restaurant in the United States. Nora is also credited with initiating
D.C.’s first producer-only farmer’s market, called FRESHFARM
Markets, and jumpstarting the farm-to-table movement in the area. Nora
has consulted and developed recipes for Walnut Acres and Whole Foods,
and is a partner in Blue Circle Fruits, a supplier of fresh and frozen
sustainable seafood. Nora is the author of
Cooking with Nora, a seasonal menu cookbook that was a finalist for the Julia Child Cookbook Award, and her memoir,
My Organic Life: How A Pioneering Chef Changed the Way We Eat Today,
was published in 2015. Today, Nora continues to be an active
participant in several environmental causes and tirelessly advocates for
a sustainable, health-focused lifestyle based on
the premise that you are what you eat, drink, and breathe. She is in
the board of Earth Day Network, the Environmental Film Festival, Fresh
Farm Markets, the Ocean Foundation, and the Amazon Conservation Team.
Nora is on the advisory board of Wholesome Wave
and Rachel’s Network.
“I am honored to
receive the Lifetime Achievement award,” said Nora. “When I had the
pleasure
of hosting James Beard at my restaurant he encouraged me to continue
with my style of cooking. I would like to thank my two business
partners, Steven and Thomas Damato, who helped make my dream a reality. I
am grateful to my team for the last 38 years of hard
work. My hope is this award will inspire chefs to continue with
my mission of being good stewards of the environment while making
delicious organic food.”
The
2017 Humanitarian of the Year award recipient, Denise Cerreta,
transformed her career from café owner to philanthropist
and social entrepreneur with the creation of One World Café. She is the
founder of One World Everybody Eats (OWEE), a simple pay-what-you-can
idea that has grown into a globally recognized non-profit. A single
moment at her café, one that she calls her ‘Field
of Dreams’ experience, inspired her to personally change how the world
views and combats hunger. She realized that one in six Americans—50
million people—are food insecure, meaning families and individuals are
accessing emergency food pantries, even scavenging
or stealing, to meet their nutrition needs. To address this issue, OWEE
offers an innovative, pay-what-you-can business model that helps
communities alleviate hunger at the local level.
Denise
now leads the OWEE board of directors, oversees 65 cafes around the
world that have collectively served 2 million
meals, and continues to support the ongoing expansion of OWEE while
forging new relationships with creative people in small communities as
well as on the world stage. As the founder of OWEE, Denise also hosts
the annual One World Summit, which aims to support
and inspire café owners and the public to end world hunger through a
roster of inspired speakers who tell their unique stories.
“I
am so surprised and honored to have received the James Beard
Humanitarian Award,“ said Denise. "I never would have
believed something like this could happen to me in a million years. I
will gratefully accept this award on behalf of all the visionary café
owners, their communities and the board members who have dedicated so
much to even make this possible. My hope is that
this recognition will fertilize the seed in the hearts of others who
also want to eliminate hunger.”
Established
in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for
excellence and achievement in their
fields and further the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture, and
honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more
delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. Each award category
has an individual committee made up of industry professionals
who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and
selection of judges for their respective Awards program. All JBF Award
winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James
Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash
prizes.
The
James Beard Foundation Awards Gala will be held at the Lyric Opera of
Chicago on Monday, May 1, 2017. During the
event, which is open to the public, awards for the Restaurant and Chef
and Restaurant Design categories will be handed out, along with special
achievement awards Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement,
Design Icon, Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in
America, and America’s Classics. A gala reception will immediately
follow, featuring top chefs and beverage professionals from across the
country.
The
2017 James Beard Foundation Awards are proudly hosted by Choose Chicago
and presented in association with the Chicago
Department of Aviation, HMSHost, the Illinois Restaurant Association
and Mariano’s as well as the following partners: Premier Sponsors:
All-Clad Metalcrafters, American Airlines, True Refrigeration®;
Supporting Sponsors: Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water,
Breville, Robert Mondavi Winery, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural
Mineral Water, Valrhona; Gala Reception Sponsors: Ecolab; with
additional support from: Chefwear.
About the James Beard Foundation (JBF)
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors chefs
and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. A
cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge
about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He
helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food
enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and
delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same
spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include
educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary
students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader
convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic
James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a
“performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please
visit jamesbeard.org.
Get food news, recipes, and more at the James Beard Foundation’s blog,
or subscribe to the free digital newsletter Beard Bites. Follow
@beardfoundation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,
and Snapchat. Watch the James Beard House Kitchen Cam, James Beard Awards, and more on the Foundation’s Livestream
channel. Find more JBF-related video on the Foundation’s
YouTube channels.